Dear Social Media, I Love You I Hate You

Do you find yourself picking up your iphone to book an appointment and then getting distracted by a notification,  which leads to scrolling through your social newsfeeds,  and then leads you down a  rabbit hole of articles? Before you know it 20 minutes of your precious work day has disappeared and you are left feeling confused about why you picked up your phone in the first place?!?

We pick up our phone on average 85 times a day, and astonishingly, the average person is spending nearly two hours on social media everyday.

Dear Social Media, I Love You I Hate You

Most of us have a bittersweet relationship with social media. Do we love it or do we hate it? Is its making our lives better or worse? It’s a juxtaposition for lots of reasons such as:

It can help us feel closer to our family and friends on the other side of country or the world. But it can also make us feel lonely, and that we’re missing out on all the fun #FOMO.

It can inspire us to do creative things!  Watching others document their passion like art, music, writing and business can inspire us to create for ourselves.  But it can also make us feel disheartened when we compare ourselves to others and question whether we are good enough.

It can keep our finger on the pulse by giving us up-to-date news on what world events are happening around the world and how people are responding. But it can also drain our energy when we are viewing injustice, hatred, and suffering of others.

Dear Social Media, I Love You I Hate You

Does Social Media Make You Feel Bummed Out?

Like anything of power, unless we teach ourselves how to use it in the right way, it can end up controlling us rather than the other way around . But that “right way”  can look and feel differently for different people. For me, I have recently decided to use it in a more intentional and mindful way.

If I spend too much time on social media and don’t walk away from it when I should, I start to feel physical signs as a result: heavy sighing, a clenched jaw and tension in my neck and shoulders. I have learned to realize that these physical signs cause an imbalance in my emotion (goodbye Mr Motivation!), ultimately override my day and prevent me from being productive. It's becoming clearer to see the warning signs that trigger a number of emotional reactions, from initially lighting me up to totally draining my energy.  

As a content strategist, it is my job is to create and promote content across various social media platforms on behalf for my clients and my own business.  I have to be up-to-date on industry news and trends in order to advise clients on what curated content to share. This responsibility has forced me to use social media in a more disciplined way by using the right tools to plan and schedule posts in a more intentional and measurable way.

Let’s Get Intentional!

When potential clients come to Prim’d Marketing for social media marketing help they generally feel overwhelmed and frustrated about the time and effort they are putting into their social posts and feel unsure if what they’re sharing is having any impact on their audience and their business.

I explain to them the importance of being intentional and organized. We start with  with a clear vision of who you are, who you are for, and why you are different (than your competitors). From there you can make a plan to organize what you are going to say, how you are going to say it, and why it is going to benefit others.

Using social media is really about sharing the best of yourself with your audience in a way that feels meaningful to both you and them — not getting caught up in overwhelm and FOMO. And an intentional plan is the best way to stay organized.

A good starting point to help you think about how you can use social media in a more intentional way is by asking yourself these three important questions:

1. How do I want to show up in the world and play a part in people’s lives?
2. What message or type of information do I want to share with others that will be of value them?
3. When and how are the people most important to me or my business spending time on social media?

Join The Mindful Social Movement

We invite you to share your answers with us by sharing a picture on Instagram (tag Prim’d Marketing) or Facebook (tag Prim’d Marketing) about how you are deciding to use social media in a more intentional and mindful way using the hashtag #mindfulsocialmovement.

FREE Prim'd Editorial calendar template 

Ready To Post Intentionally On Social Media?

My favorite way to use social media intentionally is by using an editorial calendar to plan the big picture of a content strategy.

You can download a FREE Editorial Calendar template that will help you get organized and plan out what you are going to post and when in line with launch dates, upcoming blog posts, events, workshops, webinars etc. We customize this tool in line with our client’s businesses e.g for an events company we include the event’s dates, title, location, the caption with the call to action, which client and vendor partners to tag, event hashtags to use, specific URL link, image etc.  

If you are interested in getting more intentional with your business's social media we can help you create a Content Plan and provide ongoing social media management.