By Magen Zawko
With my hands joyfully raised in front of a glowing computer screen in a municipal office space before venturing outside of employment to become a full-time entrepreneur, I foolishly exclaimed, “Thank goodness I’ll never have to fool with social media again!” Boy, was I wrong about that. With over a decade of experience in public relations, photography, graphic design, web design, and social media, I’ve always channeled my creativity into freelancing after my 9-5. My goal was to scale up my freelance ventures, but social media wasn’t originally a part of that plan.
Within a month, multiple businesses and government agencies had reached out to me to assist with their social media, because they noticed the effectiveness of my consistent and creative social communication within my previous career. Whether you are an organization or business, a social media presence is an inevitable and necessary aspect of communicating your brand to the masses. Beyond your presence, consistency is key. Every week, amidst crafting content for multiple brands and platforms, I carve out time to let my own brand’s voice shine. I have my own goals to achieve and a passion for sharing my creativity with the world.
According to Forbes, 76% of social media users have purchased something they saw on social media, and Facebook is the most visited social media site in the U.S. Proof of this: when I finally got over the one-year hurdle of owning a business and really dove into my own social media consistency and strategy, my weekly consistency generated new leads through Facebook that took my business to a whole new level. One lead, for example, had been following me for over five years, since my freelance days. Consistency and expression of my portfolio pushed her to ultimately “make the call.”
As a business owner, you’re a little bit of everything to everyone—and so is your social media presence. Often I hear business owners say, “I never know what to post. It’s so overwhelming!” I get it—pushing that “share” button is very intimidating. And don’t even get me started on the sweat-inducing “Go Live” button. Business owners know what they do because they are busy going through the motions, but the outside world has no clue what amazing things are going on behind the scenes. Providing outsiders with a behind-the-scenes look can further tighten the bond between a customer and your brand. And along with staying consistent with your social media, be sure to have a strategy.
A good rule of thumb for a strategy is to determine what your goals are. Do you need to generate leads to make a sale, inform people about your brand’s mission, or foster customer engagement? Know your audience, create a posting schedule based on when your audience engages the most, and develop your brand’s voice through a variety of content that entertains, informs, and inspires. Execute your strategy by building up a cache of files to pull from that include short 5-second video clips and snaps of what makes your brand unique. Good quality images in creative lighting can also improve engagement.
If you have the luxury of delegating the implementation of your strategy, I highly recommend this, so that you can continue to focus on the passion of your brand instead. Having an approval system is very helpful to be sure that what you delegate accurately represents you. If you’re service-based, you may not have the luxury of delegating tasks. Your personality is your business, and no one can 100 percent imitate that for you. If you are service-based, set time aside each week to schedule your social media at least a week ahead of time to help reduce the stress of yet another task.
Other social strategies to consider:
- Use the same brand fonts, colors and logos throughout your social media graphics for brand recognition.
- Keep your address, hours of operation, and mission statement up-to-date in the “about” section.
- Set up FAQs and automated messages to not miss a beat with a potential customer.
- Always engage with comments on your posts.
- Interact with other brands to further grow your circle of influence.
I utilize these strategies and more within my own brand and social media management for clients. This has resulted in multiple accounts increasing their reach from hundreds to hundreds of thousands. No matter what, your voice is uniquely yours, and that’s your superpower. Don’t stress about trying to be everything to everyone. Cultivate a loyal following of customers who resonate with your authenticity, and they’ll become your most powerful advocates and marketing champions!
About Magen Zawko
Magen Zawko has a BA in News/Editorial Journalism from Western Kentucky University. For three years she invested in her community through journalism and for a decade uplifted the community through public relations positions within local government agencies. Since college, she freelanced as a photographer, graphic designer, web designer, and artist. In 2022, she became the owner of MZ Media and began her entrepreneurial career.
Today, Magen Zawko helps government agencies, nationwide companies, non-profits, and small businesses thrive through her marketing skillset of social media strategy/management, photography, web design/management, and graphic design. She is Co-Chair of the London-Laurel Co. Chamber of Commerce’s Women In Business group in Southeastern Kentucky, is a Leadership Tri-County Class of 2024 graduate, has been deemed a Kentucky Colonel, featured by Kentucky Bride Magazine, named the 2016 Master Musician Festival Artist of the Year, and the recipient of Kentucky Press Association Awards for photography and news writing.
She is married to Stephen Zawko and has two daughters, Evelyn, 5, and Sophie, 2. She enjoys sharing creativity with her girls, adventuring outdoors with the family, and cuddling with her chocolate labradoodle, Walter.
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