What matters in social media marketing

And why most get it wrong.

By Robin Warral on Unsplash

The only thing that matters in marketing and sales is how you make your audience feel.

Do you bring them joy? Hope? Excitement? Belonging? Inspiration? Curiosity? (Envy?)

Do you add value to their life more than fulfilling a need in your own?

On Social Media:

You don’t follow someone that makes you feel uncomfortable/disgusted/angry/(insert negative feeling of choice). You follow those who either:

• Bring a smile to your face (entertainment),

• Teaches you something (education),

• Does beautiful things (inspiration)

• Makes you think (information)

(How can your social media content fill any (or multiple) of those categories for someone else?)

For Readers:

Equally, you only subscribe to my publication if what I write brings you value - not because I want you to subscribe, which should be a given and you’re always invited (and encouraged) to do so:

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I felt inclined to write this post as a further development of my recent essay “what I learnt from having 500k across social media” and in response to the increasing number of “I quit Instagram” announcements that are making their way through Substack along with other New Year’s resolutions.

This practical response is for you who feel confused as to what is the right choice for you.

With all the “I quit” celebrations it’s easy to feel like a failure if you don’t. Likewise, it’s just as hard to actually take the leap of faith and finally… QUIT.

There is something crucial that I think is missing in the current conversion around social media marketing:

How the initial reason for joining whatever platform may impact both behaviour and potential outcome.

In other words: Why did you choose to get on (insert social media of choice) in the first place? What was your intention, other than following an unspoken expectation?

I believe that if we are not intentional with our behaviour off and online, we unconsciously make ourselves victim to the inevitable consequences (which online may mean undefined doom-scrolling).

I’ll go first…

I have never initiated social media privately apart from a couple of pictures on Facebook in high school.

As a general outsider I didn’t see the point in learning about everyone’s parties that I wasn’t invited to. F*ck that. So I just never logged in.

The viral post that I reference in “what I learnt from having 500k across social media” and which kickstarted my online art career, was not posted from a place of “art is my hobby let’s see what happens”, which is where I think the narrative might’ve been misinterpreted (I only blame my own writing and my desire to not come off as a brag - rather I want my experience to be factual and have nothing to do with status, which I think is an illusion anyway.)

I started Instagram in 2016 in response to my first couple of embroidery clients at university who wanted to see the process of the work in real time. They preferred Instagram as a visual representation where they could easy follow the timeline and progress both through the grid overview and individual posts.

It made sense to me.

Though I was very hesitant to join at first, ones I did, I saw no point in sharing with a blind eye. Instead I paid attention to how others did and tried to do the same thing with my own twist.

Genuine and curious observation will bring you further than most

It’s true that I had no idea that the particular image in question would go viral (I stand strong in the saying that You Never Know!). But I simultaneously realize the importance to emphasize effort and intention. It wasn’t an accident that I continued to have multiple viral posts (of various magnitude of course) in the years to come.

Whenever you engage with something, whether it’s online or in IRL, you generally don’t require too long before you get a hang of what’s going on. We can all sense if a conversation is “going our way” or not, or observe the general behaviour of those around us.

The same applies online.

I’m not the only one who’ve felt an instantly friendly and generous vibe when coming on

Substack

for the first time.

Equally, without having had time to do too much research (because kids), it was easy to understand through observation of my own interaction with the Substack app that Notes could be used as a discovery tool for new writers, which I quickly translated to an opportunity for others to also discover me…

The inverse principle

As opposed to thinking of how to get to an end goal, I start at the opposite side of the journey: Already a great success.

I then ask myself: How did I (or my client/student/reader) get here?

This allows me to trace the steps backwards, figuring out what route to follow and as such: what intention to set so that the ideal buyer/reader will walk the intended steps until the end.

If your intention is to make sales, you then need to consider where the sale will happen. Is it through outreach in DMs on Instagram (that’s how I initially sold my artworks and workshop spaces), or is it on an external platform?

Ps. What type of image/video/text makes YOU want to engage… then there’s a great chance that the buyer will act similarly.

One thing to keep in mind when you use social media as a marketing tool, is that ALL platforms are designed for you to stay there.

