Everyone’s a critic.

 

Has this ever happened to you?

 

You finally get a social media strategy together for your company.

 

You do the hard work and create content designed to engage a specific audience.

 

You create a social media calendar and stick to it.

 

You execute, and publish original content to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube on a consistent basis.

 

Things are moving along and you start seeing results. People are noticing: they’re liking, sharing, and commenting on your posts.

 

All is well.

 

Until suddenly, someone, somewhere says you’re doing it all wrong.

 

They tell you you’re posting too often.

 

Or, maybe it’s too little

 

Or, they don’t like what you’re posting.

 

Most critics mean well — especially if it’s someone you know in real life and respect.

 

For now, let’s assume they really are trying to help.

 

Maybe — just maybe — there’s a chance you could stand to dial it back a notch.

 

But, before you do, there are a few things worth considering.

1. Congratulate yourself on getting noticed.

 

First of all — congratulations, you’ve just been noticed.

 

Let that sink in.

 

In an never-ending ocean of content and kitten memes, you’ve managed to catch someone’s attention.

 

So much so, they felt a need to offer their advice.

 

And, while over-posting is a bad thing, it’s way better (and easier to fix) than under posting… or posting without getting noticed.

2. Social media makes people feel like they’re entitled to give unsolicited advice.

If you have any semblance of popularity on social media, you may find yourself coping with a lot of unsolicited advice.

 

From unqualified experts.

 

It’s the price you pay for fame.

 

I know what you’re thinking — “Fame?!? Whaaa? I’m just a business owner, not a Kardashian!”

 

I know. It can be a very weird feeling.

 

Being pseudo popular on social media opens you up to a lot of criticism — just like if you were a celebrity.

 

Some people interpret your growing popularity as an open season invitation. Suddenly, everyone and their cat-handler has an opinion on how you should be doing things.

 

People are more entitled, more confident, and feel closer to you because of social media — just remember, this doesn’t mean you need to bow down to everyone’s whim.

3. Understand how social media algorithms work.

When someone observes how frequently you post, are they poring over your profile? Or are they noticing you come up in their feed a lot?

 

If you’re showing up a lot, that you have gained the favor of social media algorithms because your content is engaging your audience and thus they want to see you.

 

It is possible you are over-posting in a group where people are notified every time you share, and that could get annoying.

 

Otherwise, make sure the critic’s idea of “post frequency” makes sense in a logical context. Your post frequency depends on the social media algorithms.

4. Consider the source.

If the person critiquing you are your competitors, it’s easy to figure out if the reason they’re speaking up is because of sour grapes.

 

But if they’re friends, it can be a more insidious call.

 

Are they jealous? Even if they’re friends? Even if they say they have your best interests at heart?

 

Don’t be hard on them — they likely don’t even realise what they’re doing.

 

Remember, social media does funny things to people and their egos.

 

Being pseudo popular on social media affects others in strange ways. And, if they aren’t self-aware… they won’t even realize they’re (re)acting out of jealousy.

 

Even if they aren’t jealous, are they qualified to be making judgements about your company’s social media strategy?

 

Are they experts on social media? On branding? On business? On YOUR business?

 

Are they better at social media than you are? Do they have a proven track record in any of these areas?

 

Someone who has 3 Instagram followers shouldn’t be telling you how to use Instagram. Someone who’s never converted a lead into a sale using Facebook shouldn’t be telling you how to use Facebook.

 

Is the person making the judgement a part of your target audience? What’s annoying to some is brilliant to others. What category does your critic belong to?

 

These people are always going to exist, just run your own race.

5. Was it just one person?

If you irritate one person, but you inspire 5 people… who should you be more concerned about?

 

Look — you will never make everyone happy. Not on social media, not in business, and not in life.

 

And, you shouldn’t try.

 

If you try to be liked by everyone, you will be so bland no one is ever going to notice you from the competition.

 

If there’s nothing special about you, you’re basically telling your prospects there’s nothing special about them, either.

 

Why would they follow you?

 

Don’t be afraid to lose the odd non-believer. Stick to providing value to those who get you, and you will attract an audience who loves and appreciates you, and will subsequently pay top dollar for your products or services.

6. Are you helping or are you selling?

People rarely complain that you’re posting too often if what you are providing is valuable to them.

 

If your posts seem redundant or are overflowing with sales pitches, here’s where you might want to dial things back a bit.

 

Be brutally honest with yourself. Are you helping, or are you selling?

 

Once in a while, you might hear some criticism, from a friend or colleague, that you are posting too often on social media. You need to take this sort of feedback with a grain of salt. First, acknowledge the fact that it’s an accomplishment to get noticed on social media at all. Then, understand that social media audiences sometimes feel a bit too entitled to be giving other people advice, when they really aren’t qualified to do so. They might be harboring negative feelings towards your social media fame. They might not know a lot about social media in general, or your business in particular. Understand how social media algorithms work, and that your post frequency relies on them. If it was just one person complaining about your post frequency, ask yourself if you need to take them seriously. Make sure your content is adding value to your audience, and not just selling. If you are genuinely helping, you won’t need to worry as much about posting more often.

If you’re ready to take your business blog to the next level, check out my FREE eBook, “How To Blog Like An Entrepreneur” here…