Episode 50: The Truth About Social Media | Hannah Diffenderffer | Strategy That Works for Your Business
Hannah Diffenderffer is a Social Media Manager and Strategist who’s cutting through the noise to share what really works online. In a world obsessed with vanity metrics, Hannah explains why follower counts don’t equal sales, how to pick the right platforms for your goals, and why most social media should be seen as lead generation, not direct sales. She opens up about her journey from studying PR with dreams of becoming a fashion publicist to managing social media for diverse clients, including her commitment to ethical content that helps rather than harms. From simple, effective posting strategies to balancing creativity with analytics, Hannah gives you the tools to stop chasing trends and start making an impact.
“If you are not adding any value, then why even bother with the likes and follower count? The real question to ask is, “What can I offer to the digital universe so that they want to like or follow my pages?”
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters
00:00 Meet Hannah Diffenderffer
04:12 From PR Student to Social Media Strategist
09:15 Why Follower Counts Don’t Equal Sales
14:40 How to Choose the Right Social Media Platforms
19:05 The Difference Between Lead Generation and Sales
24:20 Building a Strategy That Actually Works
30:15 Avoiding Burnout as a Social Media Manager
36:40 Ethical Content and Responsible Messaging
42:15 Tools and Apps She Uses Every Day
47:05 Common Mistakes Businesses Make Online
52:20 Hannah’s Advice for Small Business Owners
56:45 Future Plans and How to Connect with Hannah
I have felt my most powerful when I have stood up for myself or someone I love or something I believe in. Speaking up is it's scary to me. It's so scary and seeing my truth and making others feel uncomfortable is something I do not like, but yet when I do it, I feel so much better.
That's Hannah Diffenderffer and this is The Powerful Ladies podcast.
Hey guys, I'm your host, Kara Duffy, and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast where I invite my favorite humans, the awesome, the up to something, and the extraordinary to come and share their story. I hope that you'll be left, entertained, inspired, and moved to take action towards living your most powerful life.
There is so much information out there about how businesses can use social media to reach their goals, courses, programs, YouTube, videos, blogs, expert opinions, you name it. In this episode, we sit down with Hannah, a social media manager and strategist to find out the truth about social media. What do we really need to do?
Where's the fluff? Is this social media hurting our business? Is it harming future generations? All the questions we have, we ask. Plus she reveals her own journey through the industry and how it's led her to discovering how powerful she truly is. All that, and so much our coming up. But first, this episode of The Powerful Ladies is Made Possible by our Patreon subscribers.
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Welcome to The Powerful Ways Podcast. Thank you. Let's start introduce yourself and tell everybody who you are and what you're up to.
Okay. My name is Hannah Diffenderffer. I was born and raised in Southern California. I currently live in Costa Mesa, California with my boyfriend Dan, and our two rescue dogs.
By day I'm a social media manager in strategist for a consumer packaged goods company or CBG brand called Power French.
Very cool. We know each other 'cause we're in the same ladies meetup, book club, empower each other group and I think that the story of, how your career has transitioned in the past year and a half is really interesting and I think it's a topic that a lot of people could relate to.
So I'm excited that you're here to share. And then I also would love to get into just like how social media and marketing is changing today and like what that, how the industry and what we need to do is sound good? Sounds great. Okay. Awesome. Yeah. Maybe we just dive into, how did you get into social media and marketing to start with?
Yeah, absolutely. So I was actually studying public relations in college many mo many moons ago. And my big goal was to be a fashion publicist. I wanted to take Los Angeles by storm and kind of be that la pr gal. My last semester of Col College, I went to California State University, Fullerton,
CSUF.
And you were stu studying there, and then what happened?
So my last semester of college the whole semester was based around social media. And this was a time where there was no business pages, there was no paid advertisement on social media. It was a really brand new to businesses, but people were coming out of the woodwork and using it for businesses.
So it was all centered around that. And that's where I started to get a taste of the power that social media could really have. And I. Was interning in LA at a boutique PR agency, a fashion PR agency, and I ended up getting a job there as a junior publicist in social media coordinator. And that's really where I sugg my teeth into the social media game.
I ended up not liking la not liking fashion, pr not liking social media and fashion. I just did not, it was not what I expected. It just wasn't, it wasn't what I had envisioned years prior. So I came back to Orange County and I got another job at a digital marketing agency, full service, digital marketing agency, and was also taking some freelance clients on the side.
That is where the hustle got real. And I was living the agency life and learning and growing that corporate ladder, if you will. So during my agency time, I started as an assistant and then got promoted to a social media manager role. And then I soon became the lead of a department where I was leading 11 other social media managers.
Very cool. But sometimes, yeah, it was a good time. Lots of learning.
So if we go back to your time in fashion pr, what did you imagine it would be like versus what it actually was?
So I thought I was gonna be Samantha Jones from Sex and the City was lunching with clients and going to fabulous parties.
And it was not that at all. It was at least my experience, right? So my experience was not that, it was pretty intense. Lots of personalities you're dealing with, lots of egos, and it just did not fill my cup.
Yeah, I got that. A little bit more. Devil wears Prada than Sex in the City.
Definitely.
Yes, very much
so for people who aren't familiar with the social media or the agency world, what does it mean to be a full service digital agency?
So a full service digital marketing agency means you offer social media management, social media strategy, paid social media, you offer website development, you offer SEO services, you offer content marketing services.
