Ep. 144: MY 2021 SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY ALL LAID OUT SO PAY ATTENTION BEAUTY BUSINESS OWNERS
I'm ready to share my secrets with you.
Yeah, you heard me. I'm ready to tell all.
I am going to share, in detail, my 2021 social media strategy. I am literally going to tell you exactly what my strategy is for this year to experience MASSIVE growth not just on social media but within my business. I'm talking new clients, more sales, more interaction.
If you find yourself constantly complaining about the algorithm, if you're tired of feeling stuck and stagnant while your competitors seem to be thriving, I've got you, girl. I'm here for you, okay? It's not the algorithm. You have complete control over your success. So I'm just going to hand you my social media strategy and we're going to make 2021 a success together. Let's do this.
Here are the episode highlights:
‣‣ [02:48 What is the problem with your social media growth? Why are you stunted? I'll tell you EXACTLY why. And it's not the algorithm.
‣‣ [04:32] I know you're here because you're struggling with social media right now. It's overwhelming BUT - there's a way for you to learn to master it all.
‣‣ [05:22] You know what the difference is between entrepreneurs who burn out and those who reach success? It's that continuous reinvestment.
‣‣ [08:56] Listen. You might feel comfortable where you are...you might think you're doing just fine with your business, with your social media presence, with your sales. But do you really want to be "just fine" or do you want to be the BEST you can be? Don't you want to see what your FULL POTENTIAL is? Or do you want to be run by fear your whole life?
‣‣ [12:26] What is the NUMBER ONE thing you need to get straight, the NUMBER ONE thing you need to know to build a really solid social media marketing strategy?
‣‣ [13:41] Let's talk the importance of knowing your audience.
‣‣ [16:58] A lot of people on social media are focusing on the wrong thing. When you're trying to measure your growth - you're not measuring it accurately. Here's what you should be looking at.
‣‣ [19:55] Okay. Accountability moment: here's my social media strategy for 2021. You can copy this word for word or you can make it your own. Let's do this.
GIVE ME THE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGY BLUEPRINT! (Listen Here)
You can follow me, Sheila Bella, on Instagram @realsheilabella!
Here are the links that were mentioned in the podcast!
Pretty Rich Bosses
7 Figure Instagram Formula
Grow Your Gram
Text me! (310) 388-4588
FOR MY LISTENER BOSS BABES
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FOR MY READER BOSS BABES
You can enjoy a transcript of the podcast here.
Sheila Bella:
Beauty business owners, what's up? This is your wake-up call to profiting in 2021. If you are not visible daily, you are invisible. An online presence is not a suggestion. It is a must. And unfortunately, plenty of business owners recently learned this the hard way, right? So if you want to stay relevant in today's ever-changing beauty industry, you have to be on social media, but a lot of people don't know what to do on social media.
My new free training called Seven Figure Instagram Formula can get you started on how to create seven figure habits on Instagram and get your business up to speed. I used all of these steps in this free training to grow a multiple seven figure beauty business and a multiple seven figure online business. And I want to share them all with you for free. Here's what you got to do to go get it. All you need to do is text the words seven figure formula to my phone number, which is area code 310-388-4588. That's 310-388-4588. Just text seven figure formula and I will text you back the link. I'll see you guys there.
Welcome to Pretty Rich Podcast, where you're totally the heroine of your own story. I'm your host, Sheila Bella and I built a seven figure PMU beauty biz and a seven figure online biz without a degree, without a fancy website or a sugar daddy. And if you and I hang out on here long enough, you're going to start to believe that you can do it, too. How about that for a side effect of listening to this podcast? Because you really can.
I know you think I don't know you, I have no idea who you are, but I do. I really, really do because I am you. I was you and I believe we are all on the same journey together. My perfect job didn't exist, so I created it. The job I wanted wasn't hiring me, wanted nothing to do with me, so I skipped the line and hired myself as CEO just like you can. Consider me your secret beauty biz BFF in case you need to be reminded on a weekly basis that power is never just handed to you, you have to take it. Are you ready, beauty boss? Let's jump in.
Guys, it's not the algorithm. It's not the algorithm. It's your strategy. It's your strategy and it's your content, babe. It's your content. And you know I love you. I love you. And that's why I only tell you the truth. If you're looking to fine-tune your social media strategy for 2021, today, I'm going to lay out my social media strategy so you can pick and choose, pick and choose from it, you know what I mean, or take it. Take the whole thing, right? Because I understand that social media, especially if you're new ... I feel like a social media veteran. I mean, from the days of a Friendster and MySpace, I knew this thing was my calling. I knew, okay?
