All Things Social Media with Carmela Vienna

We recorded our chat, but the questions we discussed can be found below:

Hi Carmela! You are the Marketing Coordinator for Zealous – could I ask what this role entails?

Marketing Coordinator is more of an umbrella term for what I do.

My role mainly entails a lot of organic social media work – I want to emphasise that there’s so much more to organic social media than people think, it’s not just posting. It’s everything from researching our target audience which is artists and creatives, ideation of content ideas that they might like to see, creating the content itself, posting it and engaging with our audience with a wider strategy in mind whilst I do it. Our main platforms I’m focusing on are Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.

I also coordinate the monthly newsletter for our creatives and organisations, which involves gathering the latest blog content, opportunities and community news and sending that out to our creatives and organisations every month.

I also help to write some of the editorial content with yourself too, so it’s quite a varied role that keeps me on my toes.

The issue with social media is it is quite fast paced. There seems to be no end to it, with a quick overturn of content always happening. How do you create a strategy which deals with the ever-changing trends?

I think it’s important to first define what we mean by the term ‘strategy’.

A Strategy is a roadmap of your approach to using social media, it’s the foundational structure that determines

1. What your goals are
2. The methods you’re going to achieve them
3. How you’re measuring your success

Strategy looks completely different for everyone depending on what their goals are, but if you know your goals and you’ve planned your route on how to achieve them and you know what you’re measuring to see if you’re successful, your social media approach suddenly becomes a lot easier to manage.

And what we mean by trends on social media is following what’s popular at the time – these can be top trending audios or even popular styles of content.

Trends are a fantastic opportunity to hop on, if your goal is to reach new audiences. It’s the type of content that gets you a lot of eyes. They can actually be part of your strategy, but they shouldn’t be your whole strategy.

Because at the end of the day, who is it your trying to reach?

If your content gets 1 Million eyes on it, how many of those million people are actually relevant people who are interested in what you have to offer?

In essence, something we need to think about here, is:

Trends come and go, but strategy is forever.

After you have published your content, how do you promote it?

The answer to this question might not be the answer that you expect, the answer is…

Engagement.

People often think about social media as just a posting platform, but it’s not.

Social media is a two way dialogue.

If you’re posting and ghosting, you might as well not post at all, because…

You need to TALK to people

There are several simple ways you can do this :

• Comment on their post, add some value to what they’re talking about
• Direct Message people if you want to extend a 1-2-1 conversation
• Reply to their story

Liking someone’s post doesn’t make you memorable, especially if they’re a popular account with lots of follows. But you’re much more likely to remember who Comments, DMs and Replies.

So that’s the best way to ‘promote’ organic content, because the more time and effort you put into checking other people out, you’re naturally going to be the freshest person in their memory and they’re much more likely to then respond to what you’re doing and check our your profile.

How do you measure the success of your content?

There is no one way to measure success, because success looks different to everyone.

Whilst one version of someone’s success might look like getting out of bed and going to work on time in the morning, another persons might be completing a Marathon or writing a book or travelling to a new country.

It’s the same for social media content.

Sophie Miller who is the founder of Pretty Little Marketer did an excellent webinar the other day with Planable about decoding social media analytics – I really encourage you to check out @prettylittlemarketer on Instagram, Sophie is an absolute genius and her goal is to make social media simple, she’s been a lifesaver of mine when it comes to understanding all these things.

But I’ll just summarise what she said about success metrics which I 100% agree with:

If your goal is X, then you should focus on measuring Y

If your goal is Advocacy = Then you should focus on measuring Shares and Comments Brand Awareness = Shares, Saves, Reach, Profile Visits Growth = Follower count, Impressions Leads and Sales = Clicks and Conversion rates

But success shouldn’t just be measured by metrics alone.

I think this is where people might get a bit confused, because when people are measuring success, they try and make it quantifiable – like it has to be a number or percentage.

But Sophie says there’s three other elements to it which are extremely validating to know:

1. Sentiment = How people FEEL about you > Does your content get people excited? Do they engage with it positively?
2. Social Listening and Advocacy = Identifying your loyal fans > your cheerleaders in the comments, but also the people who are sharing your content and the people who are talking about you through word of mouth
3. Customer Service = If you’re selling your artwork for example, are they satisfied with your service? Do they provide good feedback or testimonials?

So when it comes to Zealous, on the community side of things

Our Goal:

Grow and nurture our community

What we look for:

A combination of things like Brand Awareness, Growth, Sentiment and Advocacy.