So anything in the digital realm is going to fall under a full service digital marketing agency. So my role was specifically social media, but we learned about other, just naturally picking up on other facets of the digital world. Because you were placed in teams.
And would that also include things like email marketing?
Yes. Yes, definitely. Email marketing is a big one.
And everyone gets like Instagram and everyone's understanding that like, yeah, you have a Facebook and on Twitter, like people have these things today just like they have a website. But the truth is, if your, if their strategy behind it, it can really become ways to not just elevate.
Brand awareness or identity, but to monetize your business.
Yes, absolutely. If you're doing it right, of course.
Yeah. Yeah. So when you, and of course like social media has changed so much. So when you look at how it's evolved, even since you've been working in social media, what do you think are the big differences from when you began to now?
And also what are some of the misconceptions?
So some of the differences from where, from when I first started was this always on mentality. And you'll hear that a lot when you're speaking to, and you won the social media game where you have to have this always on mentality. And a few years ago that meant pushing content out as much as possible.
And it was more so a. More is more mentality. Whereas now due to algorithm updates and big heavy influencers coming forward and talking about mental health, it's, and not always being online, it's actually less is more. So it's being intentional with the content you're putting out, making sure your message is not just sell as a business, but also what kind of value can I give a consumer with my social media content versus just trying to sell a product.
A big misconception about social media is you will get sales by posting. That's one that, that's one that I hear a lot. I've been posting I post three or four times a week, where are my sales? And it really is contingent on so many other things. And really, depending on where your business is and where your.
What you're offering it might not be a lead generator for you. And that's okay. And I think that's a tough pill to swallow for some business owners. And sometimes they'll shy away from social and that doesn't mean that if it's not gonna be a lead driven platform for you, doesn't mean shy away from it.
If anything, it means take hold of it even more.
Yeah. Yeah. There are a lot of clients that I work with that are always asking, I have these social media outlets and how can I determine what ROII will get? So a lot of people, when you're talking about what is the ROI, when we're doing social media, how do I justify how much I invest in digital marketing?
Everything else that we're doing, we have to kinda walk people through that. When you, it's a matter of what happens when you get the lead and the contact and what you do with it. Not just that you got it. If you, you could have a hundred thousand followers. And make no money or you give a hundred thousand dollars and have a business.
Yep,
absolutely. Yeah, it's like crazy. And then as you guys are looking at, I'm sure you have to be at the top of your game, right? Of social media if that's your thing. So there's so many platforms today. Even thinking about powerful ladies, we have Patreon and Instagram and Facebook and YouTube and our website and Twitter and Pinterest and it just keeps going.
How do you guys prioritize which platforms to use and what tip can you give to people listening who have a business that are like, if you had to focus here, or this is the platform people aren't paying attention to that they should be.
Absolutely. It is so overwhelming the number of platforms that are out there that you can use.
Even for me having. A good amount of time under my belt. Sometimes I still get overwhelmed when a new platform emerges and I get attached to how am I going to make this work for my core consumer? And it can be extremely overwhelming. And so if anyone feels that way, it's a natural feeling. But I think the first thing to know is you do not have to be on every single platform.
That is definitely actually a strategy. That is a no-no. If it doesn't make sense for your brand, of course. So taking a step back and looking at the different platforms that you have and asking yourself is my core consumer. On this platform. Depending on age ranges, depending on, you can get as specific as gender if you would like, but you do not have to be on every single platform.
It's really what makes sense for you, your business, and your core consumer. Instagram right now is a powerhouse. There's no doubt about that. You can't not talk about. Instagram when you're talking about social media. And the interesting thing about Instagram is that there there's almost like platforms within, in platforms.
You, you have your feed, you have your Instagram stories. You now have IGTV, you have highlights. And so that Instagram alone, which is technically one platform, can absorb so much of your time. We now have TikTok, which is this emerging app. And just keeping an eye on new platforms is something I always advise as well, you don't have to jump on a new platform as it emerges, give it some time, let it settle in, see what other businesses and what other people are doing before deciding if it's gonna work for you and your business.
Yeah. Yeah. Especially when you're low on resources of human time and the, thinking time and let alone money. It just keeps on going.
Absolutely, it can get extremely overwhelming. And then usually it ends up to the point where you don't wanna do any of it because you're just so overwhelmed. Yeah. And so my, yeah, it can really turn into that. And so my magic number is two, so if you are low on resources, whether that be people, power, money, whatever it may be, take a step back and pick two and then go from there.
I love that. That is a great pro tip for everyone listening right now. Yeah. That's so digestible. I can take this home right now. Thank you. And of course, you and I have had discussions as well about, what it means, like to be in, like for your career, to be around people using social media and how all the good that it can do and also all the impact it can have. 'cause impact goes both ways. There's the yin and the yang of all of it. How has that impacted you personally being in this industry and what you've thought about the role that you have and how are you doing? What steps are you taking to change the, any of the negative impact out of the equation?
So there was a ti there was a, recently, there was a time where I was considering leaving with social media game altogether because the negative impact was just eating away at me. I didn't when I was growing up, I didn't grow up with Facebook and Instagram and I look and when I look at the younger people in my life, when I look at my nieces and my nephews.
My friends who have children they're growing up with phones in their hands and they're growing up knowing how, knowing to go on Instagram, asking their moms if they can get on Snapchat, and it, and just taking a step back and analyzing this u this new user behavior, this younger generation user behavior started to really scare me.
