Are you a counselor, therapist, or a coach and just thinking about social media gives you anxiety? Discomfort is natural as we were trained to protect our clients’ private medical information. In my previous posts I shared tips on marketing in social media, including Facebook and today I wanted to share with you what I’ve learned about creating inspirational posts on Facebook during the last 5 years since I’ve re-branded myself and created my company Holistic Coaching International. Inspirational posts seem to be one of the best ways to attract new followers.
You need to remember that social media might not give you immediate results as you might have been used to, traditionally by word-of-mouth, professional directories, or website SEO. It’s all about sharing yourself and building relationships with your potential clients and stakeholders. You need to share yourself so that they can trust you. You know what they say; people do business with people they like and trust.
HERE ARE A FEW TIPS TO MAKE YOUR POSTS STAND OUT:
- Use only royalty-free images. There are plenty of good resources including dreamstime.com, istockphoto.com, and pexels.com.
- If you don’t have a budget for a graphic designer or a Photoshop, I recommend using picmonkey.com and canva.com. They use templates and easy publishing tools. Another source is fiverr.com.
- Be positive. People are tired of negative news. People want to have fun and be inspired.
- If you are a counselor, you also tend to be too clinical. Use your clients’ language and stay away from clinical jargon.
- It is generally recommended to share 3 posts a day on your Facebook business page. My mentor Jennifer Sneeden recommends using 4-1-1 formula. This means that out of 6 posts, 4 need to be engaging/fun and 1 promotion (service, event) and 1 clinical (sharing a blog article on a relevant topic).
- Be creative and original. Use your own words and quotes whenever possible. Alternatively, you can create a folder with inspirational quotes from others if your creative juices run out or you really find inspirational posts that speak to you.
- Schedule your posts. Facebook gives you an option to schedule your posts or you can get an external scheduler, such as Gravatar.
Best of luck in your business and don’t worry if some of your posts don’t reach people initially. Get to know your audience as learn what makes them go an extra mile and like/share your posts. Then you are on your way to start building your list by taking them outside of Facebook and start landing those ideal clients!
