One of the most important aspects of managing social media is showing up consistently. However, most of us know that it’s easier said than done. That’s why, this week on the chat, we spoke to the social media strategist at MIT, Jenny Fowler, about how brands can build a strategy that’s sustainable in the long term. Here’s a summary of our chat.
Guest: Jenny Fowler
Topic: Building a sustainable strategy on social media
Format: Eight questions directed at the guest. Everyone’s welcome to share.
It’s realizing that social media is a marathon. To have a sustainable strategy means you have a clear goal with a steady stream of content ready for use.
A1. It’s having a clear goal/reason for using social media, a steady stream of content, and a plan you can execute for a long time. Social media is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. #TwitterSmarter
— Jenny Li Fowler, 이경실 (@TheJennyLi) June 16, 2022
As Sabrina added, a sustainable social media strategy identifies you as a leader in your field. It shows that you’re experienced and that you have a solid plan for what you want to do and how.
A1: It's a strategy that identifies you as a serious expert or authority in your field, intentional about your efforts for long-term success #TwitterSmarter
— Sabrina Cadini (@SabrinaCadini) June 16, 2022
According to our guest, one of the biggest mistakes people make is getting started without really recognizing the effort it takes to maintain a social media handle. This includes not having enough content ideas and creatives, and not knowing who their audience is.
A2. I’ve seen so many people create new social accounts w/o having any content to publish. There’s a lot of discovery work that should be done before an account is created. For starters:
Is your audience on this platform?
Do you have the right resources?#TwitterSmarter— Jenny Li Fowler, 이경실 (@TheJennyLi) June 16, 2022
Another common mistake people often make is expecting to become an overnight success, as Jelle pointed out. Social media is a long-term game.
A2: They start with the goal, need and expectation to get a lot of followers in a short amount of time.
Yup, I've made this mistake in the past too. #TwitterSmarter
— Jelle Postma (@JelleTells) June 16, 2022
Engagement rate, undoubtedly, is one of the most important metrics you can track on social media. The more engagement you get, the wider your reach will grow, resulting in increased followers. That said, though, achieving a high engagement rate isn’t as easy as it sounds. It takes long-term effort and dedication to build up your social media handles and credibility.
A3. For me, it’s engagements, hands down.
There is one equation I know to be true for social media. More engagements will organically stretch your reach which = more followers. It’s that simple but it’s not easy. #TwitterSmarter
— Jenny Li Fowler, 이경실 (@TheJennyLi) June 16, 2022
As Lance added, a 3% engagement rate is excellent, but anything less than 1% indicates that your audience isn’t as engaged with your content as they could be. This means you need to invest more effort into identifying and offering what your audience wants.
#TwitterSmarter A3b: If the engagement rate is higher than 3%, that is a good sign that their audience is very engaged with their content, and if it is below 1%, it means their audience as a whole is not very engaged with their content. pic.twitter.com/e4tj41e9YD
— Lance A Schart 🇺🇦 (@LanceASchart) June 16, 2022
One of the best things about social media, and Twitter, in particular, is that there’s a near-instant feedback loop. This means that people are constantly talking about their likes and dislikes on social media, advocating for brands they prefer, and commenting on brands that didn’t meet their expectations. If you listen to them, you can create content that directly addresses their needs and concerns. Doing so will also get your audience’s attention.
A4. People are always expressing their opinion on social media. What they like, what they dislike, how they’re feeling, what their pain points are, It’s an immediate feedback loop.
When you create content that shows you’re listening they will take notice. #TwitterSmarter
— Jenny Li Fowler, 이경실 (@TheJennyLi) June 16, 2022
As Cornelius added, listening to your audience also helps you find out what type of content performs well and what more you should share.
A4.
👉 Relevance- you able to create content that's relatable.
👉 Performance – content based on what audience wants performs better.#TwitterSmarter.— Cornelius 🇰🇪. (@MKenyaFulani48) June 16, 2022
Nope. To build a large—and engaged—audience, you need to be relatable to people. Doing so requires having meaningful conversations and building relationships with those who interact with you on social media. There’s no shortcut to achieving that.
A5. No.
Growth hacks involve numbers while growing a community involves people. Building a meaningful audience is essentially relationship building which takes time. #TwitterSmarter
— Jenny Li Fowler, 이경실 (@TheJennyLi) June 16, 2022
Yes, you can. There are hundreds of social media management tools that help you schedule your posts in advance. That can be an effective way to ensure that you show up consistently. That said, though, it’s also important not to rely entirely on automation. Growing your audience is all about great conversations, and automation can’t always help with that.
A6. It can be a really helpful tool. I schedule most of my Tweets for the day in the morning and it keeps you active on social media beyond regular business hours. Don't ignore your audiences on the other side of the globe.
But it’s important not to rely on it. #TwitterSmarter
— Jenny Li Fowler, 이경실 (@TheJennyLi) June 16, 2022
Vinnie also emphasized that automation can be a helpful tool. But real growth comes from having conversations—on Twitter chats and Spaces.
A6: For consistency, you probably need automation. And you'll get followers with that consistency. But audience growth is a product of real-time engagement. My audience grows substantially with conversations that take place in both chats and Spaces. #TwitterSmarter
— ASICentral (@asicentral) June 16, 2022
Don’t make any sudden changes to your strategy. Instead, as our guest recommends, observe what each algorithm change involves and how it impacts people’s social media experiences. Once you’re familiar with what the algorithm is doing, you can gradually make changes to your own strategy.
A7. Stay the course.
Algorithms are created to get to know our patterns and preferences. Let the new algorithm get to know you and take your time to familiarize yourself with it. Make changes over time that are aligned with your current strategy if need be. #TwitterSmarter
— Jenny Li Fowler, 이경실 (@TheJennyLi) June 16, 2022
As Jenna from Nimble also added, focus on your long-term goals, rather than making decisions for short-term benefits.
A7: Go with the flow 🌊 Don't try too hard to adjust every time theres a change. ~Jenna #TwitterSmarter
— Nimble (@Nimble) June 16, 2022
It’s the toughest thing to do, but consistency is the key to managing a social media channel successfully. Having a big picture plan will help you build a consistent social media strategy.
A8. Consistency
Be consistent with the quality of your content and the quantity of your content. Every single post is a part of a greater body of work. #TwitterSmarter
— Jenny Li Fowler, 이경실 (@TheJennyLi) June 16, 2022
Debi added a few more important aspects of managing social media, including having a clear brand message and calls to action.
A8 Important aspects of managing social
* Consistency
* Clear Brand message
* Clarity
* Provide Call to Action#twittersmarter— Debi Norton (@BRAVOMedia1) June 16, 2022
Well folks, that’s all from me this week. Thanks for reading through and for more great insights from our chat with Jenny, have a look at this Twitter Moment that Joana put together for us. If you think this summary is pretty good, you’ll love the real-time chat. Join us next Thursday at 1pm ET for #TwitterSmarter. We also hang out on Twitter Spaces at 5pm ET to continue our chat. Catch you there!
About me, Narmadhaa:
I write all the things—marketing stuff to pay the bills; haiku and short stories so I feel wholesome. A social media enthusiast, I hang out with the #TwitterSmarter chat crew, and am always happy to take on writing gigs.
Say hello: The Opinionated Copywriter | LinkedIn | Twitter