Balancing Personal Social Media as a Social Media Manager

If you've grown up with social media, you may be unfazed by the countless notifications that you receive throughout the day. Seamlessly moving from platform to platform and learning the latest features is something that comes naturally to you, and you enjoy connecting with your friends, family, or whoever you may meet. But the social media space has become flooded with brands, creators, and celebrities, all the while creating more career opportunities to work within the industry at your 9 to 5. If you're one of those people (a.k.a. us), you may love your career in social media but find it overwhelming to scroll after hours. We're here to help you understand what you can do to save your relationship with social media and how to balance the personal and professional sides of it. 

Set Time Limits

One feature available to smartphone users is the ability to set time limits on individual apps and your phone altogether. Whether you need to limit certain apps such as TikTok (we're all guilty of the doom scroll, it's okay), or you need a scheduled break, your smartphone's got your back. If you have an iPhone, visit your settings and find the Screen Time feature; Android users can discover the Digital Wellbeing feature. When you set a time limit, you'll receive notifications letting you know when you've reached your max. Take this as you need it! Setting boundaries is great; knowing your limits can benefit your mental health. 

Reduce Notifications

Reevaluate the notifications that you feel are worth popping up on your lock screen. With so many apps on our phones, the amount of notifications we receive each day can quickly become overwhelming. The good news is you have a few options when it comes to which notifications are worth your attention. There are plenty of options when it comes to limiting your notifications, including how they are displayed on your lockscreen, to how you receive them for individual apps. Take a minute to go through your settings and decide which display is right for you.

Focus Mode

This is a great feature for a variety of circumstances. To silence your phone in a meeting, throughout the workday, putting your phone down for some R&R, or for whichever reason you need, the Focus or Do Not Disturb feature is a viable option. Most smartphones have a Do Not Disturb feature available to you that temporarily shuts off any and all notifications, texts, calls, etc. Don't want to turn everything off? No worries! You can make exceptions if you need to, but this is a great feature to utilize when you don't want to be bothered by a buzz or a ding. You can even let your contacts see when your phone is on Do Not Disturb (transparency at its finest!). We're huge advocates for this feature; just ask our Social Media Specialists. 

Make Your Personal Feed Personal

Want your personal feed to be something you value? Reevaluate the accounts follow. If your professional feed is something you can continue to gain inspiration from, keep up with the latest news, discover other brands, and then keep it to your workself. Think about making your personal feed, well, personal. Consider designating your following to friends, family, and other accounts that bring positivity into your life. This technique can help you better your relationship with social media outside of your career and contribute to the work-life balance we all strive for.

Pro tip: Create an account just for the 9 to 5 you! 

We hope these tips will help all our social media professionals improve their relationships with social media after hours.

Boost Your Brand with Employee Advocacy

In today's digital age, social media has become an integral part of our daily lives. From Facebook to Instagram, and Twitter to LinkedIn, social media platforms have evolved into powerful tools for businesses to connect with their customers and promote their brands. However, a recent strategy that is gaining popularity among companies is employee advocacy through social media.

Employee advocacy is the promotion of a company's brand, products, or services by its employees on social media platforms. It is a powerful tool for companies to increase their brand awareness and credibility among their target audience. In this blog post, we will explore why employee advocacy on social media is important to companies.

1. Increases brand reach

Employee advocacy on social media helps companies increase their overall brand reach. When employees share company content via their social media profiles, it has the potential to reach a wider audience beyond the company's existing followers. This increases the reach of the company's message, helping attract a new audience including potential customers. 

Just starting employee advocacy in your company? Consider starting with LinkedIn! With more and more features being added to the platform, it's easier than ever for users to interact and share posts with their connections. For example, the ˜Repost with Thoughts' feature makes it easy for users to share an original post from a user or company and add additional context. Using this feature, both the original post and comment from the said user will be shared with their followers and/or connections. A Double-Whammy!

2. Builds trust and credibility

People are more likely to trust other people. Corporate content can only go so far, and people love to see authentic content from their friends and peers. That's why employee advocacy on social media helps build trust and credibility for a company's brand. When employees share company content on their social media profiles, it can help humanize the brand and make it more relatable to potential customers. This, in turn, can help build trust and credibility for the brand. Think ˜modern-age word-of-mouth.' 

3. Attracts talent

This concept can also help attract talent to a company. According to GlassDoor, 79% of job applicants use social media in their job search. It's important to meet your potential employees where they're already at. And when employees share their positive experiences working for a company on social media, it can help showcase the company's culture and values. This can be attractive to potential job candidates who are looking for a company that aligns with their values and beliefs.

4. Boosts employee morale

Employee advocacy on social media can also boost employee morale. When employees are encouraged to share their positive experiences working for a company on social media, it can make them feel valued and appreciated. This can lead to higher job satisfaction and employee retention.

5. Cost-effective marketing

Employee advocacy on social media is a cost-effective marketing strategy. It is a way for companies to leverage their existing resources “ their employees “ to promote their brand. This can save companies money on marketing and advertising costs, while still reaching a wide audience. In fact, according to everyonesocial.com, an employee advocacy program costs, on average, 1/10 of paid advertising. So, what are you waiting for?!

In conclusion, employee advocacy on social media is an important tool for companies to increase their brand awareness, credibility, and reach. It can also help attract top talent, boost employee morale, and minimize marketing costs. Companies that encourage employee advocacy on social media can reap the benefits of this powerful marketing strategy.

Need to consult on an Employee Advocacy Strategy? Send us a message to get started! 

Getting By With a Little Help From Your (Random) Friends

The weather is getting colder, our days are getting shorter, and for those who struggle with mental health, you may be struggling more than usual (and that's OKAY!).

