Social Media Burn Out – When Working in Social Media Makes You Hate Social Media

/8 Comments/in , , , , , , , , /by
We’re living in the age of information, where connecting with people from all different walks of life is only a few keystrokes away. And what a wonderful world it is! However, working in social media can make maintaining your personal social media feel like, well, work. Here are some tips to keep your creative juices flowing! 
 

Take time to unplug 

Social Media is a 24 / 7, 365 job. Trends happen and disappear in the blink of an eye, and consumers expect near -instantaneous responses to their questions or comments. At this point, I feel naked if I’m not attached to my phone or computer. The constant screen time can block creativity and make everything feel fabricated, which makes creating content and captions feel like pulling teeth.  It’s so important to take some time for yourself – to put down the electronics and simply observe the world around you, and not through a camera lens or Snapchat filter. Pressing the “reset” button on your brain is as simple as taking a 5 minute walk or meditation break, and it works wonders for clearing out the white noise of endless social media profiles. 

 

Use what you know!

When you work in social media, you learn all the tips and tricks of the game: the best times to post, when to use or not use hashtags, how to up your engagement, etc. There’s no shame in putting these best practices to use in your own social media profiles. Taking the guesswork out of the details frees up your mind to focus on what matters: utilizing your creativity to put out authentic content. 

 

Utilize a scheduling platform

Life gets busy, and when you manage social media accounts for others, managing your own can be tedious and time consuming. Utilizing a scheduling platform, such as Sprout Social Media Manager, is such an easy way to make sure you’re getting out the content you want people to see, without having to take time out of your busy day to post something spontaneously. Whenever you have some free time and are feeling creative, schedule out the next few days’ worth of content and then forget about it! It’s liberating to not have to think about it, and all it takes is a little forward thinking and pre-planning! 
 
 
Social media is an ever-present part of our lives, and connecting with people from all across the globe is made easy by this information age. Taking advantage of the things you’ve learned and the technology you’ve been introduced to through social media marketing is a great way to save time and energy on your own social media. Don’t forget to take a few minutes each day for yourself, away from the tech, and you’ll find the joy in staying connected! 
 
Photo Credit: Courtesy of HTSABO

Get Connected: Be Vulnerable

/3 Comments/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

 

The Internet is connecting people everywhere every day. Why do we want to connect? To feel community, to not feel alone in our thoughts. One of my favorite aspects of cannabis is its ability to connect people. Combining cannabis and the Internet has been refreshing and exciting! Learning about branding has shown me how much fakeness is out there. These are some reasons to be authentic and vulnerable on social media.
 

Genuine Connections

Honesty is the best policy, you’ve heard it before! People do not want to interact with fake accounts. They want to talk to the source! Create a brand voice that people can connect with. Get comfortable with your products and brands and be honest about them. If you are speaking from a comfortable place then you create a comfortable environment, people will want to join in on the conversation!  
 

Inspire Others 

Showing your true self will inspire others to be themselves as well. You never know who you will connect with when you’re genuine online. When you put words together they have the energy to move people. You cannot bounce off of each other’s energy if only one of you has the energy. Present your magic every day and you will attract the right people. 
 

Be Real

Be honest even on social media! This may be curated content, but we, the people, are the ones generating it! Use your passion, curiosity, and experience to produce amazing posts. Sharing your knowledge is caring for the betterment of others. 
 
There is strength in your vulnerability. How amazing is it to have an online community for everything nowadays? Everyone can express their true colors and support one another. Let’s get real and get connecting today! 
 
 
 

5 Ways Cannabis Changed My Life

/in , , , , , , , , , /by

5 Ways Cannabis Changed My Life 

1. Cannabis improved my grades.

It was never my intention to get high before doing homework. But one day I forgot to do a discussion post and had already indulged in my nightly toke, so I had to write it high since it was due that hour. It was the first discussion post that scored 100%! I thought this could not be a coincidence. Cannabis got me an A! I realized it was not hard to do my homework high, it was actually easier! It killed my writing anxiety and replaced it with curiosity and enjoyment. I stopped procrastinating. If I was high, I was working on something. Cannabis inspired me to figure out what I could achieve. 

