Katie Brinkley Honed Her Social Media Skills Back in the Days of Myspace.
Katie Brinkley jokes how she started long ago, during the ‘My Space” days of the ‘Top Eight.’ And how she used the early platform to promote bands at her college radio station in Colorado and had a lot of great success with it.
Facebook, in its infancy was only associated with major universities at the time with ‘edu’ extensions. Facebook, as Ms. Brinkley recalls – was essentially an online yearbook for schools that had tens of thousands of students, like University of Michigan. Only accredited universities had access to Facebook, until it was opened to everyone around late 2007.
It’s funny because having a social media marketing degree” wasn’t even a thing when I was in college. And even though I went to a Division II school, I didn’t even have this early access to Facebook. So I started off in media by working at my college radio station just outside of Denver and advertising on Myspace. I helped a number of bands launch their careers on Myspace early in my career and in the early days of social media.
When Facebook First Launched, other Options also Emerged.
In response to Facebook and its initial exclusivity to accredited to universities, that’s when Myspace and Twitter emerged, of course, Instagram and every other platform to follow. Now today we have Tik Tok – and whatever other new platforms are currently on the tech horizon.
Katie Brinkley states – I hear this from so many people — from so many small business owners and entrepreneurs. “Social media won’t work for me; I can’t get it to work for work for me.”
Ms. Brinkley, asserts – “That’s because you started using it without a strategy.” People post the same thing repeatedly across all the platforms.
You hit share – and you’re essentially syndicating all the same content, agrees CEO James Prendamano, who had also broached this topic with a previous guest, social media guru for realtors, Jeremiah JMan Maneiro, who appeared in a previous episode of the Casandra Properties podcast.
Exactly, says Katie Brinkley. Don’t copy and paste the same message. If all platforms were the same, why would there be eight or nine different ones?
Here’s the thing, asserts Katie Brinkley, You don’t have to be on everything. You have to be where your target audience is. You don’t want to spread the same exact content across all the platforms you’re using. Why would they click on your Insta post when they’re already seen it on LinkedIn or Facebook? You can share the same theme of content, but you have to customize it according to the medium you’re using and how you’re delivering the message, even the timing of it.
For example, we see on Facebook that people – mostly women — like answering polls. On Instagram, you see lots of examples of mini blogs, and beautiful photos or video. Insta has six different options to put yourself out there. You need a grid presence, a gallery comprising the following items, Katie Brinkley asserts —
- Stories
- Grid
- Reels – which is the current ‘Tik Tok’ knock-off
- Live
- IGTV
Keep an Eye on Your Digital Metrics
It’s importance to watch your metrics, your audience insights. The platforms provide you with these tools. You need to examine exactly who you’re audience is, when are the engaging, with what are they responding to, and how frequently. Once you get down the formula, it really just takes about an hour a week of your time to manage your social media accounts and engage with your potential clients.
Katie Brinkley: Don’t Be on Everything!
There are different ways to connect with your audience on each platform, and you certainly don’t have to be on all nine of them. It is important to see where your audience is. If your audience is women 20-35, you’d better be on Instagram. Don’t try to master all the platforms. Tailor your content to your audience on across a few platforms that best match your target demographic.
This is not about recreating the wheel with regard to content. Your core theme is the same across the few platforms you’re using. For example, on Instagram – it’s Holiday Dinner Table Photo and a mini—blog descriptions that garner a lot of views among women. On Facebook, perhaps you find people like answering polls more and engage. Post two or three photos and have them vote and engage. On LinkedIn – maybe it’s holiday related on a more business informational level. Market trends over the holidays – LinkedIn is largely men. For example, if you know you’re audience is women – or you’re trying to cultivate an audience of women, you go all in on that platform. That platform, of course, is Instagram.
Katie Has Always Loved Football and Hockey.
Katie Brinkley was an only child and grew up happily playing football and hockey with her dad and the kids in her neighborhood outside the suburbs of Denver. Honestly, she laughs to herself, I think I loved watching them beat the hell out of each other. I enjoy the game, watching the hand signals. I wanted to know what everything meant.
Not unlike Staten Island, a strong sense of community with very fast access to a big city.
Katie Brinkley offers three-month packages of her social media consulting expertise. We help you get you started from the very basics – like starting your own Facebook page.
I post four times a week for my business page. So yes, that’s 25% of the time I am posting a personal post. But during the holidays, I am going
An overall grid is what you need to envision – a gallery. This is what you must have – a place where people can go to and instantly visually know what your company is about and what you value.
James Prendamano asks Katie Brinkley – What is the #1 on the ‘DO NOT DO’ List when it comes to social media –
The Best Advice Katie Brinkley has to Offer . . .
Don’t be the annoying guy at the party. So, don’t be the guy at the party who comes in, corners you, and all he does is talk about himself for the next two hours, and then he turns around and walks away. He never says, ‘Hey – tell me, what do you do? How long have you lived in this area? Tell me about you a little. . .’
Katie Brinkley Asserts It’s Called ‘Social Media’ for a Reason.
Try to be social on it. A very common trap that I see a lot of businesses fall into is that I see them just go on there and sell the whole time. Obviously, everyone needs a job – you are on social media, so people are going to try to sell to you she admits, laughingly. But at the same time, you can tell when an ad comes through versus an organic post. Don’t just show up in people’s feeds just to sell to them. Be there to provide value and be there to be social. A good rule of thumb is that 25% of the time you want your posts to be ‘social’ and centered around your values, your interests, you as a person – not a salesperson.
Katie Brinkley, in fact, co-hosts an NFL -related podcast, Across the Pond. Her picks for this year’s Superbowl are the Packers and The Chiefs, incidentally!
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