06 Jan 5 Social Media Resolutions for 2015
It’s the New Year and like clockwork on the eve of the 31st we all make resolutions, promises to ourselves for a better year to come. Often these resolutions are personal, a promise we make to ourselves to be healthier, fitter, happier, work less, work more, earn more money, travel or take a up a hobby we have been putting off. The problem with New Year’s resolutions is that by their very nature, they are designed to make us fail. Often they are vague, overarching goals that don’t end up coming to fruition because realistically, if we haven’t been doing something for so long, what about the New Year suggests that we will wake up on the 1st and be a magically different person? If we haven’t set foot in the gym in a year, why now will we suddenly be waking up at the crack of dawn to get a workout in before work, followed by a power smoothie that will leave us serene and happy at our desks by 9:00am? New Year’s resolutions have to be achievable. Promising yourself that you will work out one extra day per week than you currently do is a much more achievable goal than saying you are going to become your office gym rat and the envy of your colleagues. The same goes for social media. Below are five achievable social media resolutions that you can adopt and implement quickly and effectively in 2015.
1. Write one more blog post a week to help your content strategy: This one is fairly straightforward. Content rules the internet and the quality and frequency of what you put out matters. If you have a blog or web page that you contribute to infrequently, make a promise to create one more piece of content on the regular than you currently do. Even something as simple as this can increase your social profile considerably.
2. Do Hashtags right: Do you follow people on Instagram or Twitter that follow their posts with a bazillion hashtags? Hashtagging is a very useful and relevant tool on social media, when done right. Make a resolution to create relevant hashtags that target your audience and expand your reach. Anything more than two hashtags after a Twitter post is overkill.
3. Spark relevant conversations with your followers: We could all take a leaf out of the talented yet humble Taylor Swift’s book when it comes to social media conversations. Be selective about who you follow and try and engage your followers in a genuine conversation. The general rule of thumb here is 80/20. 8o percent of your conversations should be about topics that interest them and only 20 percent should be about you. Think of it similar to dating. Would you want to date someone that only talked about themselves?
4. Invest time in social media relationships: Whether we like it or not social media has evolved the way we communicate and by extension our relationships. This doesn’t mean that because we connect on social media with about 70 percent of the people in our lives via the internet we should be slacking off in these relationships. Like all relationships the ones formed through social media need to be nurtured. Reach out to your friends, followers and contemporaries. Share information with people about things that interest them, keep up with your LinkedIn connections and trim the fat on your Facebook friends list. Does anyone really have 700 friends? Keep only the ones you know you want to hear from.
5. Have a point of view: In this day and age there is a lot less new information. A lot more people have access to vast store of information so coming up something truly unique or groundbreaking amidst all the noise is unlikely. Talk about things people know about, but share your perspective. Have an opinion or present the information from an angle that hasn’t really been discussed before. You never know, you might stumble across something revolutionary.
So there you have it folks! Five easy, achievable social media resolutions that you can aspire to in 2015. Don’t worry if you don’t achieve them all. There is always next year.
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