Oprah Winfrey is an iconic talk show personality that has gone from being an ordinary news reporter, to being one of the most influential people in the world.
Her emotion centered approach to her interviews made people relate to her show so much. But more than her hosting skills, it’s the lessons she shares that makes her fans love her more.
But her lessons are not just about life. If you look at them in a different perspective, her lessons can also be applied in social media marketing (SMM). You’ll be surprised on how much Oprah’s words can improve your business.
Here are 8 social media lessons you can learn from the Queen of All Media, Oprah:
1. The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.
Do you feel intimidated by other companies who rock their social media pages like they are Hollywood stars? Don’t be because there is always an opportunity for your page to improve. But that opportunity won’t happen if you just wait for it. You have to bold in making it happen. Reading tips from experts, interacting with followers, and experimenting on strategies can help your social media accounts to succeed.
2. My idea of heaven is a great big baked potato and someone to share it with.
Good SMM is all about sharing quality contents to your followers.
– not earning a lot of followers. The quantity of followers is just the result of sharing quality posts. Qualities of a content worth sharing are:
Connects to human emotions (anger, compassion, fear)
Informative and useful
Fresh or written in a new point-of-view
Attention grabbing
Short but concise
Note that you have to mix up your contents. You can add videos, images, infographics, article links, video conferences and many more. Just remember to stick to the tone or image of your company.
3. Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.
As the famous adage says, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Even Oprah had to start with an entry level position before she became big. That is how it is in managing your social media accounts. At first you’ll think that you can’t do it, you will find SMM too taxing, but eventually you’ll navigate platform interfaces like a pro, and learn effective strategies that will augment your page’s success.
4. Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.
In social media, it is intuitive that you follow accounts, which you think will follow you back like spammy and dummy accounts. But that should not be the case. You have to follow influential people, or companies, related to your business to get feeds from the best contents you can share. In addition, you should always check the accounts you follow, and make sure that they are used actively by real people.
5. Think like a Queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.
Do not be afraid to experiment with better strategies to ameliorate your account’s performance.
When you fail, let it become a lesson, so that you won’t commit the same mistake again.
Managing social media sites can be challenging, but usually it only takes time for you to be comfortable in handling these accounts well.
6. You can have it all. You just can’t have it all at once.
Patience. Remember this word.
You can do all expert marketers are suggesting to generate better engagement, but it cannot happen overnight. Know that it takes a lot hard work and time for people to discover your page. If you just keep on updating, you will eventually get their attention.
7. Follow your instincts. That’s where true wisdom manifests itself.
Don’t follow tips online just because they’re from “experts.” Following a strategy still boils down to your decision, whether that strategy will work out or not. Tips online, are simply your guide in finding the fittest steps for your social pages to perform better. Usually your instincts yield better results than what “experts” suggest.
8. What I know is this: If you do work with what you love, and the work fulfills you, the rest will come.
Enjoy what you are doing because this will reflect on your social media pages. Your happiness will reflect on how you answer questions, handle customer complaints, and share interesting posts. This positive attitude will also highlight your business’s empathy towards your clients, which improves your customer relations.
Oprah may not be a marketing specialist, but her lessons are definitely useful, if you just look at them in a different perspective.
Hopefully, these lessons can help you improve your social media pages, and boost your business profit.
Maddy Bertelsen has been writing for years. She contributes articles about education and marketing to various websites, and is currently working as a marketing associate for superiorpapers.com.