The Most Common Mistake People Make When Posting on Social Media

"The key to success is not doing more- but doing what works."

~Unknown

Many businesses use their social media business pages as promotional bulletin boards. They

don't understand the nuances of being “social”.

This is when the Pareto Principle is very helpful.

The Pareto principle states that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from

20% of the causes (the “vital few”).[1]

Other names for this principle are the 80/20 rule, the law of the vital few, or the principle of factor sparsity.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle

What is the 80/20 rule? The 80/20 rule indicates that 80% of social media posts should be useful

to your audience.

What is the 80/20 Rule for Social Media?

There is an 80/20 rule that applies specifically to social media marketing. This one says that

80% of your social media posts should be non-promotional.

Meaning, it educates, entertains, or offers a solution to their problems. And only 20% should explicitly promote your business. While the rest, well, you can do whatever you want with them.

Ready to Level Up Your Social Media Playbook? Discover Proven Strategies to Boost Engagement, Attract Followers, and Drive Real Results!

The concept of the 80/20 rule is simple: 80 percent of your social media activity should be geared toward providing something to your audience. The other 20 percent can be devoted to promoting yourself or your business.

Essentially, you want to give your audience what they seek. Connection, entertainment,

information, and solutions for their problems.

Doing this will help you gain and keep their attention, and help you build a relationship. The relationship part is important. Buying from those we know appears to be a part of human

nature.

How to Use the 80/20 Rule for Social Media Marketing Success

Humans are visual creatures.

Posts that contain photos and videos tend to command the most attention.

You also should ask yourself what problems your audience is looking to solve.

Listen to the key issues and challenges your audience faces, and consider exactly

how your products and services fit.

Then post content with researched answers that help provide value for solving the reader's problems.

This tried-and-true method of engagement increases the rate of conversion for those companies

that make use of it.

How does it apply to your social media marketing?

The theory is that the best ratio for engaging and shared content vs sales-led messaging and content is 80/20.

So only 20% of your business social media posts should be focused on selling

to your audience or promoting your brand.

You should be aiming to resonate with your followers in many other ways with the occasional ‘salesy’ post thrown in. Remember that social media is social and your primary aim should be to: Entertain — Inform — Educate

To understand how brand personality impacts purchasing decisions, Sprout Social surveyed

1,000 consumers on which traits they want brands to demonstrate on social media.

How to Identify Content That Falls Into the 20%

Social media is about being "social" and interacting, not broadcasting your latest offer. Or

pitching your latest deal.

If you are communicating:

● special offer

● promoting your own ticketed event

● talking about your products or services

You have something to sell.

If your content has:

• call-to-action that aims to deliver a lead

• a sale

• or an inquiry

It is sales-led content.

Only Two Out of Ten Pieces of Your Social Media Content Should be Directly Sales-Focused

Far too many unknowing bloggers and businesses jumped on the social media train to promote

their products. They became very frustrated because nobody wanted to follow their promotional

messages. And their marketing failed thoroughly.

You can hear a pin drop on their business pages from the deadpan silence that no engagement

brings.

Translated, the 80/20 rule applied to content and social media boils down to: “It’s not about me,

it’s about you.” The rule holds that 80 percent of your posts are not about you or your content.

Your posts are about the topics your business and social sphere would find interesting, relevant,

or helpful.

Ready to Level Up Your Social Media Playbook? Discover Proven Strategies to Boost Engagement, Attract Followers, and Drive Real Results!