Like most of you, I'm a user of most social media platforms: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and most recently, Tumblr (which I'm still trying to figure out...) These are all primarily for personal use like reaching out to my readers, keeping in touch with friends and colleagues, following literary journals, celebs and such.
But recently I've started two "fan" accounts: The Daily Beatle on Twitter (@DailyBeatle) and Bella.Baby.Kitten on Instagram (@bella.baby.kitten).
The Daily Beatle is, as the name suggests, a daily fact of the day account on the Beatles, their music, with the occasional song lyric thrown in. Bella.Baby.Kitten's account has photos and videos of my adorable calico kitten, Bella. (She's gathered quite a following.)
Keeping non-personal social media accounts is great for sharing specific facts/pictures that would drive your personal connections crazy if you posted them on a regular basis. Plus it's great experience for working with professional social media. But it's not as easy as I thought when I started these accounts. Here's what I've learned so far:
Consistency is key.
Sure, I may not feel like posting a quote by Paul McCartney everyday, but you know who cares? My followers. And when you have followers who are expecting a daily fact you gotta follow through. I post to The Daily Beatle every day, and to Bella's account every few days, depending on how many cute pictures I can get.
Gather a following.
This may be the hardest part of developing a non-personal social media account, but ultimately your followers determine whether your account is going to make it or break it. The two big tricks I've learned are a) follow the people you want to follow you and b) hashtags. I have a love/hate relationship with hashtags, but that's one of the big ways you reach your audience. For example, Bella's photo above:
Yeah, the ten hashtags look obnoxious, but it really worked! Also, a cute caption doesn't hurt :)
Don't mix up your personal and fan accounts.
This is a really big pet peeve of mine, which started long before The Daily Beatle and Bella.Baby.Kitten began. You know that one account you follow for cute animal pics or Irish quotes or whatever that posts random news headlines and memes? Yeah, not a fan. I've been guilty a couple times of mixing my accounts up - it's an easy mistake! Just go back and delete whatever it was before you annoy your followers.
Don't be afraid to put yourself out there!
You know, the whole self-advertising agenda. Tell your friends, your other followers (like you lovely readers!), your great-uncle whose heart is still in the Sixties, whoever you think would like or appreciate your account. If they really like it they'll tell their friends...it all pays off.
Be creative.
When I started The Daily Beatle, I wasn't too surprised by the number of Beatles accounts on Twitter. And they're all tweeting the same thing: quotes, facts, lyrics. You have to make yourself stand out from the competition, whether it's through really random facts (Paul and Ringo are both southpaws - who knew?), clever captions or the video I posted of Bella squeaking when about to jump off her scratching post. Be unique, and social media will love you!
Got any suggestions for social media accounts or followers? Share in the comments!
Cheers,
Victoria
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