We all know someone who knows someone else who has the secret sauce to succeed on social media. They have hundreds of hacks for every platform to take your accounts into the stratosphere.

Social media isn’t GTA. You can’t press up, down, R2, circle, down and spawn a thousand followers. I’m only talking about this because I see articles and posts every day full of rubbish 🗑️

Both users with limited social media knowledge and people in this profession come across these, and it draws them to focus on the wrong things. We are easily influenced, whether we work in it full time or do it as a hobby! Let’s debunk a few “hacks”.

Cross posting will give you more exposure

They are different platforms for a reason. Do your research and pick the ones that will actually benefit you. That way, you can make use of every feature they have to offer. I have run a fair few tests cross posting the exact same image and caption, seeing amazing results on one platform and virtually nothing from the other. Run your own tests and bin off the platforms that give you nothing.

Don’t stay on there for the sake of more awareness or an extra contact channel. You give yourself more work and take time away from the platforms that actually help you.

Automatic direct messages are a must have

Now before you come at me, within reason they can work. But social media (in most cases) is more complex with its messaging then a website. Automated responses are great for people who are looking for an answer to something, but for the people who just want to interact with your content, it can be annoying. 

For example, an Instagram story, if someone pops up to a story you’ve made, they could be greeted by an automated response with no relevance to them. This could turn them off from messaging in the future. 

More hashtags the better

This goes for both tags and hashtags. I can tell you first hand that using 30 hashtags for the sole reason of reaching the limit will do absolutely nothing to help you.

Choose a handful of targeted hashtags fully relevant to your post. Even if you have 30 relevant ones, thin it down to the most important that will give you the best bang for your buck. 

It can look tacky sticking loads on, and most of the time if the content is rubbish, no matter the hashtags you use, you won’t get any results.

You need to post daily or become victim to the algorithm

Don’t do this. Even when you start out it can be easy to post everyday. You have loads of post ideas floating about, and then 3 months down the line you’re struggling to get three ideas together each week. This leads to you posting for the sake of it with no real value behind it!

If what you’re posting is actually good content and your audience enjoys it. The algorithm will not treat you any differently than someone who posts every day. Stick to a schedule and make every post count, block out the noise from people advising 20 tweets a day.

It’s stupid and unsustainable.

You need to participate In trends

Knowing when to post is great, but knowing when to stay quiet is even better. Social media users are extremely clued up now and can see straight through a brand posting just to seem like they care. If you post in Pride Month once a year and never mention it again, people will see straight through you and know you’re in it for the likes.

If you genuinely want to support something, make sure you incorporate it into your strategy year round and not only hop on it for the trend.

Got anything you would add? Leave a comment below!