And it started to make me feel like what I was doing professionally was almost tainting this the next generation. And that's not something I wanted to be a part of. And after meditating on it and really thinking about it, it dawned on me that I need to stay in this game and use it for good and make sure I'm putting the message out there that social media is very powerful.
And yes, there's so many negative side effects on it, but there's also this really. Movement movements that can come from it. And it motivated me even more to be that social media manager that is preaching using social media for God rather than for bad.
Yeah. And I think it's interesting because I come from background of physical products, right?
You can't care about the environment or people's finances or living a life of less stuff, but more intention and make stuff at the same time there are competing games. And there are so many conversations we had about, even if you're doing everything the best way you can, like just the waste and the excess, and do we need more?
Like how do you win at the apparel or footwear game if you aren't pushing more? And I think it's a really interesting time we're in because I see people transitioning from. Like being clear that we need minimalism in regards to physical things in our spaces and in our, that have our attention.
And we're just starting to break into what it means to need minimalism and intentionalism in the digital space. Like we're looking at all the people who, you know, whether it's hoarding or people when they retire or downsize in their older age, all the stuff they have left. And I am personally starting to have anxiety about all the digital stuff that, you're going to leave as a legacy for your family to deal with when you pass on, let alone like just knowing it's all there. And even if it's in the cloud, like there is a literal cloud somewhere. There are warehouses full of servers, so it's not like we actually have this data. Out in nothing and in space, like there are land and space resources being used up for all of it. So yeah, there's, it just, I'm going down a black hole, but I find it interesting to see what are people doing to be smarter about the digital stuff that we're creating and creating more a purpose because I think it piggybacks onto the social impact we're having.
There's also this stuff impact. Yeah, absolutely. There you can. You can get, you can lose a whole day just being on social media. And I'm sure I know it's happened to me before and I'm sure it's happened to other others, but being intentional with your social media usage is a message that I am I advocate for.
Picking days where you aren't on social media at all dare I say, even on your phone, but I know that's taking it a step further. So starting with social media first where you're not mindlessly scrolling, you're not opening the app and just giving yourself 24 hours social media free where you're present and you are living in real life, rather in your digital world.
I, it starts there and I've also put out little little goals for myself. When I'm eating, when I'm eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I don't have my phone near me. I'm not on social media. When I am reading a book, I don't have my phone near me. I, if I want to take notes, I take the pen and paper old school pen and paper.
So I think just starting with small goals like anything else really in your life, if you are so attached to your phone and so attached to social media, that is going to help that's gonna help in such a huge way. And you're going to see that you're going to get your day back way back.
Yeah. I hope that answers your question. Yeah.
No, thank you. When, we're obviously on this podcast talking about powerful ladies, and I would love to know, like, when have you felt powerful and like what is defined, what powerful means to you today?
I have felt my most powerful when I have stood up for myself or someone I love or something I believe in.
Where I don't speaking up is it's scary to me. It is so scary. And seeing my truth and making others feel uncomfortable is something I do not like. But yet when I do it, I feel so much better. And if you have, if you work with clients or if you have a tough boss or a tough team at work, or in any really facet of your life, speaking your truth is so powerful and it can be scary and daunting, but it is so worth it.
And I feel like that's a great segue into you sharing the transition you've gone in recently with your career. Yes. So I. I have worked extremely hard to get into the position that I am now, and it was a goal of mine to become an in-house social media strategist and manager. But I did know that I wanted to experience agency life and work at a digital marketing agency.
And I learned so much from my time at an agency in regards to technical skills, to leading myself, to leading a team. And I had to make a decision, a very difficult decision to stand up for myself during a time where I felt I was being taken advantage of my time my, my mental health my, my creative genius.
I, I just felt like it, it was no longer a fit anymore. And the way that this agency was going, I. I could tell, I, I didn't have much time left there. And I had to make a really tough decision and was transitioned out and it was difficult. And there was times where I had to dig really deep and ask myself if I had made the right decision.
But ultimately it was, and I am so grateful for that experience.
What was the scariest part of going through that transition?
Not knowing what was gonna happen next. I did not have a game plan at all. Which is not part of how I operate. Yeah. I usually have six game plans in case one of them falls apart.
And I did not I had no game plan and it was in incredibly scary. But it has strengthened me to the point where I feel the core of myself has changed in a sense.
Yeah. And it was happening real time, right when we were all meeting together and supporting each other and one of the things that really impressed me with how you handled it was that you knew it was a transition period.
You, even if you couldn't see it, you had confidence that something better was gonna come and you put in a structure to give yourself time to, to sit and be with it while still giving yourself separate time to be like proactive in searching for what was next.
Yeah. So I had to, like I said, I had to really dig deep, so I would spend my days meditating, reading, journaling, breathing, and then the other part of my days I was networking and trying to find my next opportunity.
And there was a few things that I was. Struggling with, because I felt pulled in two different directions. Part of me knew I could either start freelancing and making a name for myself in that world, or I could go in-house and work for one company. And I knew deep down in my heart that I wanted to be in-house.
I knew I wanted to experience that at least once in my life, and I just knew that was the route I needed to go. And so I started having to turn down business because I was being asked about my services, and it felt so wrong. Like, how can I turn down a client? How can I turn down money? How can I turn all this down for something I don't even know if it's gonna happen or not?
And it was so ambiguous and it was so scary, but I just knew that where my alignment was going in-house and experiencing that. And I'm so happy that I listened to myself because the position I'm in now is a dream position. It's something that I've always wanted and I've always envisioned for myself.
