Social media ‘sins’, fails and saves
Ahh, Instagram. Social media is such a huge piece of the marketing puzzle for us business owners in 2025. So I’ll come right out and ask: Are you guilty of these social media sins?
- The post & ghost: You’ll feel inspired, post a few times in one week, and then…crickets. Sometimes you’re just too flat out, other times nothing comes to mind! And the more you see other people showing up online, the HARDER it feels to put anything out there at all. So you ghost. 👻
- Spam with pretty feed-fillers: Maybe you've got a killer photo to share, or have designed something that looks cool and duh, you want to show it off! Showcasing your work is great, but if there's no detail in the caption, story, or substance to go with it...it often won’t hit the mark. This can result in a bit of confusion, or people might just come to window shop. They might follow you but not understand what you’re offering, or they might not feel compelled to take any actions (except maybe chucking you a like!). They’re just following because they like seeing your aesthetic on via their phone screen. And unfortunately, that doesn’t pay the bills!
- The old Homer Simpson: You get overwhelmed by opening the gram and seeing what everyone else is posting so you just do a Homer Simpson and disappear into the bushes…
Fear not friends, I am guilty of all of the above! I think we’ve all had our experiences with inconsistent posting, unclear messaging and disappearing on our audience.
All those who can relate say hiii in the comments! It's hard to show up online and keep the momentum going. I'll be the first to say that there's no pressure to be perfect, but what helps (and makes this whole thing a bit more fun) is these three things:
Forward-planning. Set out a strategy and make time to come up with ideas, record or take photos for content and do this regularly (weekly, fortnightly!). If you’re under the pump or feeling stuck for ideas, your content plan will always have your back because you’ve already put the time / effort in! (Or if you’re subscribed to one of my social media packages, I’ve already done it for you 😉)
Focus! List your objectives, and be really clear on what you’re selling or sharing. If you understand why you’re posting and how to connect with your crew, it’ll get so much easier and less headachey!
Make it YOURS. Add your own spin on things. Think about how you can add your unique POV, some thought leadership, a sprinkle of your personality!
Running a business means your plate is already overflowing with things to do (and things you were supposed to do yesterday). So I'm not going to tell you that you have to feed the machine or that you have to strictly follow a plan to post x number of times a week, in order to be considered a social media success! Showing up is half the battle. Don’t be hard on yourself, but when you finally make time for it, use that time to be strategic! It’ll pay off.
I know it’s tempting, but resist the urge to post something just for the sake of adding to the feed. I've done that in the past, and those thoughtless ‘nothing’ posts that are a knee-jerk reaction to 'oh no, I haven't posted recently...this will do' are ALWAYS the posts I end up archiving. They don't have meaning and often don’t have impact, so what's the point? This isn't Pinterest, or a Facebook status from 2009. We’re businesses trying to develop relationships and build a client list.
When it comes to content, the emphasis is on the word quality, not quantity. A business posting religiously 5 times a week without much thought or substance VS one that posts twice a week with really good content? The latter is going to be doing better, I promise.
If you are sitting here nodding along, and know that you’re feeling a bit stuck — my social media retainers could be just the thing to help you map out your content, in advance! We can workshop ideas and create a *strategy* so that each time you need to create new posts, there is a bit more method than madness.
And even a little bit of magic to go the extra distance.
