We all know the power of social media is huge. We all know it, but it's something that continues to morph and it’s hard to keep up. It affects us every single day in everything we do, so it's not a light topic.
It's reshaping relationships and sparking debates on cultural shifts.
I invited an interesting guy to weigh in on this topic on my radio show. A spitfire celebrity, social media manager named Gary Frayter, who shared some things you should know.
Gary’s expertise goes beyond relationships. He has some solid social media insights that you can learn from, because of his experience managing the online brands of renowned figures like Mike Tyson whose followers he grew to a million.
Gary who's worked with a lot of celebrities and CEOs, has positioned himself with his Instagram handle @socialmediafortherich but I got him to share some valuable tips for free. (You’re welcome)
I was curious about the social media strategy he used for Mike Tyson who has had a bit of a checkered past, especially since Gary impresses upon people who use social media to be sure to use use the power of authenticity. What did he do for Mike Tyson that got that kind of social media growth?
Gary said, “For Mike Tyson, I was managing all of the social media for his podcast called Hot Boxing with Mike Tyson. We would have guests on from Kevin Hart to different rappers to different football players. Basically, they would sit down and have genuine conversations, real, raw and authentic. What I would do is package the best moments, take that out, and make sure that that got into the hands of all the viewers. We saw substantial growth from that, and that's what I do for basically everybody else too.”
What I heard Gary suggest was key to a great social media strategy is to be able to capture the best moments say of a podcast and repackage those moments as short bits to put out in other places on social media.
I can assure you nobody has time to listen to everybody's everything.
Gary said, “Absolutely, especially when it's an hour-long, hour-and-a-half-long podcast. Sometimes people just want the bite-sized pieces. They want the cliff notes. What are some of the best moments from that entire episode, and how do we make sure to package that with either a good caption or make it visually appealing and put that out on all platforms? That's exactly what I do.”
Well, that's what I should be doing better and many people out there who are trying to keep up with all the social media expectations.
Gary said, “What I do think is that you will always find your audience and you don't always need a big audience, right? You just need a few people that really gravitate towards your message, really believe in what it is that you have to say and it's kind of like finding a community, right? In person. But this just online just opens up a wider landscape so that you can kind of cast your net a little bit wider and this is exactly kind of, you know, comes into the conversation about dating as well. In person, back in the day, it was a little bit harder to meet somebody that's maybe in a different city. Now it's a little bit easier.”
I asked Gary about the current state of online dating because I look at the dating landscape in social media and the whole relationship thing and I feel sad for so many people who are trying to figure it out and can't meet somebody nice. How would he suggest people use social media to connect with somebody that they might want to connect with in real life for a dating relationship?
Gary said, “Well, one of the things, one of my passions as well as social media is actually helping young men in all aspects of life. And one of the ways that basically I help guys is basically telling them that they need to be as well-rounded as possible, right? But you also need to market yourself because it's never been more important to market yourself even on the dating scene, right? So for example, you could be the best person on the planet, you've got the best product, you could be the whole package, but if nobody knows about you, then what good does it do, you know? Or at least you won't get to everybody that you want. And so that is basically the key, is basically becoming as well-rounded of a man, I'm a man, so I speak for guys, and of how they need to get in shape, they need to be well-educated, they need to make money, provide some sort of value to the world, and then also just package that and show off their life on social media. And so that last part is extremely important, how you market yourself, especially in the dating pool. I know for sure when a person meets someone they’re attracted to they will definitely go check out their online presence or profile.”
Because the dating apps have presented challenges for a lot of people, does Gary recommend that you contact somebody you might be interested in romantically on say, Instagram or LinkedIn, just to start a conversation?
“Maybe not LinkedIn, but absolutely Instagram I mean Instagram has become the best dating site on the planet for you know, I'm 28 years old so it's become the best dating site at least in my generation and You know a lot of the hundreds of men that I've talked to yes, absolutely Because you could oh you could always say who it is that you are in person a little bit on a first date, but ultimately, your resume, so to say, is your social media, right? So it's going to be a lot easier for people to kind of differentiate, or at least dissect a little bit more of who it is that you actually are when it comes to social media, when it comes to Facebook, Instagram, all of these things, they can see your hobbies, they can see when's the last, okay, he hasn't posted a picture since 2013. Why is that?”
In our new world order on the subject of ‘influencers’ I happen to catch a lot of people out there hawking stuff because they're getting paid to hawk stuff, simple because they have enough followers to get paid, which brings up the subject… who on social media should you trust?
Gary said, “Well, who you trust, it's usually about following somebody. So the way that I look at influencers is like getting an inside scoop into the life of somebody that you found on social media that intrigues you, right? And so how that usually takes place is you have to build trust with that person, right? You slowly start to trust them. And the way that that influencer gets trust from you is by sharing their life with you. They share their life, they share in-depth moments, insights, and then you slowly be, you start to trust them. And then that is when you buy something.
“Usually, the people that you don't trust and that maybe you just saw pop on the scene right away with a hundred thousand followers out of nowhere, you, you start to get some sort of skepticism from them because they haven't built that trust with you.”
So I think people will ultimately buy from people that they trust and I think that that probably will bring down the saturation a little bit in terms of buying actual products from these influencers because you can't trust everybody.”
As for creating trust that’s what Gary does for his clients as a social media manager. He handles all of their content creation, from which he says most will see a return from inbound leads of people messaging on LinkedIn etc. and and saying, hey, I would love you for you to speak at this event or I would love for you to do XYZ for me.”
How Long Does the ROI on a Social Media investment Take?
Gary said, “You know, the opportunities are genuinely endless, but you have to realize that it's not going to happen overnight. And this is a chip away, chip away every single day type of thing. And then you will see a result within the next few months for sure.”
Gary Frayter does social media for Celebrities, Executives & CEO’s and guides them to becoming thought leaders. He Specializes in: TikTok/YouTube/ Instagram/ Facebook/ Twitter / LinkedIn/ Brand Building & Content Creation /Influencer Marketing / Paid Facebook, Instagram & Google Ads / SEO.
His website is: GaryFrayter.com
Gary’s who’s originally from Greenwich, CT home of this radio show checked in from his current digs in Dallas, Texas.
Enjoy this podcast of our live conversation on The Debbie Nigro Show
