The Biggest Social Media Mistake Creatives Make
When you’re just starting out, never spend hours on a single post
I wrapped up my third discovery call of the day and felt frustrated. Was it true what all the creative people I talked to were saying? When asked how much time it took them to put together content, I received responses that ranged from four to eight hours for a single Instagram post. Crazy, right?
This issue plagues many but especially creatives because they crave perfection just as they do for client work. They are makers of things who pride themselves on their attention to detail. But what happens when you know you shouldn’t take this long when it comes to social media content, and that pride becomes stubbornness?
You inconsistently produce beautiful work that nobody sees.
It then becomes a matter of rewiring your thinking to view your current perfection-focused process as flawed. If taking forever were really the ideal way to go about it, then wouldn’t you be feeling better about your social presence? The funny thing about understanding what works for you on social media is how awkward it can be at first. Nobody wants to look silly, and therefore most opt for a more cautious, overly methodical approach as a beginner.
Reasons You Might Hold Yourself Back
- You allow your thoughts to paralyze you into a state of inaction.
- You spend hours on a single post rather than hitting the post button, learning from it, and repeating the process.
- You spend too much time studying others and not enough time actually implementing what you know now.
- You think you’re special and totally exempt from this rule (you are special but you’re not exempt).
- You take social media too seriously, when letting unrefined ideas loose might be just what you need to blossom.
So it’s time for you to stop holding yourself back. You have great content ideas within you, but you need to actually get the ideas out of your system. Have you ever had a really bad idea that actually sparked a really good one? Social strategy in its most simple form is essentially this. It’s a lot of trial and error before finally unlocking what your secret sauce is.
Here’s how you can begin training your brain to embrace the process for creating great social media content.
1. Understand What Matters in the Social Ecosystem
The process for producing client work is highly meticulous, whereas producing content for social is much less demanding. Too many designers get stuck in this content production phase. It makes sense. You’re used to working a certain way when you’re creating, so why not do the same for social?
But the truth is social media is a fast-paced environment where a basic screenshot of thoughts jotted down on your notes app can go viral. The tiny details you think matter don’t matter as much as you think they do. What does matter is the amount of value packed into a post, how efficiently you can package up the aesthetic delivery, and then how quickly and consistently you can distribute the post to repeat this process.
2. Analyze Your Process and Where You Can Simplify
Now that you know you might be overcomplicating some things, what can you remove? Often, when it comes to social media content, creatives dwell on things like which texture they’ll add to a carousel post or making every single post a work of art.
There’s a time and a place to share content that requires more effort. I do not discourage you from posting content like this that takes more time. But it’s important that you are also able to produce helpful, bite-sized pieces quickly.
3. Set a Time Limit and Respect It
When you speak to a potential client and talk about deliverables and deadlines, do you do your best to stick to those dates?
The reason you might be taking too long on your own content is the deep emotional attachment. It’s your baby. When producing client work, you’re able to think objectively and make quick decisions. But there you are sitting at your desk downloading your millionth font file that you might not even use. Nothing is ever good enough, but it’s time that it is. Want to start spending an hour or less per post? Set a time limit and respect it. Either post what you have by then or delete it. Practice makes perfect.
4. Start Small and Be Consistent
Maybe you’re trying to do all the things. As a result, you’re being inconsistent all over the internet’s social media platforms. Maybe you watched a Gary Vee video where the sense of urgency to be everywhere overwhelmed you. While it is a good thing to have a diverse multi-platform presence, it’s not good if it’s not sustainable.
Starting small is not lazy; in fact, it’s smart. Pick a platform, and then pick a number of posts you feel you can easily keep up with. Keep it so simple you have no doubt you can do it. Go do it, and prove to yourself this is true. Once you’ve mastered this, you can up the intensity. Leveling-up could be adding in more posts into the mix or even introducing a new platform. Do what you feel makes sense for you as the next step.
5. Review and Adapt
Creatives tend to tell themselves they can’t do certain things because their brain isn’t wired a certain way. Personally speaking, I’ve been guilty of this when it comes to number-related things. I’m a creative soul, not a numbers person, right?
This thinking will keep you stuck. Reviewing your numbers is an essential part of social media. Keep a spreadsheet tracking your post and page metrics. Understanding the numbers that describe the performance of your content rather than relying on inspiration will help guide you on what to create next. If you know your target audience, know your industry, and know your metrics, you don’t need inspiration. This is how you begin to make content your audience cares about.
Most importantly, know this takes time. Don’t expect to change overnight and see results the next day. I like to compare this process to implementing a change in your lifestyle such as eating better. It can be hard to kick old habits to the curb, but with patience, repetition, and the right mindset, you can turn it all around.