And although it was so insanely scary, I can't even tell you how scared I was. It was so worth it.
And from like start to finish from when you could tell things were like not working at your previous company to starting at your new company, what, how long did that take?
So that was about a four month period.
Four and a half. Four. Four to four and a half month period. To be quite honest I knew I was gonna have to transition outta my last company probably at the beginning of 2019, and it took me eight months to figure it out. Which is a learning lesson within itself. But from the time where I transitioned out to.
Finding my opportunity now. It took about four and a half months, give or take. Which in hindsight is really not that long, but during that time period, it felt like a hundred years at times.
Yeah. Yep. Especially when you're rattled to a place where like the self-doubt is in about, not even just what you were capable of, but if you wanted to be in the industry, what path in the industry like all the stuff comes up, right?
So there's a lot to, to process and get back rooted into what really is meant for you and who you are and this is what we're doing.
Yeah, absolutely. There was so many thoughts running through my mind and journaling was such a huge. Help because I was able to put all of these thoughts, whether deemed irrational or not onto paper and just purge them and get them out.
And between, wanting to leave the industry thing and the industry becoming strictly freelance, trying to find an in-house opportunity. There was just so many things that I was dealing with. And I was also recalibrating from a really intense, almost three and a half years at my agency job that those, that, that was, I call it bootcamp because it was nonstop and I was working really hard.
There was weeks where I was putting in 50 to 60 hours and sometimes I just look at myself in the mirror and ask if it was even worth it at times. And so I was, it was this process of recalibrating trying to figure out my next career move and asking myself and being honest with myself if I even wanted to stay in the industry I was working in.
So it was a lot.
There's a lot of people who I feel, as 2019 was ending and 2020 was starting, there's a lot of people who were doing the self-assessment of, am I where I should be? Am I going after the big things that I should, be brave and just do. And a lot of people were coming to me asking about how do I break into the career that I want?
And you mentioned how you spent half of your time. Getting back in touch with, yourself and meditating and journaling. And the other half was networking. And networking is a word that people use a lot and it means so many different things to people. And I think the stereotype is boring cocktail party where you have to talk to strangers and wear name tags.
And to me it doesn't mean that, because I've read, it occurs to me differently, but what type of networking were you doing and what type of networking would you recommend to people who are trying to go to that next place for themselves?
So that's a really good question. So the type of networking I was doing was online networking.
So there are, and it doesn't matter what industry you're in, there are so many different type of webinars and so many different type of, e-blast list you can sign up for that will help you get your foot in the door. And if you can find a contact online and connect with them on LinkedIn and start a conversation there, there is nothing wrong with that.
In fact, that is the way I feel the world is turning right now. Now, not to discount the power of real life at all in any way, shape or form, because for me, networking online transitions to having a lunch interview or having a lunch meeting or going to a. A meetup in real time, in real life. And so if you, if there is anything that you're interested remotely interested in, sign up for a webinar, sign up for that e-blast list.
Is there something that you can find online that you can sign up for in real time, in real life? That's really where I would start. And that is where I started and it proved to be really successful.
Yeah. There's a, there's so much work that goes into getting your next great job that has nothing to do with applying Nothing.
Yeah. Nothing at all.
Like pretty much if you're applying online, it's going into a black hole and can you get a job from an online application? Sure. But are there 500 other steps that you usually have to do that make it actually happen? Yes.
Yeah, absolutely. And you're dealing with so many different algorithms and is your resume have this many words or does it have a photo?
Is it gonna get ranked on the lower end of the algorithm or is it gonna, and the time that you apply, there's so many factors that go in when you're applying online. And something that I found was successful, if I didn't have someone who could recommend me or someone in the business who knew someone who knew someone, I would do a little LinkedIn research and try to find the hiring manager and send them my resume, my cover letter to their email.
And although it took a little bit more research work, stalking, if you will, on my end it was worth it. And I think it's really powerful. And if you go that extra mile, if you will.
Yeah. Completely. Completely. Because most people like you present if you meet someone and you like them, they're automatically gonna be like, we should at least talk to that person at a minimum.
And if you have any of that on your strengths list, then you have to do everything in your power to get in front of people or get on the phone with somebody. It's just like we were talking about earlier that, social media is a funnel, right? For getting a an initial introduction for people.
And once you get that initial thing, like you have to move them on to the next step before they decide to purchase or to buy or whatever the game is that the company is playing that has this account. So I really feel like there's so many parallels between clarifying the funnels that we have to go through for what we want in life to what you have to create for digital marketing today.
Yeah, absolutely. There's, it's not just a linear journey, right? If there's just so many other ups and downs you're gonna hit and that's okay. That's totally fine. When you know that, when you know that and you expect that you can easily maneuver and you can be nimble and you can essentially go with the flow, if you will.
And the hurdle that you face are expected. Yeah. And instead, and welcoming them in and embracing them is much, much more beneficial than resisting them. 'cause when you resist 'em, they become a real problem. When you welcome them in, you're able to maneuver around them.
What when you think about.
Who are the people in your life that have inspired you and given you the courage to do the things that make you feel powerful? Such as staying up for yourself and the people you care about. Who are the people that have, gotten you there and that do inspire you to through their power?
So I was raised by a single mother. She had three children, and she, it was a girl boss, powerful lady before there ever was one. She really taught me how to be tenacious and pick up for yourself and go after what you want without hesitation. And during this time she was raising three children all on her own, and she was working her ass off and working so hard to make a name for herself in the industry that she services.