Taking care of yourself and your mental health is an important task, no matter your situation. We encourage you to stay if you're trying to find some encouragement or tips for a work-life balance. But here's to our fellow work-from-home workers, we know it might take a little something extra to ensure you're truly taking care of yourself and your mental health. 

Working remote, just as all other careers, comes with its pros and cons. We may not have a commute, obtain more flexibility than others, and you might even be wearing sweats (guilty!). But, when we neglect our mental health, working from home has the potential to quickly feel isolating. We may easily fall into patterns and an unhealthy routine, sometimes not even leaving the house for a day, or days, at a time. We know it happens, and you may not even notice or feel affected at first. But it's important for us to set healthy boundaries and expectations for your own sake, and if you struggle with mental health prior to this remote position, please be aware of the effects you may experience!

So, as fellow remote workers, we're here for you and want to share some tips that may guide you in creating a healthy work-life balance while working from home. 

You Are Not One in a Million

First things first, know you are NOT alone! Here are some statistics we've gathered that show just that: 

We're not sure if that helped, but we hope there's some comfort in knowing that you're not the only one who may experience a negative impact on your mental health. We empathize with your frustration and confusion. We're here to give you some tips on how to create a healthy lifestyle while loving your remote job. 

Random Tips for Our Remote Peers

Tip #1: Set boundaries

Yes, you heard us! SET. BOUNDARIES. Boundaries are important for us, for you, for your boss, for your friends, for your family, and the list goes on (and on, and on). But we'll just touch on the work boundaries and save the rest for you to work on later. 

Start slow, if that helps, you don't need to go boundary crazy. Let's begin with actually taking your lunch break A survey found 29% of Americans working from home don't take any meal breaks during the workday. And six in 10 feel guilty for taking any kind of break during work hours (nypost.com). So Yeah. That statistic speaks for itself; take your lunch break people! It's important to fuel your body and step away from the computer, so if you have issues setting boundaries in your work life, start here. Block off that lunch hour on your calendar if you need to, and enjoy a minute to breathe! 

Other boundaries to consider that may make your work from home life easier on your mental state could be sticking to your scheduled work hours. Yes, something as simple as that! Act like you're stepping into the office, log on at the beginning of the day, and shut the laptop down at the end (workaholics, this one's for you!). Same thing goes with your work phone. Whether you're at home, on vacation, etc. Put the work phone away, that email can wait until your next work day, trust us. 

Tip #2: Your Work Location

Let's start with designating a space in your home to work. Whether that's a home office, a desk, a spot at your dining table, whatever it may be. Try to avoid the habit of working from your bed, since your bed is for sleeping! Compartmentalizing these spaces in your home will be more beneficial than you may think. 

However, not leaving the house may become part of the problem you're struggling with. It's good to mix things up, too! If you're finding yourself home for days at a time, it may be time to consider looking for alternatives such as a coffee shop nearby or your local public library. A change of scenery and new surroundings might just be the thing that pulls you out of a rut.

Tip #3: Find a hobby (outside of the house)

It's just as important to invest in yourself and your passions as it is to get out into the world. Finding something you enjoy doing, at a space outside of your home, is a great way to make sure you're actually getting out of the house.

Like to exercise? Join a local gym. Go for a walk outside. Like to read? Join a local book club. Want to be creative? Look into some local art classes. 

Finding what you like to do makes it that much easier to take a step in the right direction (and outside your front door).

Tip #4: Reach out to your coworkers

Listen, you may be in different cities or even different states, but reaching out to your coworkers is a great step! It's important to build relationships in any respect, and if you're struggling with isolation, there's no harm in finding a way to talk to your coworkers! 

Schedule a Zoom call on your lunch hour, invite your coworkers to a virtual happy hour, whatever it may be! Having that interaction with your coworkers is just as important online as it is in-person. Reach out and make a new friend. It might just help.

Tip #5: Make time for friends and family

Seeing those you're close with is more important than ever. Reach out to your friends, set up a lunch date, host a cocktail hour, go to the movies, who cares! Maintain those friendships as much as you can, because people need people (and remote workers really need people).

Call your parents, siblings, cousins, aunt, uncles, and grandparents or even visit them. When your family brings a positive light to your life, it's important to keep them close. Reaching out to family is a great first step if you need someone to talk to.

Tip #6: Reach out if you're struggling

We know this can be hard, and it's different for everyone. But if you find your mental health declining (and this goes for everyone reading this), please reach out for help! A trusted family member, friend, acquaintance, your boss, a therapist, whoever you feel you can have an open, and honest conversation with, please do so. It's important to be honest with yourself and get help if you find yourself at a point where you need it. 

We're going to leave some of these resources here, they're here to help you. 

Crisis Text Line - Text HOME to 741741

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline - 988 - Chat Online Here

National Domestic Violence Hotline - (800) 799-7233

APA Crisis Hotlines and Resources

Making Social Media A Safe Space

Given we're in the social media industry You had to know this was coming. Social media can be used for good! So as a little something extra, here are 6 mental health social media accounts we love and encourage you to follow if you love them, too.

@mentl.sesh

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A post shared by MENTL.SESH (@mentl.sesh)

@themindgeek

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A post shared by Sarah Crosby (@themindgeek)

@realdepressionproject

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A post shared by The Depression Project (@realdepressionproject)

@thebraincoach

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A post shared by Nawal Mustafa (@thebraincoach)

@story.of.the.mind

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A post shared by Appreciating Neurodiversity & Disability! (@story.of.the.mind)

@themindfacultykl

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A post shared by The Mind Faculty (@themindfacultykl)