Social Media for Dietitians Where, When, How Often
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[00:00:00] Libby: If you're looking to grow your business as a registered dietitian, you've come to the right place. If you're not sure what to do or what steps to take next so that you can create flexibility and freedom in your life, then you're going to learn a lot from tuning into our podcast here at Dietitian Boss.
[00:00:17] Libby: I'm Libby Rothschild, the founder of Dietitian Boss, a [00:00:20] fellow registered dietitian and business owner. And in our podcast, I share some of the things The highs and the lows. And I talk all about how to grow your business, get it started. And I interview our clients to date. We've had over 200 interviews from clients who share their journey on our podcast, dietitian boss.
[00:00:37] Libby: In today's episode, we're [00:00:40] discussing social media, the where, when, and how often. You should be engaging. So we talk about social media pretty often on this podcast, and today we're diving into the essentials, but from a lens of what you might be fearing, right? So you're thinking, where should I be posting when and how often I really want [00:01:00] to help you refine your strategy.
[00:01:01] Libby: So today's going to be packed with tips to help you navigate the social media landscape, which is ever evolving in 2024. The first frustration is that you feel overwhelmed of choice. There are so many platforms out there, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more can feel overwhelming. [00:01:20] And each platform has its own vibe and audience.
[00:01:23] Libby: And I'm not going to go into detail and describe each platform in today's episode, I've done that in other episodes. I really want to talk more high level about what your fears are so you can identify them. Now, figuring out where to focus on can understandably be confusing. The key to [00:01:40] start is with one platform.
[00:01:41] Libby: Now that platform should align with your goals and where your target audience is most active. So I want you to first think about who are you trying to reach out to? Uh, the second concern you're probably struggling with includes understanding the platform strengths, because it's not just about picking a platform like [00:02:00] Instagram that you want to regularly use to get clients.
[00:02:03] Libby: It's about understanding what each platform does best. So Instagram is great for content that's engaging and LinkedIn, as you probably know, is a good professional networking platform. Facebook does strike a balance between the two, but it has a broad reach [00:02:20] and a lot of community built in features that Instagram is catching up with, but Instagram isn't there yet completely with some of the features that Facebook has.
[00:02:28] Libby: So by matching your content type and audience to the platform's strengths, Then that can help you make your efforts much more effective. You're probably also afraid of commitment, [00:02:40] which is what a lot of our clients come to us and they express their fears. And you might be hesitant to commit to just one platform because you think you need to do all of the platforms at once.
[00:02:51] Libby: You might be afraid you're going to miss out. But I want you to remember that starting with one platform at a time, like Instagram, will help you build your presence and learn the [00:03:00] ropes without spreading yourself too thin. Once you're comfortable and seeing results, you can gradually expand to other platforms.
[00:03:09] Libby: So a quick tip would be to choose one platform where your ideal clients hang out and where you feel most comfortable creating content. Focus your energy [00:03:20] there until you're ready to explore others. I like to say until you found success, until you have a system in place. So choosing the right platform is your first step towards social media success.
[00:03:30] Libby: And by targeting your efforts, And understanding each platform's strengths, you will start building a strong online presence and attract the right clients. You have to be consistent and it really [00:03:40] helps if you show up and show your face and get, let people get to know who you are. I do that a lot on YouTube.
[00:03:45] Libby: I dedicated this past year to YouTube more so than Instagram because we've been so present on Instagram for the last four or five years that I really want more effort for YouTube. We've been able to increase our community and help a lot of people that are engaging with us on YouTube and [00:04:00] sending us emails and signing up.
[00:04:02] Libby: for our products and services, specifically a library. Monthly membership that helps dieticians start and grow their business. So the next topic about social media when it comes to dieticians would be the timing of your posts. So this could be tricky. A lot of you wonder what's the best time, especially if you're just getting started.
[00:04:18] Libby: And the key is understanding how to use [00:04:20] timing to your advantage without getting bogged down by the exact clock. So timing can be a detail. You might be feeling like you're not sure the best times to post, and you might even just not post because you're not sure if you're posting at the best time. And you might not know when your audience is most active.