So yeah, it might seem super daunting given to how much social media is so much more competitive nowadays, and it's getting more and more complex, you guys. If it's overwhelming you now, it's going to keep doing that because they're going to keep adding to it and adding to it and adding to it. I have like five tabs on Instagram, but before it just used to be pictures with just six different types of filters and then they added six more and so now it's insane. They have Reels. I just got my own filter and now there's freaking Clubhouse. There's Clubhouse now. Okay, so guys, don't wait until it gets even more complicated. It is not too late. You got to have a growth mindset, you guys.
Okay, so I'm going to lay out a guide to helping you create a social media marketing plan from scratch, but I'm going to share mine. Now, here's the thing. You're probably wondering how I learned all of this stuff, right? How did I crack the code? And it was not on Google. It wasn't on Google. Listen, this past year, I have spent the most money, the most money on masterminds and online courses and programs than I've ever spent. And my return on investment, my revenue, my results is the highest it's ever been and I keep telling you guys that that is not a coincidence.
Women who invest in themselves go higher. Who's going to go higher? The woman who hangs on to every penny because she's afraid of a rainy day, right, or the woman who takes a part of that and invests it in her growth, a considerable part of it? The more you invest in yourself, the higher your business will grow. The more you invest in your business, the higher the return, because listen, it's just a thought, okay? You spend so much money on Starbucks. I do every day without blinking an eye. Now, before you criticize my Starbucks habits, I've earned this.
Now, my first year of business when I was not making six figures a month, no way. No way. People spend so much money, $88 a week to be exact, on Starbucks. That's $352 a month. Oh, and Target? Don't even get me started. $200 a visit for necessities, stuff for the kitchen, new towels for the bathroom when your old ones are just fine, but it's nice. It's nice. You're doing that because your business isn't a priority. Investing in yourself and in your business is not a priority. When people ask you, "Hey, why don't you do that?" or maybe you're asking yourself or maybe you come across a business coach or program and you're like, "Ugh, gosh, that's so expensive," and you're like, "Impossible right now," you say, right?
What if I told you that the problem is not a money problem? It's not a pandemic problem. It's not the coronavirus. It's not timing. It's not the algorithm. It's that deep down, maybe you don't believe in yourself. You don't think that you're going to work hard in a program. You don't think you can do it. You don't think you can keep up with it. The problem is your self-belief. It's not the mountain we need to conquer. It's ourselves.
When you have an opportunity to learn, to grow, to invest in your business, I want you guys to take a long, hard look in the mirror. Do you really believe in yourself? If you do, you'd do it, but you're probably like, "Oh, Sheila, there's no guarantees with these programs." I'm not even just talking about my business coaching program. I'm talking about any business coaching program that you guys are afraid to invest and you're like, "There's no guarantees." Well, it is a gamble. It's always a gamble. Every class you've ever taken is a gamble. When you first got your permanent makeup certification or last certification, that was a gamble. You didn't know. But now look. You're here. You have the skillset that you didn't have before. You are a great bet, so bet on yourself, sister.
When I dropped some serious dough on a business coach, I was like, "I got this." You got to go into it with that mindset. If you're not in that mindset yet where you're like, "All right, I'm going to take this program and I'm going to crush it. I'm going to change my life," if you don't have that kind of drive, if that's not in you naturally, I think that's got to be the first thing. That confidence, that determination, that no plan B type of mentality, that needs to come first.
And if you have that, if you're serious, if you don't want to end up like ... Guys, there's so many ... I don't know how to say this without it sounding odd or not that nice. There are a lot of permanent makeup artists and lash artists and just hairstylists who've been in the business for 30 years, 30 years, and the most money they've ever made was around the holidays, like 10 grand, 10 grand a month because it was around the holidays and it was busy, but you know what? They live a good life. They do. They have a stable life life, but a part of them knows that if they don't show up to work, nothing happens.
Some people are satisfied with that. And if that's the future you want, if you want to be in this industry for 30 years or more and you want to be like your Aunt Cheryl, your Aunt Cheryl who's been doing permanent makeup for 20 plus years and lives a good life, she has a nice upper middle class home and she's good, right, she has three kids and they're all out of college now. You know Cheryl, Aunt Cheryl, right? She's satisfied. Great. And if that future is satisfying to you, if you're good with that, right, then don't change a thing. Don't take any risks. Don't do anything different. Cheryl didn't. Aunt Cheryl didn't do anything different. She just kept trucking along, trudging along servicing client after client after client and if she got sick, she just canceled her appointments and she stayed a solopreneur. She had an assistant once. She dabbled in social media a little bit, but she was kind of inconsistent. And so yeah, but she's fine. She's fine.