And she did a phenomenal job and she showed me. Some of the brutal sides of working really hard, which is sacrifice. There was things that, there was time she sacrificed with her kids. There was soccer games missed and football games missed and dance recitals missed. But inversely, she would show up for us after and was honest with us as to why they were missed.
And she always just promoted this self-awareness that I didn't even know was self-awareness until I got older. And I am so grateful for her courage and her strength and her ambition because if I can be half of that, of half of what she was, I feel like I would I will have succeeded in my life.
Very cool. We've talked a lot in our girls group about what we need to do to replenish ourselves, right? We give so much every day to our careers and our partners and our family, and all the other things that we care about, plus responsibilities. Where do you go to get replenished and, get back to, your source?
So I've been meditating for about a year and a half now. I go to a meditation studio. It's actually a healing collective here in Costa Mea called Behind the Lid Healing Collective. And it has changed my entire life, and I'm someone who lives with anxiety and I've lived I've just discovered the word anxiety.
That, and. That I live with it probably within the last three years, and I've had it my entire life. I just didn't have a name for it. And if you live with anxiety, you know it can really eat away at you and it can eat at all facets of your life. So already trying to hustle and work hard and be your best version of yourself living with anxiety can make you work double time.
And so finding meditation and being able to connect with myself and sit with myself for an hour and a half a day, although it extremely scary in the beginning, has been such a beneficial tool in my life because I've noticed in my relationship, in my career before, I don't react when things aren't going my way.
Now I take a deep breath and sit on whatever's going on, and then I can make an action after that. And it's such a powerful tool and I'm so grateful to have it and to have discovered it
working in the social media world. Is that an industry, like many of the others associated with, fast-paced, high powered things where you're working 100 hour weeks all the time, or now that you've moved into an internal role, is it a much more normal paced expected schedule?
So this is such a good question. There's a few ways to answer it. I thought moving into an internal role, it would be a little bit more of a slowdown and it would be this normal 40 hour work week type deal. And not to say that I'm overworked or burnt out, but there are days where I am moving so fast that.
I, sometimes forget to eat, which is not something I recommend, but it happens. So I don't necessarily think it's like an agency versus an internal role. I think it's just social media in general. And some days are quieter than others, some days are slower than others. But I definitely still have my days where I am sprinting.
And I think that's just the way that the social media world is going. I don't think that you can really get away from that.
Yeah. Because there's so many different apps out there to pre-plan and get things staged. But the truth is, yeah, if it's meant to be a real time connection, you can't really avoid there at least being moments of live and real.
Yep. And so in this internal role I'm, there's a lot more pre-planning, which is something I really love. So my content is being pre-planned a month to a month and a half in advance, and that's what works for the brand that I work with, right? So if that's not, if that doesn't work for you in your business, that's fine, that's not a hard and fast rule.
But for us and some of the logistics that we are dealing with, it works to plan content out in a month and a half. And I have different teams that I'm working with. I have a graphic design team, I have a photography team and I'm fortunate to have the budget and the resources to work with those teams.
But that takes a lot of planning on my end. And so the pre-planning is great, but it also sometimes does me a little bit of a disfavor because. Things happen in the world that you wanna talk about on social that pertain to your brand, and you have to pivot and you have to pivot fast. And so whether it's, you putting together a design to go onto social media or you talking with your team and getting it done, you just never know because there's so much power in that in real time.
So it's a little bit of both. Yeah, definitely. Being flexible.
How much, how important is it for you to do a lot of research and stay abreast to what's going on in marketing in general and of course with competitive like social media sites?
So I dedicate one hour of research just to social media and marketing a day.
So one hour of my day is spent reading articles or listening to a podcast or a webinar. It is extremely important to me and it's, and as any social media manager, whether you're seasoned or you just wanna get into the game. It's in half of your job is staying up to date with the latest platforms and trends.
The algorithms changed so much on these platforms that if you are, what I told you a year ago could have totally changed from the now. So making sure you're staying up to date is a vital part of my job.
And it doesn't seem to be slowing down, right? All the changes and the new things that are coming.
No, and it's something that I love about it and I also don't like about it because once I feel I have mastered something, it changes. So it's always keeping me on my toes, which it's just such a conflicting feeling. It can be taxing at times. Definitely. But also I like it in this. Weird sense. So yeah it's definitely an interesting feeling
and I think it's interesting as well when you see who's getting as an outsider, you can only see how people are performing based on how many followers they have or how many likes they're getting and I think it's really interesting to see that, the variety of content that people are creating to achieve the same outcome and how some feeds of Instagram are, you can see they've done a really big color strategy and they post the same type of photos all the time, or others are all quotes and they have half a million followers and you're like, really?
And so I think, whenever a client's coming to me and putting all this pressure on themselves to have this marketing and social media specific, and Instagram even more specifically strategy, I always tell them like. Just, why are you doing it? Like, why, like likes and follows do not equal customers.
I am so happy that you said that because it is 100% true. Your likes and your followers, your follower count and your likes are vanity metrics. You do not translate to dollars in the bank. If you have a hundred thousand followers, you do not. I hope maybe eventually you do have a hundred thousand dollars in the bank, but if that happens and you don't have a hundred thousand dollars in the bank, don't be surprised.
It's really not about why aren't I getting these likes? Why aren't I getting followers? It's more what can I put out there into the universe, into the digital universe to get these likes and followers. And I would even take that as a step further and say, what should, what can I offer to the digital universe?
