What Every Creator Must Know About Social Media

Note From Tongal: "What Every Creator Must Know About Social Media” is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Write What You Know Tongal Blog Project. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here and stay tuned for more opportunities to Pitch a topic and write for the Tongal Blog!

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“You must have a strong social media presence to make it today.” If you are an aspiring creative, these words probably sound similar to your mom telling you to do your homework. But just because this advice might seem trite, doesn’t make it any less relevant.

The problem is that if you’re anything like me, you would much rather be making cool stuff than pestering your friends and family on Facebook. You work hard, you hone your skills, and you finally produce something you’re extremely proud of. It’s time to show off your creation to the world.

It’s time to jump on social media.

Wrong.

Here's the Catch-22 creators often encounter: by the time you have something great to share, you have no one to share it with! You need to start building an audience before you have any worthwhile work to show off.

As a content creator who previously worked for 10 years in corporate branding and PR, I understand the importance of social media in today's commercial landscape. The good news is you can start attracting an audience without begging for constant self-promotion - and you can start right now.

There’s plenty of information online that touts the importance of social media. But even when these resources do more than recite the same basic messages—such as post consistently and engage with your audience—most of the content is targeted generally, towards small businesses and brands. What works for a local bakery definitely does not apply to an aspiring photographer or cinematographer. Here are some strategies to keep in mind when you’re starting out:

I. Find your platform

Creatives need a social media approach that is tailored specifically to what they do. That means if you are a writer, you’ll want to use different platforms and post different content than a graphic designer. Your first step should be to look for online communities of fellow creatives who are working in the same industry. What platforms are they using. Where do they share their work and share ideas?

For instance, videographers make up a disproportionate share of the users on Vimeo, a video platform marketed towards professionals more than a casual user. New filmmakers should create an account and seek out peers who are also in the early stages of their career. The type of people who will be most likely to respond to your messages and will be willing to offer feedback on your work. It won’t be long before you start running into the same users on other platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram.

II. Consistent Branding

This is a good time to mention that you should have a consistent username across all of your platforms, with the same logo or profile pic. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to find and recognize you. Be diligent in deciding what you want your username to be. You might think to yourself you can always change it later, but everytime you switch to a new name you are making it harder for the people who are already familiar with your work.

III.  Engage with your peers

By expanding your social presence to include aspiring peers in the same industry, you are creating a network of collaborators, commentators, and critics who will be eager to follow and promote your work in exchange for the same kind of feedback in return. You’ve now created a great foundation for growing a substantial and meaningful following.

IV.  Share posts you are genuinely excited about!

With your accounts established and your network starting to grow, you need to focus all of your attention on the type of content you will be posting. Remember, you are aspiring to be a content creator, so this shouldn’t be hard. The best way to increase your presence is to share interesting work. When thinking about what to post, while it’s important to consistently share with all your networks, for the most part you only want to show the best of the best. The only exception would be works in progress, which you would be posting specifically to solicit feedback from your followers.

Most importantly, you need to make social media fun. It’s fun to get likes on a photograph or video you’re particularly proud of. It’s fun discussing your passion with strangers from all over the world. It’s extremely fun to see your first post go viral. Social media needs to be something you look forward to, because that’s the only way that you will have the motivation to tick all the boxes you need to in order to build a meaningful following. When you look forward to posting and are able to be yourself, it makes it easier to be consistent, to be genuine, and to engage with your audience on a regular basis.

Before you know it, you’ll find that you have started to find your audience.