Remember this:

When a platform is free to use it means that you are the product. The platforms sell your attention to the highest bidder and won’t get paid if you leave the platform for someone who didn’t pay…

This means that only a very small percentage of your audience will transfer over to a new platform/email- list (you name it).

This doesn’t mean that it’s impossible.

Lucy Werner

from Hype yourself is one such example of having successfully converted a big chunk of her Instagram audience to Substack.

Kate Eskuri, DNP

has also been able to transfer Instagram viewers to Substack readers very well.

Lastly.

Nicola Washington

argues that there’s still great potential to be had on mainstream social media to convert readers over to Substack. The key, as she mentions, is to educate your audience about how and what they get when shifting platform (e.g. Instagram to Substack).

This is how I see it:

Social media is incredibly effective to build social proof and brand awareness (if we assume that you are your own personal brand). If your goal is to be seen by other companies for potential partnerships, publishers/agents for book-deals or sell directly through your DMs, then go for it.

Had it not mattered at all, then

Emma Gannon

wouldn’t have handed over the keys to her Instagram account to someone else to post about her upcoming book launch… she would’ve closed it down completely (she writes about this in Goodbye, Instagram)

A personal example: I was approached by multiple publishers for my first book, but settled on the one that gave full creative autonomy to develop the concept of Mindful Embroidery.

If, on other hand, your intention is to sell your own products, to collect email addresses (which happens off all social media except Substack where it’s all built into one) then you may want to consider what other benefits marketing on social media would have for you.

As a writer on a visual platform, you’d most likely be pushed to do what

Lindsay Byron

described in a note as “post a pretty picture to get attention before someone reads the accompanying text”.

That is HARD.

Instagram worked for my art business because it’s already visual.

For my writing, I have chosen Substack, because it houses all the necessities to grow “in-house”. You can organically build your email list (this is your biggest business asset!!!) and make sales all within the same “four walls” without having to ever redirect someone to a “landing page” or “sales page”. This is Powerful beyond what I think Substack is given credit for.

Furthermore, when you choose to go paid, many readers already have their card on file, which minimizes the friction to buy to almost zero. It’s literally one-click-away. That’s a no-brainer to me.

On here you don’t need to design lead magnets for people to serve as incentives for them to click off their beloved Instagram and hopefully come onto your list. The incentive is automatically built in from your valuable writing.

If people vibe with what you write, they will want to read more by joining your email list.

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What’s the opportunity cost?

Everything has a price. The question is: Are you prepared to pay it?

To quit something means potential loss of opportunity on that platform. But it may mean increased opportunity where you choose to direct your energy instead.

Today, with two under 3.5 at home full time, I’m not prepared to pay the price to win the Instagram game anymore (that’s why I’ve hardly been active for 3 years despite having close to 200k followers on there…)

But when I was 21, I had nothing to lose and was able to give it my all.

Frankly, it was my life.

What worked 7 years ago, will not work today and I think to recognise and accept change (or evolution?) is essential to stay in line with your intention and be able to give yourself maximum chance to reach your goals (at whatever season you’re in).

Three things to take into consideration when contemplating marketing on social media:

1. How does the platform serve YOU as the creator?

   If the platform sucks every ounce of self-confidence out of you (like comparing yourself to every other seemingly successful artist) then it’s not serving you. It’s draining you and your creative genius.

2. How does the content age?

   How long can your post be found/seen on the platform - this is key especially for the mother makers here who wish to maximize ROI from every minute invested.

3. How does the content you produce for that platform serve the ideal buyer that you want to reach? Think of what someone in the shoes of your buyer would enjoy to engage with.

To talk about financial terminology like buyers, products and services make most artists cringe. It made me cringe when I first started out.

I put my head in the sand for two years thinking that if my art was just good enough - it would sell for itself. Shocker: it didn’t.

Am I a sell—out for speaking about the delicacy of art in such reduced economic terminology? I don’t think so. What you think is out of my box of influence and I’ll leave that to you.

All I’m saying here is to be intentional with why and how you use social media to create the desired emotional response in your ideal buyer.

Whatever works for you, and especially your ideal buyer/reader, is what matters most.

Thanks for reading!

Elin, x

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experience in the comments!

And if you think someone would find value in these reflections too, don’t hesitate to share it ❤️