I don't think I'd be satisfied with just that personally. Why? It's not even a money thing. It's not even that. It's just, if I look back and looked at my life and thought that I didn't climb as high as I could climb, I didn't reach my highest potential, I think I would be regretful. I don't want to wonder what if. I don't want to wonder what if. I don't want to look back in my life and think I didn't give it my all, I think because I'm always presented with a bunch of opportunities to grow.
Yeah, I don't want to wonder what would have happened to my life had I taken up that person on their offer to help me grow my business. What would have happened? I don't want to have that kind of regret. What would have happened if I would've just reached out to this influencer or this business coach or this person that obviously knows something that I don't know? What would have happened? How would my life be different?
Guys, we got one shot. We got one shot. It all boils down to you doing the scary thing, making business decisions based on what's good for you in the long run and not based on fear. My kid just walked in. Did you hear me? Stop making business decisions based on fear, but rather make business decisions based on what's good for you in the long run.
Speaking of scary things, I want to show you guys my scary undertaking for 2021, my social media marketing strategy, okay? All right, here we go. All right. Tip number one, you have to set goals that make sense for your business, okay? Is it brand awareness? Is it followers and an audience? Is it engagement? Is it traffic to your sites or is it sales? For me, the entire point of social media is to generate leads and sales. To me, that's my first priority because sales are the most important thing in business. It's what differentiates a successful business from an unsuccessful business. My number one goal for creating social media content is generating leads and sales. Now, I think that the brand awareness, that the followers that I get from that, that is a byproduct. It's not my focus, though.
Okay. The second thing is I would suggest that you guys take the time to think about who your target audience is. Who are you trying to target? What, not just demographic, but psychographic? Is there a specific industry or way of thinking that you want to target? Who do you want to have influence on? Now, with that said, think about who you want to target. And remember that different types of audience are on different types of platforms. Facebook and YouTube, they're great for ads, right? If you want to target millennials or Gen Z, that's Instagram and TikTok. If you want to target women, go to Pinterest. Pinterest is estrogen city. Men are not typically on Pinterest. If you want to target well-educated corporate people, LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the way to go.
I think the most important parts about taking time to research your target audience is figuring out, where are they hanging out? Where are they hanging out? What platforms are they using? Because you don't want to spread yourself too thin. You don't want to be like ... especially if you're a solopreneur and you don't have a big team yet, I would choose two different platforms that you're going to be consistent with.
Now, truth be told there's no way I can be consistent on Instagram, on Facebook, on podcasts and YouTube without a team, without a team, without people helping me. But in the beginning, it was just me. I would record this thing. I would edit it. I would film myself on YouTube. I would shoot it, but having a team really does help me be more omnipresent.
If you're limited on time, as we all are, right, then I would do some research on who your target audience is, where are they hanging out and focus on being consistent on those platforms. Me, my strategy, who am I targeting? I'm targeting the beauty industry. I'm targeting permanent makeup artists and lash artists and a few hairstylists and regular makeup artists, right? That's who I'm targeting.
I'm also targeting online course creators. I want to help beauty professionals who want to create an online course or did create an online course and maybe it's not doing as well as I know it can do. I want to target them because I want them to know I have the anecdote to their problems. And I find that my audience, I know, I know, I know, my audience is on Instagram. It's on podcasts. It's on YouTube. And there is a very specific age range I find that's on Facebook. I focus on those platforms most.
Step three, establish your most important metrics. What are you going to prioritize? Is it reach? Is it clicks? Is it followers? Is it engagement? Is it sentiment even? You have to determine what numbers are you trying to hit? And obviously those numbers need to be in alignment with your goals. For me, what I love, what I really want on social media and what tells me that this post was successful, are DMs. If something was so impactful to you guys that you DM me about it and say, "Sheila, WTF, are you in my head? Get out of my head," that makes me feel so connected to you. That's the point.
And then the second thing, the second metric that I look for are shares. You thought this piece of content was powerful enough that you want all of your followers to see it. That's the goal because it's easy to like and double tap something. It's easy to put emojis on something because you want to make people feel good and you want people to know that you're supporting them. And I love that as well. I love comments. I love reading all the comments. I reply to as many comments as I can to show you guys that I really appreciate it. But ultimately, most important metrics to me are DMs and shares.
Okay, so now you have your goals. You have your metrics that you want to prioritize. Now it's time to create engaging social content, right? At this point you should have a pretty good idea of what you should be publishing based on the goals that you've set for yourself, right? And you probably already know now what platforms you want to focus on. Now, let's talk about your content strategy.
