Crystal Vilkaitis, owner of the social media strategy agency Crystal Media, helps small business owners leverage their social media platforms into profits. After 10 years in the industry, she’s developed her own formula to help business owners create unique and personal content for social media.
Meet the “daily five:” Crystal’s five-step social media routine for posting once a day in five minutes or less. According to Crystal, business owners starting out on social media don’t need to worry about filters, scripts, or content that is professionally edited and produced. Instead, she encourages her clients to develop a consistent and authentic online presence.
“We love relatable content. That’s what gets us to watch people, gets us to stop the scroll, is when it’s somebody like us or somebody that we aspire to be,” Crystal said. “We don’t want perfect. Perfect isn’t relatable. When you are being your authentic self, the right people are gonna connect with you.”
You can use the daily five to post on Instagram or Yelp Connect or to record Instagram Reels or TikToks—but no matter the format, Crystal suggests spending just five minutes or less on the content. This will help you get into the habit of posting consistently on social media and engaging with your audience.
To put the daily five into practice for your business, set a goal to attempt these five steps once a day at a time that works for you:
1. Picture your perfect customer
Posting on social media can be intimidating, especially when you’re putting your face out there. Crystal’s tip for calming nerves? Picture your perfect customer—the person who always greets you with a smile, leaves you reviews, and always keeps coming back.
“Just think of that customer you absolutely love. We are talking to them,” Crystal said. “There’s some fear we have when we’re turning [the camera] on us: ‘How do I look? How am I gonna sound? What are people gonna think?’” Block all that out and speak directly to your biggest fans—your customers.
2. Be your authentic self
Your customers follow you online because they want to see you. Before you hit record, Crystal suggests taking a moment to be your silliest, more relaxed, and most authentic self.
“I just need you to take a second and just be you because your customers relate to you. There’s nobody in the world that is like you. So you need to show up, be transparent, and just be authentically you,” Crystal said. And as a general rule, use the same voice and tone online as you use at your business—aim for consistency, not perfection.
3. Get straight to the point
The average attention span for a piece of content on Meta’s platforms is just 1.7 seconds on a mobile device. This is why Crystal advises her clients to skip the introductions and get straight to the point: “We’re gonna jump right in. If this is a video, we’re jumping right into that. Get right to that hook versus waiting a little,” she said.
According to Crystal, jumping in sounds like this: “We have three of our favorite Mother’s Day gifts that I’m gonna share in this video. You’re gonna love them.”
Instead of this: “Hey, how’s your day? It’s a nice day here in Colorado. I hope you’re enjoying the spring. I’m gonna talk about three of my favorite Mother’s Day gifts.”
4. Share what’s on your mind
Your camera’s on, your nerves are prepped—at this point you might be wondering: What do I say? Crystal encourages business owners to pick one of the five approaches in this acronym: SHARE.
Story: Tell a story about your business, an interaction with a customer, or even something in your personal life—just keep it relevant and relatable for your customers.
Humanized content: Show the people at the center of your business—whether it’s you or your team—with a behind-the-scenes look, a tour of your business, or “day in the life” video.
Arrivals: Show off your new products or services with behind-the-scenes photos or an unboxing video. This will help build anticipation and make your followers feel like they’re in-the-know.
Relevant: Chat about upcoming activities in your community, holidays, trends, seasonal hours—anything that changes with the seasons.
Events: What’s going on at your business? Now’s the time to plug sales, promotions, open houses, farmer’s market pop-ups, and Yelp Elite events.
5. Engage with your audience
After you post, take a few minutes to scroll through your feed and respond to your customers—the same way you do your Yelp reviews. “Really connect—have it be meaningful,” Crystal said. Thank them by name if you can and highlight a detail from their post or comment, such as something they are excited about or an upcoming event that might interest them.
Once you’ve completed your daily five, it’s okay to check out for a while to preserve work-life balance. “This doesn’t have to take an hour of your time. You really can scroll for a couple of minutes and just leave some really thoughtful, meaningful comments or share a few posts and then that’s it,” Crystal said.
These lessons come from an episode of Behind the Review, Yelp & Entrepreneur Media’s weekly podcast. Listen below to hear more from Crystal and Emily, or visit the episode page to read more, subscribe to the show, and explore other episodes.
The information above is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice and may not be suitable for your circumstances. Unless stated otherwise, references to third-party links, services, or products do not constitute endorsement by Yelp.