2. Cannabis made me more creative in school and at home.

I became interested in classes I never thought I would like before. Philosophy class was truly inspiring. I never liked English, but somehow I enjoyed reading and writing about the often lame required subject. I found that I wanted to express myself with art, something I had not liked since elementary school. Cannabis enabled me to fill my room with hand painted canvases.  

3. Cannabis helps me connect with myself and others.

I’ve never wanted to spend more time with myself than when I started smoking cannabis. When I started spending more time with myself, I found it easier to be around others as well. I have more patience and more understanding for people. Cannabis helps me honor my time with myself and with others. It slows time down and makes me appreciate the time we have here.

4. Cannabis makes boring life chores fun.

No one likes washing the dishes or doing laundry, but I smoke and enjoy myself while doing all my chores. It makes me curious like a kid again. Cannabis keeps me present and helps me focus. I am more productive at home and cannabis gives me the desire to live life more efficiently. 

5. Cannabis gave me a career.

I studied psychology and social work in college so I knew I always wanted to help people. Cannabis became a passion of mine throughout college, but I never thought I would make a career of it. After I graduated University and I found out a lot of jobs drug test their potential employees. I would never pass a drug test and I refused to give up my cannabis. Soon I was exclusively applying to jobs in the cannabis industry. Getting involved in the industry has inspired me tremendously, I never thought I would love working so much. I work with cannabis brands and talk about cannabis all day. It is a dream come true that I get to help connect people with cannabis daily. 

I believe everyone is a patient of the earth and this is our medicine. Cannabis changed my life, has it changed yours?  

The Most Useful Social Media Automation Functions

/in , , , , /by

Did you know that you can put your brand’s social media activity on auto-pilot? It takes some strategy, just like anything else. But there are tools out there that can definitely make you feel like a one-person social media department. 

These tools have many different functions, and not all of them are going to be useful or economical for your brand. In fact, everyday social media users have grown savvy to some of the automated tools out there and can spot automated activity a mile away. 

You don’t have to go “full robot” – here are the most useful automation functions you can start using right away to politely grow your social media accounts.

Scheduling

For those of us (most of us) who are simply not around to post on their channels all day, managing social media can seem like a daunting task. Signing on and posting takes precious minutes that we could be spending on another task. 

Scheduling tools can be found through software services like Hootsuite or Buffer, or, you can schedule future posts to a brand’s Facebook Page for free, right inside the Facebook platform. That way, you can schedule posts out for the week (or the month) in one sitting. 

Engaging

There are apps and tools out there to make it seem like you are liking, commenting and engaging with others’ posts on Twitter and Instagram. Typically it requires you to target the type of user, or a hashtag in order for the “robot” to find people to interact with. 

Unfortunately, there aren’t yet automation tools for engaging with Facebook posts. You will have to engage authentically there by liking and commenting on existing posts. 

Following

On Instagram and Twitter, the amount of followers you get is proportional to the amount of time you spend following other similar accounts. Easy to do for those of us who live on our phones – but for a busy entrepreneur? Not so much. 

Auto-follow, and more importantly, auto-unfollow tools are some of the most valuable in the social media world. Nobody in their right mind could sit and follow 400 new users per day with their thumbs, but with automation, it’s more than possible. 

We’re getting started on InstaZood after another of our favorite tools got shut down. Give it a try and see how powerful your account can really be!  

Need a team to help you delve into the world of social media marketing? Our experts are here to help, and located all around the west coast. Reach out to Social Media Unicorn to get started.

The Best Types of Posts For Each Social Media Platform

/2 Comments/in , , , , , , , , /by

When it comes to social media, far too many brands make the mistake of posting the same exact content on every single platform. This is ill-advised because there are so many diverse groups on social media, and they all hang out in different social environments – and respond to different stimuli as well.

