Last week, I took the time to clean out our junk drawers, my entire office, and the random closets we have throughout our home. I cleaned out my car & I cleaned up my computers and cell phone.
I feel refreshed to say the least. I spent yesterday scrubbing the WORLD out of my home and it feels so good. There is something so refreshing about a deeply-cleaned home, am I right?!
SO, this week for week two, I’m diving into Social Media for our four week challenge! We’re going to walking through cleaning up your social media accounts and prepping for 2019.
So, let’s go!
Step 1: Start on a fresh foot.
Grab a piece of paper & make notes on WHO you’re trying to share FOR. What do they value? What types of imagery & graphics do they enjoy? Do they prefer instagram stories or do they engage with you on your feed? Really decide who you’ll be speaking to this year so we can begin on a clear path.
Step 2: Clean up highlight covers on instagram.
What highlights do you have? What highlights do you need? If you find your highlights are overwhelming and unnecessary (or that you need new ones to answer FAQs) I definitely suggest cleaning it up.
Step 3: Clean up your bio.
Your bio is literally the #1 selling point for your business on social media and while I’m constantly updating mine year-round, I always suggest updating again with clear CTAs (calls to action) and statements that clearly show who you are, what you do and/or how you help people, and how they can find you in this world. Do you want them to download an opt-in? Say that!
Step 4: Ensure all links work properly.
Nothing is more frustrating than actually wanting to buy what someone on instagram is selling and then realizing their links don’t work and therefore you can’t even grab the item or product. So, ensure you’re linking properly in your bio. I always suggest having an instagram-specific page if you’re needing to redirect to specific pages and links quickly for your followers. While linktree is an option, I prefer not to have it and here’s why: you want your own traffic. When you use linktree, LINKTREE is getting your traffic. If your readers don’t click through to your website, it’s lost traffic.
Step 5: Clean up any platforms you don’t use.
BE REAL WITH YOURSELF – we know you don’t utilize ALLLL these platforms. One thing that annoys me is how everyone hops on ALL platforms immediately when they’re announced. You only need platforms that work best for you, generate clients, and generate traffic. If you’re the type who has to secure your platforms, just create an account and then let it go. If you have platforms you don’t actively use, remove them from your phone so you don’t feel compelled to constantly login.
And for the love of all things…please delete apps off your iphone that waste your time. I know you hear me, Facebook scroller.
Step 6: Try to ensure all links are the same name.
IF you can make it happen, ensure all handles are the same. For example, if your instagram is @mynameis, then make sure your pinterest is pinterest.com/mynameis and your twitter is @mynameis and your email hello@mynameis.com. Not only is it more professional, but it’s easier for your readers to find you.
And if you haven’t secured a domain email OR a domain, please make them simplistic in 2-3 words or less.
Step 7: Clean up Pinterest boards.
We all have Pinterest boards we don’t need (cough *baby boards, wedding boards, what can I cook for my ninth anniversary boards*) but we don’t necessarily need the world to see them.
Oddly enough, in the last few months Pinterest had messed their algorithm up a little during a few updates and my account went from around 400-500,000 views per month to around 150,000. All of a sudden, within the last month, we’re sky rocketing back up to 320,000+. Some days, I jump over 5,000 views – so it’s safe to say that whatever Pinterest is working on, I’m liking it.
You want to archive boards you aren’t using and that won’t bring you traffic or attention. You don’t want to delete them because doing so will hurt your reach. All of the followers from that board will be deleted.
If you have multiple boards that have zero traction but you want to keep them, merge them. For example, my home decor board was doing phenomenal but my Kitchen Inspiration and Bedroom Envy boards were not. So, I merged them. Keep in mind that doing so will delete the boards with zero traction and remove their followers, so you want to ensure you’re actually merging boards that don’t bring traffic.
Step 8: Consider what did not work for you last year.
Did you spend too much time on the wrong platform? Did you stop utilizing your email marketing practices? Did you spam a little often on Instagram over actually building relationships? Instead of beating yourself up over it, make a list of what you did and how you can improve going into the new year.
Step 9: Start Curating Content
Take a few hours during this week to sit down and gather your content for the next 2-4 weeks. By doing this, you’re going to find you feel much less stressed or overwhelmed everyday with what to post. Download Planoly (my absolute favorite) and start adding images and captions. You can even add in bulk hashtag sets to quickly grab as you create captions. And if you’re having issues creating captions, check out this blog post I wrote recently on how I easily write them.