To be a value to them. So they want to like and follow my content or my pages. When you get so attached to these vanity metrics, to these likes and followers, you really are doing yourself such a disfavor because that's not necessarily what social media is about. Sure. It's part of social media.
But it's really about connection and it's about and it's about value. You have to remember that social media is media and it's consumed the way that you would watch TV or you would watch a movie. And if you're not adding any value to your social media platforms, campaign pages, then why even bother with the likes and the follower count?
Because if you're not thinking above that, you're never gonna get those vanity metrics. At all.
Last year when Instagram went down for 24 hours, it might even been less and everyone freaked out. And then I have Twitter accounts. I rarely use them. Like for me it's like a, I go to it for more news things or more more things that are like date time specific conversations versus just for the sake of seeing what people have to say. And, yep. I loved that, like how Twitter just absorbed everybody else that was normally there and freaking out and all the memes that came with it. With Twitter being like the current stepchild to Instagram, are there benefits for like of the, Twitter platform that might be smarter for some brands to use instead of Instagram as their primary or one of their two that they pick?
Lemme tell you, Twitter has, they're the one platform that hasn't really up and changed their algorithm too intensely. Instagram changes their algorithm like all the time.
Yeah.
And I feel like Twitter gets overlooked so often. But you're right, it is used as almost like a news source. And so my personal, my, my belief with Twitter is that if you are wanting to position yourself as a thought leader within the industry that you service, Twitter should 100% be part of your social media strategy. And at the very least, maybe having one or two pieces of content going live on Twitter once a week.
And it doesn't have to be anything extremely sophisticated if you are writing blog content. Poster blog content there. If you are reading a third party article that you found really interesting, post it there and in one or two sentences say why you found it interesting. It doesn't, it's the fabulous thing about Twitter is you don't have to overthink this platform.
Whereas with Instagram, there's so much that goes into it. Your aesthetic, the design, the amount of posting, the different functions of Instagram. There's so much that goes into Instagram. Whereas Twitter is, you can use it a little bit more passively and it will yield pretty major results if you're consistent with it.
Very cool. Okay, so Twitter's gonna get some more favor after this episode. I appreciate that.
Yeah.
We talk to a lot of our guests about. The, books and tools and resources that they rely on every day to either do their job or to, keep them powerful and inspired. What are some of the resources that you rely on that are your favorites?
So some of, so you mean professionally, right?
Like within the social media industry? Both. Okay. Professionally, I heavily rely on a blog called Later or Later Blog, and they're actually a platform, they're a social media scheduling platform, but they have this really amazing blog and they're usually the first to put out any new updates with anything social related, but more specifically Instagram.
And it's easy to digest. I have a former colleague who went off to start her own business. Her name is Jess Jacobson and she is a powerhouse. I swear her and Facebook have something cooked up together because she's always in the know of everything that happens on social media. It is pretty impressive.
And she is someone I look up to and admire very much there's also another scheduling platform that I use. It's called Hey Orca. And they do so many amazing webinar interviews and blogs and I'm always looking to them for anything social media, industry news related. There was one more, but I can't remember.
So I guess that would be it. That's okay.
So we talk a lot about social media and that it's, it's a lot of hours. There's a lot of topics, there's a lot of opinions about it. There's a lot that's changing all the time. So it's definitely not like a career you choose if you wanna coast. But what are the fun and glamorous sides of it?
Goodness, this isn't an intense question for me at least. So I think when I feel the most fulfilled in my job when I can connect with people and I get messages, direct messages through social media, either about the brand that I work for and how.
How it helps change their lives and how the content that we're putting out is inspirational. I think that human connection, taking the digital sphere out of it and just real hard core human connection is my favorite part. That doesn't have anything to do with people liking the content I put out there or following the pages.
Just these like simple direct messages that we receive are, they make my day and they make it worth everything that I do on a daily basis. And it's just, it's really amazing. And it goes back to that's what social media is all about. It's about this connection. It's about this real life, human connection and sure that could potentially get tainted with the way that sometimes how social can be.
But at the end of the day, if you're being authentic. You're being true to yourself, true to your brand, true to your brand's goals, your brand strategy. When you get those messages of people reaching out and expressing how much you've been of help to them, it's, it really just makes my day worth it.
That's very cool. Do you save those and print them out?
I screenshot them.
I guess that's the modern equivalent, right?
Yep. Yeah, totally is the modern equivalent.
So we've talked about Instagram, we've talked about Twitter. The next one that keeps coming up for conversation is Pinterest.
And Ooh, I'm a fan of people leaning in on Pinterest because it does link you directly back or does link people directly back to your own website. What is your opinion on Pinterest and what is maybe some like the pros and the cons in the p Pinterest world?
Pinterest is fabulous. I love Pinterest personally and professionally.
So I think just like you said, it's a great tool to generate website traffic. That is gonna be the number one pro. So if you are, if you're a business who is constantly updating your blog content or your blog content, Pinterest is your jam. I would suggest getting on Pinterest. Now, if that's not something that is part of your strategy maybe Pinterest isn't the best route to take if, but.
I wouldn't discount it altogether. I would just keep it on the back burner. And maybe you revisit it, that's the one beautiful thing about social media altogether. You don't if you say no to one platform today, in two months, you can pick it up and revisit it. And that's the really amazing thing about just social media in general.
