The hidden secret to gaining an audience on social media is not what you think but what you feel - Yolande Mendes
Today, everyone seems to want social media followers, feel special and have an online presence. Everyone wants to be a BRAND. Honestly, the key to it isn’t what you think. In fact, it isn’t what you think at all. When we think, we analyze, then we over-analyze and then nothing happens. But the fact is feelings motivate us to take action. Someone is much more likely to do something based on feeling than they are thinking about it. People don’t always realize this but the best Social Media posts, Youtube videos, various viral sensations, overnight celebrities, and Medium articles we follow, read, and adore are actually built around FEELINGS. You read this right. They make the audience “feel” a specific way about a specific person, value, or belief. The truth is, when we feel something, we are more likely to respond be it positively or negatively. So bottom line is - Never over think.
When a person finds their match, are they more likely to go with that person because they think that person is right for them? Or because they feel something deeply for that person? Well, probably both. But the truth is they chose and / or stayed with that person because they felt something. Let’s look at acting in film, television, and theatre and also marketing for a minute.
Why do you think people respond to great performances on stage or in the movies?
Because they connect to the actress or actor’s performance. The performer was connected to their own core, the character’s core, and therefore was making the audience member “feel” a certain way. It’s all about the connection.
Why do people respond to brands such as Google, Apple, Nestle, Ebay or Amazon?
Because the experience makes them “feel” a certain way. The connection.
Whenever friends ask me about something I post or something they should post I tell them if they “feel” it, post it. The moment you start over thinking is the moment you self-sabotage. The thing is, if you post based on feeling, not everyone is going to agree. And if you post based on thinking, not everyone is going to agree either. So why waste time thinking? Just Post! It’s a matter of posting it NOW and maybe getting it RIGHT based on instinct and feeling or posting LATER based on over thinking, and guess what? You still only MIGHT have gotten it RIGHT. And want to know the real secret? What if your post is WRONG? Will you be ridiculed, made fun of and sent to another galaxy because of your unimaginable ridiculous social media post? NO, because it is ok to be wrong. Criticism makes you a more dynamic, stronger, complex, and a better human being.
Who said that art is perfection? Art is messy. It’s paint on canvas mixed and matched and criticized and yet often beautiful. Why not make your social media be that way? One could make the argument that social media is an act of self-expression. It can actually be classified as a form of art.
It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors - Oscar Wilde
Want to know the real key to followers? It’s not making all your posts perfectly neat, clean, and utterly perfect. It’s being messy, doing what you “feel”, and living through it if you end up being wrong. Why? Because you are human and people connect to one another. And what makes them connect? It’s how they “feel”. We connect to each other through our flaws not through perfectly clean, robotic social media posts. Post lots. Post messy. Be wrong. Live through it. And guess what? The followers will show up at your door.
This brings me to my big secret to social media:
What brings followers? YOUR HUMANITY. If you feel it, post it, and don’t look back.
The Keyword: FEEL and CONNECT!
So what’s the top most secret to succeed on social media?
Stop over thinking about the posting schedule, the content, or whether or not your followers would like what you want to post. Your brand cannot be planned by anyone but you. It’s inside of you. Just post. And Live. And Love. And be you. The rest will take care of itself. You’ll get what you deserve. Just keep it going.
The Secret: Just follow what your heart wants!
