Lessons Our Moms Taught Us About Social Media

Growing up is all about learning. From the time we are born, everyone around us has been teaching us new things every single day. However, for most of us, many of life’s important lessons came from one person – our Mother. From lessons of kindness and compassion, to teaching us our ABC’s, lessons from our Moms were the cornerstones to building us into the people we have become today. With Mother’s Day this weekend, we can look back on all of our lessons and apply them to our lives today. But did you ever think that those lessons could be applied to helping your business use social media?  Probably not.

While our Moms may not be able to teach us how to schedule a post on HootSuite, show us how to Periscope or track the reach of a specific tweet, we can take those “old lessons” (most of which I mistook for nagging) and apply them to growing your social media strategy for your business.

Do Your Homework

We may not have dreadful math homework assignments anymore, but social media requires research. Study the audience. What are their interests? What social media platforms do they use? What is their background and education? The questions are endless. Researching and understanding the target audience of a business is huge, and can be vital to the success of social media campaigns. As our owner, Jeff Ryznar, said in the latest roundtable discussion through the Business Journal, “Any company should start off (using social media) by educating themselves.”

Treat Others How You Would Want to be Treated

This is one we all probably heard time and time again. Being kind is a huge part of life, and telling children (and probably some adults) to treat people the way you would want them to treat you is a great way to show the importance of kindness. This works for social media as well. Treating others nicely on social media is crucial, and in a world of screenshots where everything can be saved, nothing can be completely deleted. If we don’t treat customers, clients or anyone else in a respectful manner on social media, it will not be taken lightly or forgotten. Remember, “those who live in glass houses, shouldn’t throw stones.”

Think Before You Speak

Our Moms always told us to make sure we put thought into what we were saying and to not just blurt things out. The same goes for social media. We have all seen horror stories of brands and celebrities under fire for something they posted on social media. Back in 2014, Digiorno quickly jumped in on a top hashtag which read #WhyIStayed. Unfortunately for the company, they didn’t understand the context of the hashtag which was being used to discuss domestic violence. The post was quickly deleted and many apologies followed.  Usually, these tweets or posts are deleted quickly and an apology is involved, but again, they never truly go away. The best way to avoid something like this is to, simply, listen to Mom and think before we speak.

Share

Sharing our favorite toy with our little brother or sister was not fun, but luckily for us, sharing on social media doesn’t involve time outs or tears. When we see something we like or relate to on social media, why not share it with our followers? When we see a blog post or article we enjoy or find educational we share it with our own followers. More than likely others will begin to share our posts and blogs which builds up our follower lists and gets our content further out there into the general public. Sharing is caring, but don’t worry no one is going to make you share your toys.

Be On Time

This is a little different than when our Moms told us church was at 9am and we strolled in 10 minutes late, but timing in social media is just as important. Most things on social media are instant and happening in real time, and while there are tools we can use to schedule posts in advance, it is still important to be ready to post something in real time if necessary. This is especially important when using social media for customer service. It is also important to know the best times of the day to post, and when different posts will perform best. Timing is huge is social media and it is important to be on time and ready for anything.

Always Have a Plan

While we all probably dreaded the questions from Mom about our plans after college, we knew she was right and that having some type of plan was important. In social media, planning out what to post can be a great way to keep track of social campaigns. Keeping a content calendar within the social media or marketing team is a great way of doing this. At 898, we keep a google calendar for the entire month planning out when we will share blog posts, content, and other information with our followers. Nothing has to be set in stone, but planning out topics or times to promote blog posts can keep everyone organized and accountable.

The lessons from our Moms will stick with us forever. We may have thought the rules and lessons were stupid as kids, but as we get older we realize our Moms weren’t actually trying to ruin our lives. Instead, they were just preparing us for the future. We can apply our Moms lessons to everything we do in life even social media and business. So next time you’re thinking about social media for your company, just remember what you learned from Mom along the way, and if you haven’t already today, go call your Mom and say, “Thanks!”

About the Author

Cailyn Chrystal is a Project Manager at 898 Marketing.  Cailyn develops strategies and manages implementation of content through social media channels for 898 Marketing and it’s clients, as well as optimization strategies for websites and content. Cailyn is a native of Youngstown, Ohio, and a graduate of Duquesne University where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing Communications.