On social media, we often get caught up in appearances. The gorgeous visuals, the eye-catching graphics, the viral videos, but often the brands and businesses having the most impact on social media are the ones consistently showing up and being responsive to the needs of their audience.

As business owners, we’ve been coached and nurtured to sell, sell, sell our product, but constant self-promotion is NOT what audiences on social media respond to. They know the marketing schemes and click-bait posts, and they are savvy enough to know when something is a pitch versus a genuine story being told.

So here at Molly Knuth Media, I’m going to tell you that for the next week, I want you to refocus your online marketing efforts.

Rather than telling your audience about a recent project or promotion that you are offering up, I want you to ask them a question.

Rather than a picture of you at work, I want you to share the story of a client or customer who had a problem solved as a result of your product or service.

Rather than asking people to follow you, I want you to go out and comment on two posts for other small businesses in your local area.

In short, I want you to get back to the roots of what social media was created for: not to sell products, but to connect people.

People are the heart of any business, whether it’s the people you employ, the people you use your product or service, or the people you support with your profits. But when we think about social media, we get caught up in the statistics and overlook the heart and soul on other side of the comments and “likes.”

Let’s get back to our roots, shall we? Let’s get social again.

Below is a downloadable PDF that you can use as a tool to grow your business’ social media presence without the needing to post new content each day on Facebook and Insta. Designed to remind you to keep the social in your social media strategy, you simply check the boxes each day and week that you complete the steps. After a month, these steps will become habits that help you serve the needs of your social media audience and create an active, loyal following on your social spheres.

Questions about how it works? Head over to www.facebook.com/mollyknuthmedia/videos to see the training for this tool along with a few helpful tips and tricks from Molly Knuth herself.