[00:04:33] Libby: You might not have any data to pull from, or you're not clear yet on your ideal client. Now, posting at random times [00:04:40] can lead to missed opportunities and lower engagement. But posting at all is better than not posting. So remember, be able to just be consistent, even if you're not posting at the same times of day, that's better than not posting at all.
[00:04:53] Libby: Now, once you get into the swing of the day, then you can start looking at your metrics and seeing the trends and start. Really playing with [00:05:00] posting times that are maximized based on your audience and based on trends you're seeing, and it just takes time. So I don't want you to worry too much about when to post, but I want you to focus on the consistency of your posting first.
[00:05:12] Libby: You really give it a good 30 60 minutes, that would be a full 3 months, and be consistent. So you're really challenging yourself to post a [00:05:20] certain amount of times on the platform. Regularly, before I start optimizing the time of day, balancing consistency, flexibility is also another challenge that many dietitians come to us with.
[00:05:30] Libby: So sticking to that posting schedule I mentioned above, which is far more important than the time of day is critical, right? But you know that rigidity can be counterproductive. You don't want to stress [00:05:40] too much over sticking to too strict of a timeline. Missing out on certain opportunities or posts is totally normal.
[00:05:47] Libby: It's okay if you miss out on a trending topic or something timely because that's life. So think about a balanced approach that works best where you can maintain consistency, but also stay flexible. So that might mean for you and your [00:06:00] personality that you say, you know what, I'm going to post two to three times a week, but I'm not going to worry about which days, right?
[00:06:05] Libby: For others of you, you might say, I'm going to post on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays. I'm just not going to say what time and for those of you who are more rigid, you might say I'm going to post Monday, Wednesday and Fridays and I'm going to post after 4 p. m. Central time. So you're giving yourself [00:06:20] more structure, but you're not exactly saying it has to be.
[00:06:23] Libby: Now remember, you can schedule your post ahead of time, which is great, but it's still going to require that you take the time to make the content and schedule that content, which comes with a bit of strategy and practice to get into the swing of all the moving parts, let alone just choosing which platform.
[00:06:36] Libby: So you might have that fear of overposting or underposting, so [00:06:40] finding a sweet spot for how often to post can feel daunting. Overposting might annoy your audience. Well, underposting can make you seem inactive or disengaged, and it's all about striking the right balance, which takes some time, and there might be ebbs and flows in your life.
[00:06:54] Libby: You might be on a vacation, or you might decide to take a season off and realize that underposting is part of the [00:07:00] process. So you want to be kind to yourself and allow that flexibility. You want to focus on the quality and relevance over quality. The quantity. So that means that the posts that you're making, you want them to be targeted and focused on adding value and engagement to your audience.
[00:07:15] Libby: Another aspect that you want to remember is to look for feedback. So if you're not [00:07:20] getting comments and engagements from people in your community, you can seek comments and engagement, but you want to be consistently looking for opportunities to improve your content. So think more about quality in terms of how can you create content that is showing vulnerability whether it's through words like language or it's through showing facial expressions like you [00:07:40] are in the content.
[00:07:41] Libby: And you also want to be using language that people understand. So that means that you're aware of your target audience. And if you're working with elite athletes, they might understand words that are more complex than somebody who's looking to become more active, but they're not athletic. So you want to be really aware of using language that is not too [00:08:00] advanced.
[00:08:00] Libby: So you want to make sure that your content is understandable to the inmate person. And then with time, as you get clearer at the plant, you might add complexity to your content. But not at first, if your content is too difficult to understand, then people will not understand it. So I want you to monitor your results and refine your strategy and find optimal times and [00:08:20] frequency for your audience with time.
[00:08:22] Libby: And I want you to approach your content process strategically and remember the most important thing after understanding who you're talking to for your audience, would just be being consistent. And again, that can take 30, 60, 90 days. of consistency and flexibility before you start to [00:08:40] optimize by figuring out which time of day.
