Surviving social media marketing: A puppy owner’s guide

7 ways toilet training a puppy is just like starting out in social media 

The little fella above is called Fenris and he’s Copywrite Matters’ new mascot. His main duties are to look cute and make us laugh but anyone with a new pet will know that toilet training is the downside of that coin.

As I wade through the minefield of toilet training a puppy, I’m struck by the parallels to the infancy of business social media marketing. You aren’t really sure what you’re doing, nothing happens as quickly as you’d like and you begin to question yourself.

If you’re getting started with social media marketing for your business, here are seven great tips to get you through it.

1. Educate yourself.

I’ve lost count of the number of articles I’ve read about toilet training puppies but each article reveals a tip worth trying. A quick Google search will reveal a bucket load of educational material about social media, from setting up your social media profiles and ideas for content through to effective social media strategies. If you take the time to bone up (sorry), you’ll accelerate your success.

2. Set the right tone.

Fenris definitely responds differently to the different voices we use. We have a happy “good boy” voice, a firm “sit” voice, and a seriously miffed “bad boy” voice. Establishing your brand’s tone of voice will help to determine how people respond to your updates.

3. Be consistent.

Puppies aren’t mind readers and they don’t have the obedience manual. They are learning from you so it’s important that you’re consistent. The same applies to your social media marketing. Set up a consistent schedule of updates, use a consistent style and tone of voice and your followers will know what they can expect from you.

4. Offer rewards.

Associating good behaviour with lots of praise seems to be a short cut to a well-trained puppy and your social media followers are no different. If you want people to comment on and share your posts, then you need to include a call to action and reward their awesomeness with some personal thanks!

5. Look for signals.

As Fenris is getting the hang of toilet training, he’s starting to give us signals when he wants to go outside. If we miss the signals, it’s clean-up time! If you dig into your social media metrics (like Facebook Insights) you can find out the kind of updates that people like by the number of shares, clicks, comments and so on you get. Take note and adjust your delivery!

6. Allow for mistakes.

When it comes to puppies, those mistakes are messy but they happen. If a business owner tells you they haven’t made mistakes with their social media marketing, they are lying. The best lessons are learned from mistakes. It’s really just a matter of how well you limit the damage. If something doesn’t work, take note, change what you do and keep on going.

7. Be patient.

Every time Fenris “gets” it we are so happy, but he’s not been in training for long enough to get it all the time. You might be looking at other social media pages and their hundreds or even thousands of followers. You’re putting out post after post and not getting a single comment. Don’t stress. If you’re following all the tips from this post, you will get traction. It just takes time. Stick with it.

Do you have some advice you’d give to businesses starting out in social media?

I asked this question on Facebook and got these excellent responses:

Bridie (Bridie’s Typing Services) says: Know your audience (which can take time) and Listen…. don’t just broadcast.

Gavin (Flexitank Australia) says: Be a sponge – learn what others are doing and apply it in your own unique way.

Anna (Copybreak Copywriting Services) says: Be genuine.

Nerida (Admin Bandit) says: Share some of yourself and remember it is a conversation.

Article Writers Australia says: Be regular in your posting is important.

All great tips. What can you add?

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