Insights from Sharon on Crafting Successful Social Media Content

Today, we have the pleasure of interviewing Sharon Chidra Jonah, the Founder of Buzz Social.

Sharon has been working in the marketing industry for three years and started Buzz Social late last year.

In this interview, we will dive into her expertise in creating content for social media, as well as the tools and software she uses in her career.

How did you get started in the marketing industry?

I’ve always been interested in social media. I found it interesting how people could come up with so much creative content that could create a community – educate, inform, and entertain them.

But before I started working in social media, I was a writer and blogger. I wrote for magazines and blogs. I wrote poems and fictional stories and wanted to do something on social media.

At the right time, a friend recommended me for a social media content creator job because he thought I was an excellent writer. So that’s where my journey in social media began.

I had yet to gain experience with social media. I learned on the job, but I began to fall in love with working on social media.

I loved and enjoyed the process of creating content, helping businesses reach their goals on social media, and coming up with different content strategies and ideas. I found it challenging but fun and exciting.

What is your process for developing content that resonates with your client’s target audience?

Your audience sums up a large part of your success on social media.

If your content resonates with no one, it has no point. So starting from planning and strategy, I make sure to make my client’s target audience part of the picture.

I start with my client’s industry. Let’s say fashion.

I research what’s happening in the fashion industry, the trends, and things that are being de-influenced. I also study things that complement the fashion industry, like beauty and hair. And then influencers, creators, and people who are generally in love with fashion.

It’s a very sensitive industry; people always talk or say something, so I love considering things.

And then, I think about my client’s brand, voice, and personality because one of the main things that resonate with your audience is your brand personality.

When you create excellent and valuable content that your audience will love, and you combine that with your brand values, personality, and voice. That birth magic!

How do you measure the success of your social media marketing campaigns?

Measuring your success on social media depends on what you are using social media for or, in other words, your primary goal on social media.

It could be brand awareness, creating a community, getting leads, or simply needing a space to share all your ideas.

Depending on your business model and goal, I love to tell my clients to see social media as a sales funnel – meaning your primary goal on social media is sales.

Let’s say you have a beauty store and want to use social media to drive traffic to your brand’s website. The metric you should measure is website clicks, not sales. The amount of sales is the job of the website itself.

The amount of website clicks is the job of your social media page. If your main goal is to create brand awareness, then we focus on reach and shares. We’ll also want to know what people say through story shares and comments.

And I love to measure metrics through analytical tools like Later and Sprout Social and primary social media platform analytics like Instagram analytics.

How has social media marketing evolved over the past few years?

When it comes to social media marketing, things are constantly changing. There’s always a new trend, a new hack, or a new goal.

Social media marketing evolves when the way people use social media changes. For example, social media is becoming the new search engine.

While Google is still the OG and will never go away, people now use social media the same way they use Google. They consider it a source of news, information, and entertainment.

So it’s our job as social media managers to ensure that the brand we work for is treated as a search engine. We do this by creating the right content.

Also, as a Gen Z and social media marketer, I can 100% say Gen Z influences how we market on social media.

Social media marketing has also evolved in terms of UGC content and influencer marketing (my all-time favorite), the use of AI, and short-form video content. Trends will dominate the future of short-form video content and humanized and authentic content.

What advice would you give someone just starting a career in social media marketing?

Learn to filter advice. There are so many social media marketers and people creating content about marketing and creating content on social media.

There is 100% an information overload, sometimes leading to contrasting opinions. Like the trending debates “Instagram hashtags are dead” and “reels are the only way to grow.”

To know where I stand, Instagram hashtags aren’t dead, and reels aren’t the only way to grow. But a lot of people don’t think so. I’ll tell you not to listen to them, but that’s your choice.

So when starting your social media career, know who to listen to. The way I preach everyone isn’t your audience is the same way I tell you everyone isn’t your speaker.

How do you stay current with social media marketing trends and developments?

I spend so much time on social media, which helps me be up-to-date about what’s happening on the platforms.

I’ve also signed up for a lot of newsletters. My favorites are Pretty Little Marketer, Later Blog, Social Media Today, and The Drum.

Could you walk us through your favorite social media management tools and software?

Sure! Firstly, I love to use Canva for all things design.

I use Notion and Trello for project and client management.

I use Later for planning and scheduling.

Google Meets and Zoom are my all-time favorites for client and discovery calls.

How do you manage your time effectively when handling multiple social media accounts for different clients?

I’m a student, and I work remotely, so time management is something I have to pay attention to.

I like to give myself the standard 9-5 work duration, but I always work by midnight. I assign different tasks for different days, know how many projects I can take in a month, and calculate how long it will take me to do them.

For my social media management services, I work with my clients monthly. I set a time to create all content for the week or two and send it to them for approval. Based on our agreement, we have a day for content approvals.

The work duration for my social media strategy and auditing clients is usually a week or two. So, depending on the project, I calculate what I should do and when.

As a social media manager, you need discipline and focus on managing your time effectively.

How do you collaborate with other marketing professionals or teams to ensure a cohesive strategy across all channels?

Whether it’s a content collaboration or working with other professionals, I want to ensure we have built a relationship. That will help us ensure we are on the same page.

We make sure we have the same goal, and we communicate effectively. Effective communication needs to be set in place for any collaboration to be successful.

Ensure you and your team communicate constantly and revisit your strategies and plans.

What are some common misconceptions people have about social media marketing?

A misconception people have about social media marketing is that it’s straightforward and it’s all about creating content. It’s not!

Also, I’ve seen that many people see social media as a get-rich-quick scheme.

I’ve seen those ads that say: “Be a social media manager and earn $1000 weekly without any experience”. I dislike things like that because it clogs the industry and gives social media managers a bad name.

I need people to research this field. Take courses and learn. It’s not enough to get one client and use that. I learned on the job but also took courses and consumed resources.

Social Media Marketing is never about just creating content. It’s deeper than that. Sadly, a lot of new social media managers don’t know that.