We put together a guide for DIY marketers to help you plan your approach to each top platform. 

Facebook

From humble beginnings, Facebook has become extremely diverse and dynamic. Not only is every demographic present on the platform, it’s also now been segmented into Groups. People and brands providing quality content to their audiences are holding on to their organic growth and influence on the platform, even as Facebook continues to try and monetize almost every interaction. 

One thing is for certain about the Facebook algorithm – it favors video posts. Heavily. A strong video content strategy will help you acquire more fans organically. Otherwise, set aside a small budget and learn to optimize Facebook Ads with amazing photography and graphics and some clever copy. 

Instagram

It’s changed a lot over the past year, but Instagram is still the place to be for the hippest and most social-savvy people in the world. It’s where trends are made, and visual content is king. You can repurpose some of your Facebook content here, but really make the captions pop. Professional photography is almost a must these days as outstanding “pinch-to-zoom” resolution photo posts are becoming the norm (especially delectable close-up photos of  cannabis products).

There are lots of “tricks” and theories out there for how to hack this platform, but really, Instagram runs on a few key principles. If you engage genuinely, post regularly, and utilize the proper hashtags. How you get there is up to you – as long as you make it absolutely beautiful.

Twitter

The original microblogging platform is far from dead – in fact, Twitter remains one of the most active platforms for breaking news and commentary on current events, as well as conversations amongst journalists and influencers.

That being said, all your content on Twitter should be newsworthy and put on display the unique voice and vision of your brand. Image and video posts, polls, memes and hashtags are essential parts of the Twitterverse you should know about. Research hashtags being used by your target niches, incorporate them into your tweets, and remember to always engage authentically.

Snapchat

On Snapchat, anything goes. The people following you are doing so for one reason: to catch a glimpse into what you’re doing all day. Again, authenticity is key. Using Snapchat gives you the opportunity to build your brand its very own personality from scratch – or, start building your personal brand as a living, breathing embodiment of the company.

So, in short, you should always share the awesome adventure that is your business with the world. Having partners in the industry who know the rules and trends on each platform will strengthen your influence even more. 

Hire us today and learn to finally rock social. 

Despite Legalization, Anti-Cannabis Marketing Censorship Still In Full Effect

/1 Comment/in , , , /by

Despite marijuana legalization sweeping the nation, it seems anti-cannabis marketing remains in full effect. While more than half the states in the U.S. now allow medical cannabis, and a growing number of states are adopting full legalization, many companies fearful of a federal government crackdown, are censoring what we can share online about cannabis.  

It seems Twitter has started censoring searches for “marijuana” and “cannabis.” Searches for things like “opioids” are showing up just fine, the Joint Blog reports.

“Without warning, Twitter recently instituted a ‘sensitive content’ filter that is automatically turned on for all users, and the settings to disable it are hidden”, states a Change.org petition, started by Marijuana Majority. “As a result, queries for topics that Twitter has designated “sensitive” yield zero results on the search tab for latest tweets.”

“Censoring marijuana-related searches prevents serious people from communicating about one of the most prominent policy issues of our time,” the petition, which is addressed to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey stated. You can read more info on the petition by clicking here.

Coincidentally, here at Social Media Unicorn we also experienced an issue with censorship while attempting to send an email newsletter to some of our clients via MailChimp.

We sent the below query to the MailChimp staff after one of our messages was flagged for violation of the “acceptable use” policy.

“I appreciate that you do not allow pharmaceutical sales or the sales of illegal substances, but we are a licensed cannabis extraction product sending our weekly menu to inventory control managers at licensed cannabis dispensaries in the state of Nevada. Since medical marijuana is currently legal in 32 states and the District of Columbia, we’d be pretty surprised if you consider medical marijuana products to be illegal.”

Well we were very surprised to receive the below response, stating legal cannabis menus were somehow a violation. 

anti-marijuana-marketing

A real world example of anti-cannabis marketing.