There is a lot of change going on with social media at the moment. Not all of it great. Here are platform-specific, benchmarking, general review, and some hot sauce questions to help you transform your freelance social media into something very you.
Social media questions for Instagram:
- What do you want out of the Instagram experience?
- Review your posts. Are you happy with them? What would you change?
- Think about your last three interactions. What did they comprise?
- Did those interactions add value to your business and/or creativity?
- Who are in your FAVOURITES, and do they add value to your business day-to-day?
- Who are you showing love to in your FOLLOWING section today – and will that bring in leads?
- What popular trends can you EXPLORE and exploit right now?
- Have you checked what’s trending on that hashtag you’re about to add to your post?
- Are you creating community by using the #FreelanceJungle hashtag so I can share your content to Stories? Are you reciprocating?
- Are your BIO and your links are still current?
- Are the last three posts you made focussed on clients ready to buy Now, Soon, and Later? Why not?
- After someone has enjoyed your content on Instagram, where do you encourage them to go next?
- Is that next step easy to take and obvious?
- Have you watched Rah’s presentation on Instagram yet?
Social media questions for X/Twitter:
- What does Twitter do for your business?
- Are the people you’d like to talk to still on Twitter?
- Any particular topics you want to discuss on Twitter in the coming week and month?
- If you’ve left, did you tidy your exit or run out screaming?
- Where should your Twitter audience follow you? Is it in your bio and pinned post?
Social media questions for Facebook:
- Are your BIO and ABOUT are up to date?
- If you’ve stopped using your page, have you explained why?
- Do you proactively promote your newsletter via a pinned post, bio, and link?
- Review the GROUPs you are in. Which irrelevant or abandoned groups do you need to ditch to help the algorithm understand what you care about?
- Repeat the process for Facebook Pages. Do your page likes and follows reflect your identity as a business owner, freelancer, and creative?
- Who is on snooze or silent? Is it time to ditch them?
- What blog content can you use as short tips as status updates?
- If you’re lurking in GROUPS instead of interacting, how is that promoting your abilities, personality, adaptability or availability?
- Are you making it easy for leads to hire you?
- How often are you promoting your availability?
Social media questions for LinkedIn:
- What do you want to get out of the LinkedIn experience?
- Who are the leads you want to target via LinkedIn?
- Review your BIO. Do you make it clear to those targets what’s in it for them if they choose to work with you?
- Does your HEADLINE answer the client’s question: “what’s in it for me if I hire you?”
- Does your EXPERIENCE show a development of soft and hard skills from job to job, even if the roles aren’t related?
- Are you attracting peers or clients with your POSTS?
- Weekly question: What are you working on right now? Why would clients care?
- Weekly question: What is happening in your client’s industry right now? Why do you care?
- Have you checked out Karen Hollenbach’s work yet?
Social media questions for YouTube:
- What kinds of viewers would you like to attract on YouTube?
- Does your current content do the job?
- Are you creating content specific to YouTube or simply sharing video you are creating elsewhere? Is it getting watched?
- Think of your YouTube channel as a TV series. Are your topics, ideas, characters (you and them) clear?
- What is one thing you want people to walk away knowing after watching your channel?
- What are the topics for your next three videos?
- Why would the audience care? What problem are you solving for them?
- Have you written a keyword rich CHANNEL ABOUT that has a strong opening line?
- Does your CHANNEL ABOUT expand on that opening line to explain what you do, why you do it, and the benefit for the audience when watching your content?
- Do you introduce yourself as the channel creator and explain why you cared enough to start a channel?
- Are your VIDEO DESCRIPTIONS keyword optimised?
- Do you start each VIDEO DESCRIPTION with a one-line summary of the content?
- Are your HEADERS and LOGOS clear and attractive?
- What action would you like a potential lead to take after watching a video?
- How easy is that to achieve?
Social media questions for Threads:
- Does your BIO reflect the more chilled out, conversational vibe of Threads?
- Who are the leads and allies you’d love to network with?
- What advocacy topics and industry issues would you like to discuss?
- Is Threads worth the effort for your business, personal development, or networking? Are you sure?