There's time-sensitive posts like stories and they've just gotten more and more popular. They are not going anywhere. Stories are where the people who are really invested in you are watching you and they're hanging out. They look forward to your stories. Stories are where people who are already warm to you get even warmer and your feed should be curated for a cold audience. And there are a lot of tools now on Instagram especially that allows you to be funny, to teach something or to show off your human side in short form video. That's right. I'm talking about Reels. I'm also talking about short IGTV clips.
Okay. Part of my strategy for 2021, I am posting ... Here, I'm going to pull up my schedule so you guys know. You guys can hold me accountable, too, me and my team accountable. On Monday in the AM, I post an educational infographic or inspirational quote that's just a graphic or sometimes a carousel swipe because carousel swipes do better. In the afternoon on Monday, I post a picture, just a still photo of me with a meaningful caption. On Tuesdays are the days that my podcast goes out. My goal on Tuesdays is to post podcast videos, podcast promos. What I've been doing lately is I've been taking a short video clip of the podcast and I've been teasing it on my Instagram. That happens on Tuesdays. And typically the clip is longer than a minute so it actually becomes an IGTV as well as a story.
Now, I have also made a commitment to do four Reels a week. And you're like, "What? That's crazy." The only reason why I came up with this number ... It's not random by any means. I actually took advantage of a call that Instagram was offering creators. I took advantage of a call and they guided me through what I needed to do to grow. And their number one suggestion me was to post at least four Reels a week.
Now, you're like, "Did you really talk to Instagram?" I know a couple of people who also got this call, so yeah, it really was Instagram. It wasn't a DM from a random follower. No, no, no. The notification actually came through the app itself and they weren't selling me anything. They just wanted my feedback on their platform. And yeah, they gave me tips on growth and they were very transparent and said, "We are pushing really hard this year." And that's why I said, "All right, cool. Let's let that be the focus for the year until things change."
The first Reel, I post on Tuesday PM. On Wednesday, I post a graphic that leads to the American Academy of Micropigmentation, which I am the board president of. The AAM PMU board is basically like the ADA for American Dentistry or the Board of Plastic Surgery for plastic surgeons. I am the president of the AAM and therefore I believe that AAM deserves a weekly spot in my feed. In the PM on Wednesday, I post my second Reels.
On Thursday, I make it a point to post some sort of testimonial from someone in my program, inside Pretty Rich Bosses. I think social proof and on a regular basis is so important, especially because my program isn't cheap and I think collecting social proof and just showing social proof to prove to people that we deliver consistent results. What are we going to do? Hire an actor every week with a real social media following who's in permanent makeup or lashes to act out a testimonial for me? No. I want to make sure that people are always reminded that I am a business coach. I help permanent makeup artists, lash artists, and aspiring online entrepreneurs. Whether you're a coach or you want to create an online course, I help them make more money in their businesses. And every Thursday, I prove it. I prove that my program works and it works for everybody on all different levels.
And so if you actually scroll through my IGTVs from the past few months or a year, you'll see that it's pretty consistent. I post a testimonial every Tuesday, whether it's in video form or in text form. Sometimes I'll screenshot a text message that we received from a client or maybe appraisal reports of a win that somebody posted in our private Facebook group, which happens every single day. It's so encouraging. Thursday is the day of the week for that, okay?
And then in the PM on Thursday, I post yet another photo with an inspiring caption or a challenging caption. On Fridays, I will post an IGTV/Live. If you guys have noticed, I go live every Friday with somebody or alone. Typically it's with someone. And lots of times it's also knocking out two birds with one stone and I will have a podcast guest do a live with me, and I will extract the audio from that IGTV and I will make it audio only for you guys here to listen to for your convenience on this podcast. And in the PM on Friday, I'll post another Reels before I head off into the weekend.
Now, on Saturday ... I got to catch my breath. Okay. I just took a sip of water. Okay. On Saturday, I only post once. I only post once on my feed and that is an educational or inspirational infographic. Typically, it's teaching something or it's inspiring you about something and it always has some sort of call to action at the very last slide, okay?
Now, on Sundays is when I post my last Reels of the week, my last Reels of the week. Now, that is just talking about my IG feed, okay? That also goes onto Facebook. But what about podcasts? I record two podcasts and I release them on Tuesdays and Fridays consistently. I also go on stories every single day.
Now, let me give you a tip, okay, because you guys were asking me on Instagram ... Hold on, let me pull up the sticker. You guys said, somebody asked, "What is the best way to grow your Instagram organically and make your audience interact with you?" And it's basically the strategy that I just showed you. But I think the easiest and funnest way, honestly, to make your audience interact with you and to encourage them to interact with you is stories and using stickers.
