Making Social Media Work for You

Social media marketing is hard. You’re not visible, fighting algorithms made for big corporations and influencers. It’s a pay-to-win system that can leave you frustrated and dejected.

However, there are some ways to make your social media experience tolerable — even enjoyable!

Focus on community building

Many editors are introverts, but social media is just that: social. It’s an incredible tool for community building and networking. You can use it to connect with others with similar interests and even make friends.

If you struggle with the courage or energy to post, start out by commenting on others’ posts first. If something resonates with you, leave a comment. Engage genuinely with other editors and authors; start conversations, leave compliments, share your viewpoints and empathize with others. Your mindset with social media should be all about your community. How can you help others? How can you connect with others and get out there?

Reciprocity is key. If you repost something, leave supportive comments, or share helpful tips, then others are more likely to do the same on your own posts. They’ll engage with you in return and possibly reach out for an edit. Other editors may refer work to you if you’ve chatted before.

Don’t know what to post?

Share your personal stories!

Content creation on social media should not be about mass posting generic advice or selling services (though you can occasionally). There’s a sea of content out there, and you want to stand out. How do you do that? By being authentic. Authenticity means staying genuine and true to who you are, including being vulnerable.

Vulnerability on social media can be scary, especially when everyone only posts their wins. But, if you’re brave enough to post your struggles, failures and mistakes and how you’re learning from those experiences, it will pay off massively. Your posts will feel human, which will help others emotionally connect with you and relate to your experiences. Authenticity on social media helped me find clients and projects that were a good fit for me.

Can’t post daily? Don’t worry!

Ditch traditional advice; you don’t need it. What you do need is to find a consistent posting schedule that works with your workflow.

Almost every social media platform algorithm prefers you post around the same time on the same day. Maybe, for you, that’s once a week, Wednesdays at 9 a.m. Or maybe it’s every other Monday at noon. Whatever you decide, be consistent about it.

If it helps, you can use content scheduler software to schedule posts in advance for you on multiple platforms and keep you organized. There are some free and some paid options for this kind of software, with some restrictions on which platforms you can use, so do your research beforehand.

Branding yourself

Branding is overrated. Be yourself.

As an editor, you’re selling the experience of working with you. Authors want to know who you are and if you’re a good fit as a person for them to work with. So be yourself and lean into that!

To be yourself, you must know your values in the editing process. What do you strive to give to clients? How are you uniquely fit for a specific client or project? Showcase that online. For example, my values are empathy, human creativity and collaboration. I run my entire business on these values and call it my editing philosophy.

Make these values accessible and maintain them. Clients will tell other authors what the experience of working with you is like. Other editors will get to know you better so they can refer the right clients or projects to you.

Social media can feel intimidating and difficult, but if you focus on authenticity and community, it can be a fun and rewarding experience.

If you found this post helpful and want to learn more about social media marketing, check out this free PDF! It expands on points made in this post and gives more examples and exercises.

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