Social media questions for Substack:
- Are you using Substack to reach your clients, peers, or attract financial supporters?
- What sorts of topics would your audience like to read?
- Review your BIO. Have you told readers why they’d benefit from reading your stuff?
- Review your WELCOME messages. Are they helping sell your writing to the audience?
- Check out other Substack writers. What do you like and dislike about their approach?
- Have you followed peers from Australia (and the Freelance Jungle) to help build a local experience?
- Have you RECCOMENDED like-minded Substackers to help readers get a sense of where you fit?
- Are you using NOTES to support other creators, share your own content, and explore ideas?
- Are you writing for a Buying Cycle to help create episodic content for your readers to stay inspired?
- What action would you like a reader to take after reading a post?
- What would you like a reader to do as a result of reading you on Substack? Is that easy to achieve?
On other social media:
- Have you checked out Instagram alternative CARA yet?
- Have you logged into MASTDON to see if anything worth noting is happening?
- Have you joined the Freelance Jungle DISCORD and relived your 1990s and noughties forum days?
- If you are a journalist, into politics, or like strong opinions, have you read TRIBEL to see if it fills your Twitter-sized hole?
On any social media, when was the last time you:
- Made a bold statement that helped your clients?
- Advocated for your freelancing peers?
- Acknowledged that times are tough – and providing a call to arms or action-oriented solution to rise the tides of all business boats?
- Checked to make sure your content was accessible to people with disabilities?
- Felt good about your social media interactions?
- Created content that made you surprised, supported, or more connected to the community of that platform?
- Posted something that made you feel nervous but also excited?
- Have you investigated the platform’s scandals, ethics, and principles to ensure they align with your own?
- Checked the formula moves you use (e.g. “it’s been a while since I introduced myself” and other content) are still relevant, fresh, competitive, and appealing?
- Updated your social media strategy?
- Wrote actionable client advice they could apply even if they didn’t hire you?
Some social media benchmarking questions
- Is your content warm, friendly and free from jargon, legalese and geek speak?
- Is the content share-friendly (technical – social media, web share etc)?
- Is the content written in a consumer-friendly format?
- Is your content something that people would want to share it with their friends if their friend needed help?
- Do you make sure that even newbies understand what you do?
- Are you making it easy for your leads to self-research and trust you?
- Is the information fun, click and curiosity inducing, approachable, engaging?
Pull your head out questions for the tougher arm shots.
Caution: only read these if you can self-reflect without experiencing rejection sensitivity.
- Are you prone to judging other people’s social media efforts? Is it stopping you from getting on with your own?
- Are you fabricating scenarios to add drama to your content to get attention? What can you do instead?
- Are you in a clique that makes fun of other social media creators? Ask yourself why five times. Do you still think it’s OK?
- Are you using neg marketing, manipulating, and/or shaming people into reacting on social media? Ask yourself why five times. Do you still think it’s OK?
- Do you have a negative reaction when people don’t pay attention to you on social media. Have you reflected on why that is?
- Are you thinking about what you want to say or following someone else’s playbook, hoping it will work?
- Is the guru you love on social media giving you love in return?
- Did you write that or is that ChatGPT’s opinion (and emoji selection)?
- Are you marketing your business – or marketing your industry?
- Are you sharing how you can add value to the client’s life and solving their problems? Or are you just shouting, “pick me, pick me?”
- Is your social media content boring? What would you like it to talk about instead?
- Are you using stock photos and gimmick memes to get attention that doesn’t last?
- Are you someone else’s jerk presence online? Why?
- Are your vents tactical, useful, solution-oriented and valuable? Or are they shaming, making fun, and a little bit Jerry Springer show?
- How big is the gap between online you and real you?
- Can your clients spot the difference between your posts and your competitors?
- How much of your social media is original, and how much are you nicking from other people’s marketing?
- Do you creep on people you don’t like on social media and then gossip about what they are doing? Ask yourself why five times. Do you still think it’s OK?
- If you’re sceptical about social media, where does it come from? Is it valid? If so, what do you need to change?