Among social media manager, there is a rule and it’s called the 80/20 rule. That means you share 80% of the content of others (while trying to stay relevant to your audience) and 20% of your own content. You’ve all heard the saying that you should be generous first, probably. If you’ve never heard of the 80/20 rule, here’s an article about it from Social Media Today.

Nobody Wants a Hard Sales Pitch

Back in the olden days, people were more accustomed to a hard sell. But now, most marketers cater to a person’s lifestyle. So if you’re selling pricey watches, for example, you might also want to figure out what else that watch wearer might be interested in. Italian vacations? Leather briefcases? Fancy shoes? And then talk about those things 80% of the time. Gary Vaynerchuk in his book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, also talks about sharing educational, entertaining, high-quality content before landing that “right hook.”

The Point is to Be Generous

The numbers don’t have to be exact. You could share three posts about something other than yourself before landing that right hook. The point is to give something first and be generous. If you haven’t read it before, you might like Social Media: Quick and Easy Ways to Pay it Forward. I’m a big believer in giving first and having some social currency in the bank before asking for a withdrawal.

Ways to Share

If you don’t know how to share, here are some ideas:

• Give someone encouragement
• Repost something that restores your faith in humanity
• Ask about someone else’s health or a recent accomplishment
• Introduce two people who might have something in common
• Tell others to follow someone you like!

Why Use the 80/20 Rule?

Let’s see. First of all, people will see you as generous, which means they’ll be more likely to want to connect with you. Secondly, you’ll probably make more friends, and you can never have too many friends in my opinion. Third, you’ll have more loose affiliations, which if you’ve ever read about those, you know that’s the way to more gainful employment!

How Do You Use the 80/20 Rule (if at all)?

Do you believe in the 80/20 rule? Or do you do something different on social media? Let me know! I’d like to hear! And thank you.