[00:08:42] Libby: Now the last topic I want to talk about would be batch content creation. So what is batching? Batch content means that you're creating multiple posts at one sitting, which can be more advanced if you've never done it before. It's incredibly efficient because it allows you to get a creative flow and produce more content in less time.[00:09:00]
[00:09:00] Libby: Creating content for your practice or your business to become overwhelming, especially if you're juggling client appointments and other tasks. Budget if you're responsible, even if you have a staff, you might feel really overwhelmed. So batching content, meaning creating content at one point of time is a game changer and it can help you streamline your process.
[00:09:19] Libby: So [00:09:20] you're sitting down, you're making five or 10 posts at a time, even three posts at a time is better than just one post at a time. So if you have that daily content stress where you're trying to come up with fresh ideas every day, that can feel like a never ending task. But batching content means that you're setting aside dedicated regular times Transcribed for you to create multiple pieces at once.
[00:09:39] Libby: So you might say, [00:09:40] okay, I'm going to dedicate every Wednesday or every other Wednesday or even one Wednesday a month to writing an email for your newsletter and creating two Instagram posts. That way you're not scrambling for ideas and posts every day. And you have a more realistic way of achieving your goal.
[00:09:54] Libby: For let's say 90 days now, creative fatigue is another big issue that comes up. [00:10:00] So creating content on the fly can lead to burnout because it's really hard to keep up with constantly doing that. So batching does allow you to really relieve the stress of always having to come up with content on the fly.
[00:10:12] Libby: So you're not consistently in that creative mode, you can allow your brain to rest and that allows you to think more strategically. Don't forget, you're going to want to [00:10:20] evaluate your content and look at the metrics and see what performs the best as well, content pieces based on your top performing content, and that can take a while.
[00:10:28] Libby: So, for example, if you're batch reporting on one Wednesday at the top of the month, and you're writing an email for your email list, you're going to want to look at last month's email or last week's email and see what were your open rates and your click through rates. And play [00:10:40] with your subject lines and the actual body of the email so that you can increase your open rates and click through rates.
[00:10:45] Libby: So that's an example of how you can optimize your content creation process with time. But before you look at your metrics, like your open rate and click through rate from email marketing, now that should be available, whatever email marketing software you use, the first step would be actually creating that [00:11:00] email, right?
[00:11:00] Libby: So writing that email in advance. So I want you to first. Start with creating content, then think about creating content in bulk and then look at optimized process so that you can create better content. I want you in closing to avoid social media burnout, right? Navigating social media as a dietitian can absolutely feel overwhelming, especially with all the [00:11:20] changes and updates of social media.
[00:11:22] Libby: But that doesn't mean that you have to skip it or avoid it completely. Choosing the right platform and being consistent can help you get really comfortable and clear and confident with creating content ahead of time and then optimizing your process. Don't want to forget to show your face and let people know who you are.
[00:11:39] Libby: And [00:11:40] remember that when you create content that either shows your face or that uses language, that's compelling and vulnerable, you have a better chance of connecting with your audience. If you're not sure who your audience are, who's included in your target market, you do want to start by sitting down with a pen and paper and strategize who you're trying to reach.
[00:11:57] Libby: The more clear you are with who you're trying to reach, [00:12:00] like pregnant women or those with diabetes, the easier it'll be to create more effective content, especially in bulk. I hope today's episode was helpful. Let us know what tips stood out, and if you want help with strategic step by step templates, Done for you captions and content, and you want to work with us alongside you, then I invite you to join the library.
[00:12:19] Libby: [00:12:20] Looking for support to grow your dietitian business or even get started? I invite you to join the library, our monthly affordable membership that shows you exactly what to do every step of the way so that you can create the business of your dreams. Not sure if it's the right time? The membership gives you an option to Go at your own pace.[00:12:40]
[00:12:40] Libby: We have modules, a roadmap to show you exactly what to do and monthly live calls, as well as new content that we release every single month based on requests. Inside of the library, we have four stages of business. So whether you come in getting started or you want to enter the membership and grow or scale your business, we have the appropriate resources for you and our team, [00:13:00] including myself available to answer your questions, head on over to dietitianboss.
[00:13:04] Libby: com and check out the library today. We'd love to see you there.
