In the age of social media, marketing has never been easier. Everything you could possibly need to promote a product or service is right at your fingertips.

But when you’re just starting out, surrounded by all kinds of successful individuals and brands, it’s easy to feel lost and overwhelmed.

Where do you even begin?

Social media marketing isn’t as complex as it might seem. There are a few simple steps that, if you follow them all the way through, will ensure that you successfully find your niche online.

STEP #1 – Make a Decision

Before you do anything else, you need to decide.

There are four BIG decisions you need to make when it comes to social media marketing. 

1. Decide on Your Commitment

How dedicated are you going to be? If you only want to post content on Tuesdays and Thursdays every other week of the month, then don’t even bother.

Marketing your content is a serious commitment. Consistency is an absolute must: you need a consistent tone, consistent formats, and a consistent schedule.

 

There are multiple benefits to staying consistent. Aside from building up a loyal audience, you’ll also:

• Generate more leads
• Improve your SEO ranking
• Present yourself as an expert
• Build brand awareness

2. Decide That You’ll STAY Committed

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Your account won’t be, either.

It’s easy to look at the success of popular accounts and be jealous that they pull in tens of thousands of likes in only a few hours. But overnight success is a myth.

Don’t be upset if your content only pulls in an average of 12 likes. Instead, acknowledge that you have the attention of 12 people and use it as a motivator. Start asking yourself what you can do to reach 15 likes, then 30, then 100.

Success isn’t found by chance. It’s built by dedication and passion.

3. Decide on What You Want to Talk About

So, you’re officially committed to creating and marketing content. You’re also committed to sticking with it even if you can count your followers on one hand. That’s great!

Now what do you talk about?

The “what” isn’t as important as you might think. You can pick a really broad topic to make content about–maybe you want to talk about business, or you might want to talk about gardening.

Whatever you decide to talk about, keep the content consistent. Remember that every account has an audience they’re marketing their content to.

People will follow an account about business marketing, and they’ll follow an account about gardening. But an account that talks business marketing and gardening? Not a lot of overlap between those two groups.

4. Decide That You Don’t Give a Sh*t About Your Haters

It doesn’t matter what “JoeSchmoe3456” has to say about what you post. It doesn’t matter what your friends and family might say about you and your content, either.

All that matters is that you tune them out, not giving a flying f*ck about what your haters say, and keep confident in your approach to social media content and marketing.

Having haters actually means you are moving in the right direction. Not having haters is a sign that your content isn’t popping off.

 

STEP #2 – Consume Related Content

The Internet is overflowing with content. If you want to learn about something, head to Google… I guarantee that you come across dozens of articles, videos and presentations made by other content creators.

And how these creators present their content will give you ideas on how to create and market your own social media content.

Pick 5-10 different accounts that talk about the same topic(s) you want to make content for. Digest as much information as you can–that means reading every article, watching every video, and listening to every podcast.

Of course, you want to make sure that the content you’re consuming is actually worthwhile. Don’t waste 2 hours of your time binging through articles and videos that don’t pull in results!

Here’s 3 easy questions to ask yourself if an account is crushing it in the content department:

1. Do they have the things you want to have?
2. Are they doing the things you want to be doing?
3. Are they behaving the way you want to behave?

If you can answer “Yes” to all these questions, then you’ve found content that crushes it. And that’s the only content worth your time.

Which leads into our next marketing tip…

STEP #3 – Identify Recurring Patterns

Take a good, long look at all the accounts you’ve been researching. If you’ve been paying attention, then you should have picked up on some recurring patterns:

• Do they all post video content?
• Where is their video content coming from? A podcast? A YouTube video?
• How often do they post?
• Do they post stories? How often do they post stories?
• What are they saying when they post stories?
• Do they respond to comments?
• What do their captions look like? How long are they?
• Do they ever try to sell you something?
  • If yes, how do they try to do it?
    • What kind of post is it?
    • How often do they try to sell you something?
  • If not, why do you think that is?

It all ties back to consistency. If you notice any patterns between accounts, then it’s not a coincidence. These accounts have developed a formula that works for their niche, and is tailored for a specific format or platform.

You have the formula for success. Now it’s time to apply it to your own content.

STEP #4 – Emulate Other Creators

Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight: this does NOT mean you’re allowed to plagiarize from somebody else. Plagiarism is more than a scummy practice–it actively harms your SEO ranking in search algorithms.

All you have to do is follow the formula of those other accounts, but add your own unique take on it.

For example, you can paraphrase something that is commonly talked about by other creators to enhance your content. Or you can take an opinion held by other accounts, then offer your own take on it.

If those accounts all used a certain format (videos, articles, etc.), then you can choose to follow in their footsteps. Or you can buck the trend of relying on that one format and present information in a different way.

And there you have it! Social media marketing is as simple as:

1. Making a Decision
2. Consuming Related Content
3. Identifying Recurring Patterns
4. Emulating Other Creators

Remember that your bottom line is earning RESULTS.

That’s why those four steps are important. To get that bottom line, you need to THINK the same way other creators think, and DO the same things other creators do. Then you’ll SUCCEED the same way they succeeded.