But Pinterest specifically is an, I'd say is an awesome for website traffic. The one, I guess not really a con, just something to be aware of is that it should be updated pretty regularly. And so if that's something you can't commit to, then I would suggest maybe shying away from it for now. But the more you update it, the better, the more pins the better, if you will.
I'm reading and I'm hearing, and I'm not too well versed on this, but I'm reading and I'm hearing that Pinterest is making this big change. And they're changing the way the platform works. And maybe this is a, you heard it first. I'm not entirely sure if it's gonna happen. It's just what I'm reading and what I'm seeing.
And again, I'm just waiting to see if it happens. But a big change could be happening with it.
Ooh. Something to think about. Alright. Yeah. Breaking news. Powerful Ladies podcast.
Yeah, exactly. You heard it first.
Whenever a client comes to me and we're, I have a kind of a startup checklist that we run through.
We always end up talking about social media and marketing, and the first piece of advice I give them is once they've landed on a name to just go and reserve their handle in as many places as possible so that it doesn't get taken by somebody else. I don't say to activate them all, but at least reserve them all at whoever you can.
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. What would you say would be the second piece of advice for people? They've just started, they figured out their name, finally, they've reserved their handles. Now what?
Okay, so you reserved your handles. Now let's see who your core consumer or your demographic who, whoever you service, let's see where they are.
Are they on Facebook? Are they on Instagram? Are they on Twitter? Are they on Pinterest? And then after we've figured out where they're at and where they're most active, let's pick those platforms and let's start creating a strategy. I do not suggest going, just going straight in and starting to post that's, or create content and post.
That's something that I don't think that's a good habit. Plan out your content. Be intentional with it. Make sure it makes sense for your audience after that's done. Okay, let's push it live now. This is where I feel businesses, business owners, they can get a little discouraged, especially if it's your first go around with social.
It's not always going to perform well. And there are so many factors that go into it. Is it the time, is it the platform? Is it the type of content? Is it the word? There's so many factors that you can nitpick and just take one thing at a time. AB test is what it's called. So if it didn't work this time, let's look at it.
Why maybe we didn't post that peak hours. Let's post that peak hours next week and see what we see, what we get from it. AB test, like no one's business. And you're gonna ab test a lot. And that's okay. That's part of the game.
Awesome. I also have a lot of people coming to me asking for advice on how they can find either a social media or marketing freelancer or a agency, and they would love to know what should, what questions should they be asking or what should they be looking for when they're trying to choose their partner?
Ooh, this is such a good question. So a great place to start would be LinkedIn. That's definitely a great tool to find, to really find anyone, but specifically social media. Usually social media professionals are pretty vocal on LinkedIn. Especially if you are an agency or you're freelance.
So that's definitely a great place to start. And then some questions to ask. What is your strategy? And even if you don't really understand what the answer is you'll be able to tell if they're being authentic or not. So if their strategy is more that's an outdated strategy. If their strategy is pushed content as much as you can to everywhere.
Outdated strategy. Another question to ask. Goodness gracious, this is a tough question. Going along with strategy, if it's a cookie do they offer unique strategies or is it a one size fits all? That's definitely something to consider because every single client or business, even if they're in the same industry, should be receiving unique strategies.
That's something to consider. Yeah, I think it's a hint hiring any other professional service. So whether it's a coach or an accountant or a lawyer your insurance broker, do they work with people in businesses like you? Do they handle the size of business that you wanna do?
Do they have experience with your industry? How busy are they? How much attention will you get? What is it that is above and beyond that you will get the help you need? 'cause especially when you're a startup and you're small, you often don't find an issue until it's the, 18th hour and you have to get it solved right away. Otherwise it could be huge. Financial or risk issues that come up especially when there's like less eyes watching everything just by the nature of being a solepreneur or a small team. And so I think being able to have access to people who can get back to you quickly or have really good customer service, like that's also really important.
And even if it costs more, I think that's worth it.
Yeah, absolutely. So I think expectations too, with your social media manager, specialist coordinator, whomever you decide to work with, having those expectations set out in the beginning are also going to be beneficial down the road.
So as a social media professional, you know that there's gonna be hiccups, that. Businesses, business strategy aligns with your social strategy because your social media manager is basically maintaining and monitoring your digital footprint, if you will. Part of it. And so having those expectations that if something goes wrong in my business and I need to, there's a hiccup or there's something as there always is, can you be there for me if I need you to be putting that out there from the beginning is going to be a much more beneficial than than not, because oftentimes social media professionals, especially if you're freelance, you have, I hope you don't have any more than six clients, but say you have a few clients and you just, you can't give yourself to everyone else.
You're going to be, you are gonna become extremely burnt out as a social media manager, and you're going to become, it's gonna. Hurt you rather than help you. And so having those, laying those expectations down from the get go with both parties is something that is definitely encouraged because there has to be a balance between the two.
So as a social media manager, I have to realize that I am going to be needed at different hours and odd hours and hours outside the normal workday. That's, you're, there's no such thing as a normal workday for a social media manager and that's in-house freelance. Agency life, there's just not, because something could happen on social that you, and you have to go into damage control mode really quickly.
So going into that you have to understand that, but at the same time, you also have to protect your creativity and you don't wanna get too burnt out. And so again, laying those expectations down where yes, I will be there for the 9 1 1 emergencies, but not every emergency can be 9 1 1.
Yeah. Is encouraged.