If you guys pay attention to my stories, I always post my stories with some sort of poll or some sort of emoji or some sort of question box or what is that thing? That knob that shows you, "Hey, how much are you feeling this, right? How much is this relating to you?" Because a lot of times people are silent consumers. I want to know, are you watching me? Because I'm truly about connection. I want to connect with you. I want to talk with you in the DM. I want to ask you about your goals. I want to ask you about your challenges. I don't want my Instagram to be a one-way street of just me talking at people all the time. I think the best way to encourage your audience to interact with you is through tons of calls to action. There's a bunch of CTAs, calls to action, all over my page and definitely all over my stories, okay?
Okay. Before we wrap things up, I just want to answer a couple of more questions. Skin With Love Studio asked two questions. "Is paying for Instagram ads helpful to grow followers on Instagram?" Only if, only if, okay ... this is a two-part question ... only if you don't click on that promote button. They get you so easily. They see that the post is not doing well or it's doing well and they tease you. They're like, "Do you want more?" And they make it so easy seemingly right? They're like, "Do you want to promote this post? Do you want to promote this post?"
It's actually not a good idea to promote through Instagram directly. You get a lot more bang for your buck if you do it through the Facebook Ads Manager, Facebook Ads Manager. There's so many features there and it's basically just a better deal. That's it, just a better deal in general, to go through Facebook Ads Manager and to do it right. It's kind of like this, right? If you go through the promote button, it's like you're spending about ... Let's say you spend $20 and you push it through the promote button. Maybe you'll get two leads out of that. If you use the Facebook Ads Manager and do it the right way, maybe you'll get 200 leads. It's just a much better use of your dollar, okay?
Now, also the second part of that is your ads are not going to convert if your page isn't attractive, right? Because you can lead them to the page, but whether or not they stick around or decide to follow you, you can't force them to do that. You can't pay for real followers. You can't, but you can pay for visibility. If you pay for visibility, you better make sure that your Instagram and your Facebook and your social channels is ready for that type of visibility. Better make sure that your page looks valuable. You better make sure it's aesthetically pleasing, especially if you're in the beauty industry. You better make sure that it gives people a reason to stick around or you're giving people a reason to hit the follow button, right from reading your bio or even just your profile picture, right?
Okay. Second question. "Should a business account be private or public for growth?" Definitely public. Definitely public.
I hope this guide helped you with all of the moving pieces to a robust social media presence. Guys, if this was helpful to you and you want a little bit more, I have a free resource. It is called The Money Social Blueprint. This blueprint is a guide for how to turn your followers into paying clients. And if you want a piece of that, all you got to do is text the words money social or money social blueprint to 310-388-4588. That's 310-388-4588. Text the word money social blueprint or just money social ... I'll know what you're talking about ... and I will text you back the link.
Guys, I hope this was helpful to you. And if it was, please leave me a five star review on iTunes, because those really help me out. And I love reading your reviews and your comments and your honest feedback. And actually, as a thank you, I choose one person, one review leaver, one person that leaves me a review to be able to choose any program of their choice on SheilaBella.com/programs, as long as you leave your Instagram handle so that I know where to find you and how to reach you. Bye friends, until next time. God bless you.
Hey, thanks so much for listening to today's episode of Pretty Rich podcast. If you want to continue the conversation longer, check me out on Instagram. It's my favorite place to connect with you guys @realsheilabella. I'm happy to answer any of your questions or simply to chat and get to know you better. And if you end up doing something super awesome, like screenshotting this episode and reposting out your stories that would put the biggest smile on my face. Don't forget to tag me. I appreciate every share and love feedback from my listeners.
Also, do you have a number? Do you have a number? Because if we're going to keep hanging out, you should probably have my number so you can actually text me. That's right. You can text me at 310-388-4588. And if you're sick and tired of doing business alone, and you're interested in accelerating your success by hiring a business coach or joining our mentorship program called Pretty Rich Bosses, go ahead and just apply. Why not check it out? Go to sheilabella.com/apply and we'll schedule a free strategy session with either myself or one of my advisors.
And of course, I got include my kids, so here to send us off our Beau and Grey. Grey, say, "Share with your friends."
Grey:
Share with your friends.
Sheila Bella:
"Please review my mommy on iTunes."
Grey:
[inaudible 00:33:27] at iTunes.
Sheila Bella:
"Thanks for listening."
Grey:
Thanks for listening.
Sheila Bella:
Hey Beau, can you tell everybody what our family motto is?
Beau:
I can do hard things.
Sheila Bella:
I can do hard things. Good job, buddy.
