{The Brilliant Basics}

There are two guiding principles that I encourage my team to think about often: 

* Social Media is an extension of you

* Why should people follow you?

Social platforms are an extension of you or your brand. It's important to craft your voice for these channels and align them with the other content you create. There have been so many times where one of my friend's says "oohh post that on Instagram" and my response is "it's not on brand!" Sometimes it's a bad quality photo, an awkward shot or just something that the whole world doesn't need to see. None the less, craft your voice and always ask yourself "is this on brand?" Social is also an incredible way to continue the conversation with your fans, customers, readers, etc (expanding on this in a few weeks). Does that mean you need to be on every channel? No! Which leads me to the next principle... 

Why should people follow you? So often I find the EXACT same content on someone's Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and website. Why would I follow you on all of your social channels + go to your website if you're sharing the same exact content on all 4 channels? Sending every Instagram to Twitter (and not tweeting anything else) does not count as having a Twitter presence. I'm all about cross promoting content, but it's important to give people reasons to follow you on each and every channel; different platforms require different content. 

As I mentioned above, many people/brands feel like they should be on all platforms and get stressed out keeping up with all of them. Before you jump on a social media platform, there are a few questions to ask yourself: "Why should people follow me? Does this make sense for me or my brand? Will I be able to engage with my audience on all channels?" If you have a tough time answering these questions for any channel then put your focus on the two that you can kick butt on vs. five that will be half-assed (#sorrynotsorry #truth). 

More on engagement and specific tips for each channel coming soon!