I’ve noticed something about consultants.

Most of them have the same frustrations when it comes to social media. I work with a lot of consultants and hear the same issues over and over again.

Do any of these sound familiar?

• “I’m putting a lot of time and effort into social media, but not getting any meaningful results.”

• “I feel stuck, my business is stuck, and I don’t know what to do to get unstuck.”

• “I don’t really have any plan for how to use social media so I’m just randomly posting stuff.”

If any of these resonate with you (and I bet several do), then you’ve come to the right place.

There are 13 social media strategies I can share - here are just 3!

I know these work because I’ve seen them work over and over again for all different types of consultant clients.

1. Use fewer social media platforms.

You don’t need to use every social media platform. In fact, you shouldn’t.

Just because Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, podcasts, and a thousand other platforms exist doesn’t mean you have to use them.

Any one of those platforms has more than enough people on it for you to achieve success beyond your wildest dreams, so break from the feeling that you need to be everywhere.

1. Follow fewer people.

Don’t follow everybody who follows you.

Don’t follow random people in the hope they’ll follow you back.

Don’t follow anybody you’re not genuinely interested in.

And don’t be afraid to unfollow people – often.

The fewer people you follow on any social platform, the better your feed will become as the algorithm will learn to better serve you.

1. You don't need more followers, simply the RIGHT followers.

The first question I ask a consultant-client is always, “What are your social media goals?”

Their answer always includes some version of “I want to get more followers.”

That’s an understandable answer, but it reveals a crucial strategic flaw.

Because you don’t need more followers, you need the right followers to help you accomplish your goals.

If these 3 strategies made sense - read on!

If you’d like more hands-on help with these strategies, plus another ten more, visit my website petergianoli.com/social-strategy-for-consultants and download my latest resource. It's FREE!

People who grew up with Andy Warhol's art, music, and films will remember him for his famous line: In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.
Those who knew him personally recall a different message from the artist. "In order to survive," he reportedly said, "everybody will have their 15 minutes of fame."
Nevertheless, I feel that those who are still well-known at the 16-minute mark are most worth paying attention to.
The people who fit this bill best are those who have had their moment in the sun, their lucky break or a taste of success and have been able to return from the brink of rejection or disgrace with a fresh new take.
These folks, those who can bounce back from adversity, are my kind of heroes.
There's also another group of 16-minute notables whose fame comes from something no less heroic—surviving an extraordinarily difficult challenge.
As somebody who has been working shoulder to shoulder with entrepreneurs in business, I'm always inspired by people who turn what is considered misfortune into an opportunity. And they seem to do it time after time with grit and tenacity (and the help of their peers).

I've compiled a list of 16-minute character traits that if acquired, will help you make an indelible mark on your marketplace:
1.Do what others won't do
2.Tackle your fears head-on
3.Bounce back from rejection or disgrace with a fresh new take on life
4.Find value in the values of others
5.Make it count when you're not in the top
6.Have a way of inspiring others who are down and out
7.Obsess the details—they matter most when you're in the top
8.Put yourself in check for fear of losing sight of what's real or being consumed by self-centeredness
9.Know when to tap out of the game to preserve your true values
10.Remain humble through your climb—you can be down without being defeated
11.Give back in large doses because there's always someone in need
12.Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you—they will push your limits
13.Create opportunities for others to make a name for themselves (and their company)
14.Unleash the gifts and talents of those around you
15.Don't cheat or cut corners in the pursuit of your goals
16.Never stop growing—it's what makes you better today than yesterday

So, there you have it; my list of 16-minute character traits will take you from the top to near rock bottom, then back up—if you can handle it.

When your marketing arrives in front of a prospect – email into an inbox, direct mail in the post, at somebody’s door or waiting room, a pattern interrupt on social media or as an advertisement; it can be perceived as either being an annoying pest or a welcome guest.

You are working from home

Imagine you are sitting, working from home. It’s around midday – and you hear knocking on your front door.

Chances are it’s someone like an Avon lady or the Jehovah Witness.

Because you have not invited anybody to come over, you think this is an annoying pest, and you are busy, so you ignore it, confident that if you ignore a pest, it will go away.

It will tire of trying to get your attention and move on to the next house.

The knocking goes on for a while, but you are stubborn and are good at this “ignore” game.

Next thing you know, this person has climbed over the back wall of your property, and they are now banging on the sliding glass door, which they can see you through…

So now you're kind of under an obligation to answer the door.

The message is, that all your shrubs in your front yard are on fire, and the flames are starting to lick at the front of your home.

His message was he’s called the fire brigade, but can you come out and help him fight the fire until they arrive?

A new impression

Now, at that second in time, he (the intruder) went from being a most annoying pest to a most welcome guest.

And the only thing that changed was…

Right message, right time!

In our world, the world of marketing, for a decade or so, our marketing has been losing its impact.

In our strategies to overcome this impact loss, have been clunky, ineffective, and annoying.

When stats like email open rates are down.

The marketer who was sending one email a day will now start sending two a day.

As open rates go down further. Send four. Open rates go down even further. Send eight until opens rates are zero.

The bottom line is, you can't really amp up being an annoying pest and get results.

It's hard work.

Therefore, we must work in strategising with our marketing to do everything in our power to show up as a welcome guest!

This is why I like to use mail and in particular FedEx a lot, instead of simply email, because interest level automatically goes up because it's an interesting piece of mail or a FedEx package.

But if you do have to use email, at least make sure it is easy to read, skimmable, and of course, fit for purpose to help the recipient rather than pester and annoy.

Pause, strategise and spend as much time as you like ensuring that you appear as a welcome guest and your marketing will cut through be welcomed and succeed.