The "Be Everywhere" social media strategy is broken.
Hey Pod Pals!
This newsletter was lovingly curated (without the use of any AI) in real time on Thursday morning at 9:14am CST.
I don't normally do any work on Thanksgiving, but this year we don't have anything going on until this evening so I decided to stick to my normal newsletter writing routine.
Real quick before we dive into this week's topic.... ⤵️
I'm going to record 4-5 Podcast GROWTH Audit episodes in December.
You can APPLY HERE if you are interested in a free 30 minute session with me where you come on the show to get some 1:1 coaching on how to ramp up your download numbers.
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This week we are going to answer this question:
🚨 Do we have to "be everywhere" on social media in order to grow our audience?
When I launched my first podcast back in 2015 the whole "be everywhere" mantra wasn't a thing yet...basically because if you were posting on Facebook you were pretty much "everywhere"....LOL.
But within a few short years, as other platforms started to really take off, the pressure was ON to have a significant presence on all of the platforms.
👉 Here's my quick definition of the Be Everywhere strategy:
The goal is to create a piece of content and repurpose it for as many platforms as possible in order to have a presence on those platforms.
One of my favorite stories is about when live-streaming first became a thing.
I immediately jumped on this trend because I do not mind throwing my face on camera and doing my thing for all to see on social media!
In order to "be everywhere" as I live-streamed I had a very unique strategy.
I had acquired five old iPhones from my clients (I still owned my fitness facility at this time).....and I attached each of these to a piece of plywood via duct tape.
When it was time for my live-stream I would go live on one platform per phone all at once!....SO efficient...LOL!
Let's unpack a few reasons as to why the Be Everywhere strategy isn't working anymore for content creators:
1. People are using off platform scheduling tools to be on all platforms.
It is a proven fact that ALL social media platforms hate it when you use a non native app to schedule and post your content.
If you don't believe me then try this experiment: Post on one social media platform natively for 7 days and then use a non native posting app for 7 days.
You will see a HUGE difference in the amount of views the native posts get.
People are using these scheduling tools in the name of efficiency and at the same time they are missing out on the thing that they actually want.....exposure to their audience!
Reminder: Just posting content isn't the thing we are after....getting our audience in front of our content IS.
2. Most repurposed content isn't speaking the "native language" of every platform.
Here's an example: Images/Videos do TERRIBLE on Threads which is a text focused platform.
So when people try to repurpose their IG Reels to Threads they perform terribly.
If you are going to repurpose content, please make sure that the content makes sense for the platform you are repurposing it onto:
Text Based > Text Based (Threads, Twitter, Substack, maybe LinkedIn)
Video based > Video based (IG, TikTok, YouTube)
3. The Be Everywhere strategy leads to negative thoughts, burnout, and quitting.
When we put all of this effort into creating content on multiple platforms and we are seeing almost zero ROI (audience growth, engagement, etc).....we get frustrated!
When I put up a poll on social that says something along the lines of "Do you feel like you are burning out on social media?"....80%+ say hell to the yes!
So here's what I propose that you try to do instead of being everywhere:
Show up on as FEW social media platforms as possible and create UNIQUE content.
I started doing this about this time last year and I had so many people tell me that I was CRAZY....and that I was missing out on so much audience growth and potential clients!
So if you do try this strategy be warned....you will feel the FOMO and you will feel it often.
If you are OK with that....then give this a try:
✅ 1. Start with one platform that you LOVE creating content on.
If you aren't sure, then I would just go with your gut about whether you like text based or video based content and start with one of those.
If you still aren't sure....then go with the platform that makes you puke in your mouth the least when you are on it.
✅ 2. Start creating one piece of content for that platform daily and really learn the language of that platform.
Figure out what works and what doesn't work. Then double down on what seems to work well.
✅ 3. Be sure to save and organize your content for this platform.
I use a Google Doc for all of my Threads content. This will allow you to refine and reuse it all....this is a game changer!
My Threads content Google Doc is almost 200 pages long!
Once you get in your content creation groove you will find some opportunities for some easy repurposing.
Here's an example:
✔️ I will create a long form text only post for Threads (my primary focus platform).
✔️ I will take the hook from that post, slap it on an image/video, and use the rest of the text as the copy within a post for IG, Substack, LinkedIn etc. (This takes me less than 2 minutes).
*Note: I don't record any new video or take new pics for this repurposing procedure. I just use video/images from when I've spoken on stage in the past at conferences, etc.
*Note: I still get very little growth/engagement/ANYTHING out of these repurposed posts.....so they aren't really necessary.
Here is my main takeaway as I've gone through this social media strategy transition over the past year:
I'm definitely missing out on the potential audience growth opportunity by not being active on ALL of the platforms....BUT...
➡️ I'm 100% willing to trade out that potential growth opportunity for the concrete results I'm getting like:
🏆 New followers daily.
🏆 Great audience engagement.
🏆 People subscribing to my podcast.
🏆 People subscribing to my newsletter.
🏆 New Clients.
🏆 My sanity, 3 day work week, more time to work with actual clients, time to go to the gym, etc.
Last thing to keep in mind: If you give my minimalist social media strategy a try and you hate it....you can always go back to trying to be everywhere.
You have absolutely nothing to lose......and you might end up really liking the results you get!
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🤩 Client Testimonial of the week: My client Kari Jo Patterson has a show called the Esthetician podcast.
Check out what she has to say about being in my 1:1 coaching program:
"Hiring Adam has completely changed my online business and podcasting game plan. After doing 1:1 coaching with Adam I now actually have systems in place and I'm turning my podcast listeners into coaching clients! The biggest change I've seen so far is getting back my time freedom. I used to spend HOURS per day on social media and now my podcast does the heavy lifting for me. If you are feeling overwhelmed as a business owner and you need some help, you need to hire Adam!"
If you are feeling ready for some help I've got THREE coaching options for you to check out.
New Content for this week:
🎙️ Podcasting Business School EP 597: My 1x15x1 SIMPLE Social Media Strategy.
Like I talked about earlier....people are BURNING OUT from trying to be everywhere.
My 1x15x1 strategy is the antidote for content creators that are ready to try a different approach. It has worked extremely well for me!
🚨 Attend my next FREE Workshop:
Five strategies for growing your podcast audience WITHOUT social media: Wednesday, December 3rd at 3pm EST
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Talk to you next week!
Your Pod Pal,
Adam
⭐️ P.S. Ready for some help with your podcast launch, growth, or with getting more clients from your podcast?
Hop on my calendar for a Podcast Profit Potential Discovery Call and we can discuss how we can work together.