BUT

Each piece of content is designed to hit a specific metric or a combination of two metrics. You can’t look to hit every single desired metric in one post, some content you post will be more shareable, and other content will generate more discussion in the comments – so think about what types of content serve each metric target

Also, these metrics can be hit in different stages of your strategy

But if you’re an emerging artist really wanting to kick off your social presence, I would start with building Growth and Brand Awareness for a few months, then overtime your advocacy metrics will naturally increase and you can start to target leads and sales for people to buy your work, subscribe to your service like your newsletter or patreon or whatever else you want them to click.

Are there any rules to social media?

There are no rules to social media – you can go as creative as you want with how you post your content.

But I’d definitely say I have some social media Icks that might as well be rules:

ICKS

• I said this earlier but don’t post and ghost – it’s very unsociable to do that on any platform
• Using links in your instagram caption, or any place where you can’t actually click the link – there’s such a simple solution to this, Post about the thing you’re linking to without pasting the link, Direct them to your bio where you’ll have organised a lovely organised Linktree or similar Share your original post on your story, add the link feature on there and save it in your highlights so it’s easily accessible
• This is a relatively new Ick, but AI-generated comments or any spammy comments in general. You’re most likely to find these on LinkedIn, but they’re essentially just comments summarising what you’ve said in your post in a really robotic way – It takes the ‘social’ out of social media, when social media should be a place for authenticity and conversation, not spam.

What are the benefits of using a professional account?

The benefits and drawbacks of having a professional account or creator account varies on different platforms,

On Instagram I think it’s an essential to have a professional account:

• You get Access to Insights and Analytics Tools > You need access to these metrics to optimise your Strategy
• Add a Contact Button to your Profile > It saves people time digging around for your contact details
• Run Paid Advertising

But I’d always do your research and see what features you need most to make the decision on the account type you use.

What are some of your favourite social media accounts at the moment? Anyone who particularly inspires you?

I’m am such a huge fangirl of Short Supply Mcr who are absolutely smashing their social media game recently.

They are a collective based in Manchester who are really committed to helping emerging artists. Mollie and Rebecca who run Short Supply seem really down to earth, we actually did an Instagram live with Mollie from short supply in 2022.

But they had one viral video towards the end of 2023 which was so hilarious and relatable, it was done to a trending audio at the time and it was all about artists ghosting their art practice. It has over 6 million views and I think they’ve had some popular videos since then, but even before they went viral and grew exponentially, I’d always loved their energy, their attitude, their enthusiasm for what they do, and they have a very distinct brand awareness and tone of voice which works so well for them. I think they worked really hard to get their socials to where they are now and they are so deserving of all the growth and love they’ve received because they’ve poured everything into their community. They gave so much value and entertainment so consistently, and they’ve got return on their investment of time and effort spent on their socials.

So they’re my favourite for community and advice,

But other accounts I love for content are BEHR Paint – spelt B-E-H-R, they’ve recently started doing these beautiful ASMR-like animations which are CGI objects coming out of someone rolling a paint colour down a wall, they’re so satisfying to watch, my favourite one is a cherry colour with Cherrys coming out and there’s a cool fizzing sound like someones just popped open a can of cherry coke in the background.

I also love Phoebe Minson On Instagram for her Lunchtime Gallery Trip content

Do creatives have to have social media to be successful?

Absolutely not. There are ‘successful’ artists who don’t use social media:

Barbara Kruger, Sarah Lucas, Yayoi Kusama, Jenny Saville.

Also we have to remember that there was a time before social media existed, the YBAs didn’t have social media. So what did they do to become successful? They shocked people. They attracted attention from the press.

Banksy has become successful because they’re shrouded in mystery – who is this artist? Banksy first appeared on the scene in the early 1990s. Even though he confirms his artworks on social media, they’re often spotted and talked about before he even posts.

And Rosalba Carriera – an artist in the 18th Century, was successful because she managed to produce work for rich aristocrats due to her efforts to make connections.

But I’m aware we’re not in the 18th Century and social media plays a big part in peoples daily lives, so there are advantages for artists who use it. You can reach someone who wasn’t even looking for you in the first place, it’s free and so accessible.

But social media is ultimately one strand of many different strands of tools that artists can use to be successful.

You have recently started your foray in to TikTok, a short-form video posting platform, which is quite different to the other social media platforms you have been using, How have you found this experience?

It’s still such early days, I am Gen-Z but TikTok still feels so alien to me as a marketer.