Yeah. 'cause if people need to have their own boundaries and a life and Exactly. Some level predictability, otherwise there's zero efficiencies and everything would cost more. Exactly. Or if you're not charging more, you should be for that. Yeah, exactly. So as we're kicking off a brand new year and a new decade, what are you excited about for yourself and for your industry and what are you looking forward to creating this year?
So I am extremely excited because for, to launch an, in an influencer marketing program for the brand I work for, this is something that is a new, this is something that's newer to me. I've done it before, but not on the level that I'm doing it now. And I'm learning a lot and I'm getting to also implement what I already know and see if it still works.
So I'm extremely excited about this program that I'm putting together, and it's this blend of real life and social media world altogether that I'm really excited to come to light. What's the other part of your question? Sorry, I got so deep into that.
And whatcha excited about for you, what are you creating outside of work and just for your life in general as a powerful lady?
So I am in this like very beta phase. I don't even know if, I don't even know what it's gonna look like yet of putting together some sort of how to guide, or maybe it's an ebook or maybe it's an actual book. Who knows? For social media managers to take care of themselves and to be able to take a hold of this always on job and make sure you're maintaining balance and boundaries it's a two part deal.
Because this is something I never knew I was gonna experience this. I never knew that I was going to have clients asking why they didn't have a thousand likes on a piece of content that I created. I never knew that I was going to have to measure. Sometimes it felt like measuring my worth in these vanity metrics.
And especially for people who are new to the industry, I want them to know that it's okay to sometimes take a step back and ask yourself, why are you, why am I doing this? And to take a deep breath and continue to move forward. That, because your worth isn't measured on one piece of content or one post.
And then also whatever this ebook deal is gonna look like, it's also gonna help you help educate your clients. So being able to talk with people who don't really understand what you're doing, who don't even really know why they have to do it, they were just told by someone that they need to do it for their business.
Being able to speak to them and help them understand your language is something that I also wish I had. And something I'm going to create for others.
That sounds awesome. And when you have that ready, I would love to promote it on our platforms. Oh, I would love that. We ask everybody on the podcast where they put themselves on the Powerful Lady Scale.
Zero is average everyday human, and 10 is super powerful lady. So where would you put yourself today and where do you find yourself, ranking yourself on average?
So today I feel a 10. I feel like I have it going on. Oh, awesome. Yes, I am a 10. Most days, as much as I would love to say that I'm a 10, every day is different.
I will say I had a really amazing week this week, both professionally and personally, so I'm gonna give myself a 10. But, some days I feel like some days I'm at a one. And I think it's good to recognize those days. Because it makes the 10 days that much better.
What do you think is the best piece of advice you have been given?
Professional or personal?
Oh goodness. The best piece of advice I've ever been given is it's not always going to be this way. And that can be of two things, right? It could be of the good and the bad. So when you're riding that highway and you feel amazing, it's always gonna be this way. And so enjoy it.
Enjoy the fuck out of it. And when you are at your lowest lows and you don't feel like you can crawl out of that hole, you will crawl out of that hole. It will change. It will not always be this way.
Awesome. No truer words, right? Like it wasn't this way before. It won't be this way again. Yep.
When celebrate the wins, accept the losses.
Yeah. And for me too, I feel like I just don't even, I don't celebrate the wins enough. Like I don't give myself enough credit. I'm like, oh yeah, I did. This is great. This is amazing. But okay, what's next? And that's not fair to me. I worked hard for that win. I worked hard for that good moment, whether personal or professional, and it needs to be lived in more.
Whereas when anything bad, quote unquote happens, I live there and I stay there. You can't get me out of there. And I, that's not fair. So celebrating the wins is much
needed. As we are wrapping up today, is there anything else that you would love to leave our listeners with about being powerful or social media or just Hannah's words of wisdom?
I love that Hannah's words of wisdom. I would like anyone who's listening, especially if you are a powerful lady. So remember to take a deep breath. It's going to be okay. And you are more powerful than you even know.
Ah, men to that. Yes.
You have done incredible today. This was so valuable and insightful. Thank you for sharing your story and all of your tips. I think that we're gonna have a ton of feedback about this episode. And I even hear like we need to do a social media workshop together. Like it's already on my list. I wrote it down.
But this has been so great. So thank you so much to being a yes to powerful ladies. Thank you for having me. I had a blast.
Finally, someone who will give us a clear and simple plan to structure our social media approach. Holy smokes. I've been waiting for this forever. I love the freedom of just picking two channels to communicate with customers in the world. I love that she clarified that most social media is lead generating, not sales generating.
I also have some relief that a powerful lady working in social media. Is taking on the responsibility to make sure that content and the methodology that they're making social media content behind is out there to do good and not to harm. She dropped so much knowledge in this episode. Please let us know what you think and what you thought, and what else you'd like to know.
Email us at hello@thepowerfulladies.com to connect, support and follow Hannah. You can follow her on Instagram at hannah diff, and of course you can also email her hannah diff00@gmail.com. All of it you can find the correct spellings and additional ways to reach out to her in our show notes@thepowerfulladies.com.
I hope you've enjoyed this new episode of The Powerful Ladies Podcast. If you're a yes to powerful ladies and you want to support us, you can subscribe to this podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts or on our website, the powerful ladies.com. Don't forget to write us and give us a review. You can also be one of our patons on patreon.com/powerful.
Ladies, follow us at Powerful Ladies and of course, visit our website the powerful ladies.com for any other information you want about how to connect with us. Send us a note. We love your feedback. It's all available@thepowerfulladies.com.
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Instagram: @hannah_diff
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