I think it’s because it seems like every single rule gets thrown out of the window on here.

It’s the most unhinged platform where the most unexpected things go viral – I think two of the most viral pieces of content this year were a bowl of chocolate covered strawberries and a 50-part story of a woman named Reesa Teesa talk about her lying ex-husband.

I keep experiencing what marketers call the dreaded TikTok jail, where your reach peaks to around 200-300 views within the hour that you post it. But I know there’s so much potential for reach on here, so I think I need to just stick it out and try and be more consistent on there. I was initially going to post on there everyday but this just felt unsustainable for me to do, the last thing marketers want is to actually be chronically online, I don’t think it should be the norm to do this even if it’s your profession.

But yeah I’m still so new to the experience, still finding my feet, seeing how it goes.

You can often be found on LinkedIn, which is people often perceive as a place to find jobs or congratulate your connections on their ‘work anniversary’. Is there a way to navigate this as a creative in a meaningful way?

If you’re not on LinkedIn, you need to get on LinkedIn.

There’s huge opportunity because around 1% of active monthly users are actually posting.

This means 99% of users are just scrolling the platform – there’s so much space and opportunity for you to stand out.

But people avoid it like the plague, because everyone has this view that it’s a corporate platform. Like you said, people have this idea that you only there to search for jobs and people think the only stuff that’s being posted is glorified bragging – I’ve been at this job X many years, I’m a founder who makes over 6 million figures. I promise you it’s not all like that.

People are really transforming LinkedIn with more personal posts – and by personal posts I don’t mean like updates on your family and facts about your dogs – I mean more authentic personal anecdotes and stories which highlight peoples struggles and failures, also wins, but also statistics and valuable information. But it’s done in a way which makes it personal, engaging and informative.

People are building their personal brand on there really successfully and giving away SO much free information. It’s wild how much free quality information is right there at your fingertips on this platform, I’ve literally learned how to be a marketer because of some of the creators on there.

In order to use it in a meaningful way, I can think of a few ways you can use it:

• Optimise your profile to the best of your ability > if people like the look of your profile and description about what you do and what you can offer, they will reach out and offer you opportunities. Describing yourself well and hitting key words in your ‘about’ section of your profile will make you searchable and discoverable. E.g. Mural artist.
• Get in people’s comments by organically engaging > If I commented on your post for example, it opens up a web of potential for me, because all your network might stumble across my comment. If I’ve added something of value or said something interesting or useful, I’ve suddenly reached people who are interested in me. Commenting alone will expand your reach and it’s so simple to do.
• Just start posting bits and bobs – LinkedIn needs more creative people on the platform who are making it a good place to be. Things like Memes are a great break in the feed, you can chime in on whats trending and it can spread like wildfire if you’re in the right space at the right time, position yourself as a thought leader and everything that you have to offer will become really attractive to people.

If you could change one thing about social media, what would it be?

Really? Only one thing? Gosh I have multiple.

• Good Vibes Only. Imagine a social media without any really nasty troll comments. Healthy debate is allowed – but horrible comments about people’s appearance? The people who don’t post anything themselves but are just around to spread hate, there would be a magic button to get rid of these types of people off the platform.
• A SUPER social media. Because there’s too many!! I can’t keep up, it’s silly. We just want one platform that does it all.
• ORGANIC REACH FOR DAYS. It would be great to be rewarded for the content you put out, especially if you’ve put time and effort into your content and it’s really good value, you just want it to reach the people that it was designed for in the first place.

What is your best social media tip for creatives?

My best tip for using social media is ironic, because it’s the most challenging problem that creatives face.

It’s Consistency.

It’s still showing up when you’ve spent an hour on your content for it to get 200 views. It’s making commenting and engaging a habit in your life even when you don’t feel like you have a lot to share. It’s showing intent as to why you’re social media, when you’re committing to show up, and what you’re getting from it.

The discipline of showing up will get you further than any sort of motivation will.

Sophie Miller again, says this quote which is my favourite quote ever:

It’s not a flop, It’s an insight.

Social media is failing and learning, failing and learning – If your post only reaches 200 people, it’s not the end of the world. Just learn what you need to do to tweak it and post it again, but better this time. Who cares? I don’t care.

You only learn how to do something better if you do the thing consistently, analyse it and learn from it.

So if you’re looking to start or pick up where you left off in your social media journey: You’ve got this, I believe in you, the world wants to know you. So just post it.