Beyond the Likes: Tips from My Personal Journey of Social Media Burnout to Empowerment 

From 0 to 9.1 Million Monthly Views: Dodging Social Media Burnout and Empowering Your Journey 🚀

In this blog, I’m sharing how I went from 0 views to 9.1 million monthly views on one of my social pages (in just a few years and all organically). 

This strategy is repeatable 🔁 and can help you dodge social media burnout while creating more meaningful social media posts on your own terms. 

Let’s start with my personal journey of social media burnout. 

In 2018, I had a TINY following on Pinterest that pulled in just 1000 monthly views. But by the start of 2020, something incredible happened — I managed to grow that number to ONE MILLION MONTHLY views on my page. 

I did it organically. 

I did it alone. 

I did it with less than 200 followers. 

So MAJOR. So EXHILIRATING. So DIVINE.

Before hitting a MILLI’ VIEWS a month, I remember sensing God and these words: I’m putting my weight behind your work.

Then boom… 

💣EXPLOSIVE SOCIAL MEDIA GROWTH FOLLOWED.💣

Inspirational thoughts that I shared on a whim were going viral on Pinterest. People left comments to share their stories on my posts. People found my page on Instagram — they tagged me in reposts and sent me private messages saying thank you.

My work and my words mattered to people. 🎯🥹🎯

By April 1, 2022, I’d reached 9.1 million monthly views on Pinterest. 

Determined and driven I pushed myself to the limit.

I’m posting daily and sacrificing countless nights to keep up with the demands. 

Not to mention, I missed irreplaceable moments with my family (I’m a wife and mom).

Remember, I’m doing ALL this alone. 

But it was paying off. 

My content continued to get viral views, including a pin of me drawing in Procreate, which has 5 million + lifetime views and counting. 

I said to myself I’m going to hit 10 million. 

So I set a goal to hit 10 million monthly views…

But amid the whirlwind of explosive social media growth, a shadow loomed over me…I was burning out. 🥵

For more than a year, I’d WORKED NONSTOP like a machine…👀

Now the demands were only going up.

The ‘expert’ posting recommendation just to sustain the momentum was twenty pins per day. I repeat that was the recommendation just to keep up. 

⚠️DISCLAIMER: Pinterest’s mission is to inspire people to create a life they love. The ‘expert’ posting recommendation is NOT from Pinterest and does NOT align with that. With that said ⸻ I believe Pinterest is a POWERFULLY REFRESHING PLACE to discover new ideas and inspiration.

That is a lot for one person…

✅I manage my household and my business. 

✅I manage multiple social media pages…

And now EXPERTS SUGGEST 20 pins per day. 😳

😑That’s a minimum of 600 posts per month. 

❌On ONE social page — this new demand was too much. 

Sacrificing my mental health and well-being is NOT worth it.

So instead of saying NO to the new demand and posting on MY OWN TERMS ⸻ I just ghosted my page. And I quit. 

That was not a good decision. 

But I burned out, so I didn’t care.

Reminder: Grow on your own terms

So here I am writing this blog…

To TEACH you to grow on social media on your own TERMS—without burning out. 

I’m here to remind you that your social media journey is yours.

I BURNED OUT BECAUSE I forgot that my social media journey is my journey. This means I choose the moves I make. Sometimes that means following expert opinions, and sometimes that means ignoring them. Because following expert opinions didn’t take me from 0 views to 9.1 million monthly views. God did.

Let me explain my personal view. God is why I post online. God is why I share encouraging words online and pray they land in front of the people that need them most. God is why I share actionable tips to inspire others to pursue their dreams and callings.

But enough about my journey.

Let’s get into some strategies that can power your journey.

Here we go. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

The THREE MOST IMPORTANT things I learned from my personal journey of social media burnout to empowerment…

① Focus on meaningful metrics

② Put your mental health first

③ Create content that sparks joy

Let’s unpack the first strategy…

Strategy 1: Focus on meaningful metrics

One of the BIGGEST TRAPS that social media users fall into is obsessing over vanity metrics. These are performance indicators that make us feel POWERFUL and POPULAR.

VANITY METRICS make us FEEL and LOOK successful. But they don’t necessarily mean that we’re 📈 growing on social media,💸making money, or 💥making an impact.

Don’t get me wrong⸻it’s natural to CRAVE AFFIRMATION and validation from others.

But focusing too much on vanity metrics can hurt our mental health and well-being in the long run.

That’s why I want to give you ANOTHER WAY to measure your social media success by telling you to FOCUS on meaningful metrics.

MEANINGFUL METRICS are actionable insights that reveal how much your social media content drives engagement like:

• Purchases
• Website or landing page activity
• App downloads
• Email or text list signups

Meaningful metrics will guide you into action that matters. In this case, a meaningful metric can lead you to a strategy that grows your social media presence and helps you reach more people.

🚨LIKES AND FOLLOWERS DON’T MEAN MUCH.🚨

Here are some examples of how to shift your focus from vanity metrics to meaningful metrics:

📌Instead of tracking likes, try tracking the engagement rate. An engagement rate measures how much your followers interact with your content. Which makes tracking engagement more meaningful than simply counting likes. To know your engagement rate, you’ll need to calculate it. Thankfully, there are a few engagement rate formulas and a handy calculator to use — like this one Hootsuite’s Engagement Rate Calculator.

📌Instead of tracking follower count, try tracking reach. Because it’s misleading to rely solely on follower count. Here’s why. Follower count doesn’t mean that the followers are actually seeing your content. But reach does. Reach measures the total number of people who’ve seen your post — including followers and non-followers. To track reach, check the insights or analytics feature on whatever social platform you’re using.

📌Instead of tracking website clicks, try tracking conversions. Tracking your website traffic and clicks is a good start. But you need to know more, like conversion rates or how long people stay on your website. Here’s what I mean when I say conversions: you need to know if the clicks lead to sales or some other desired action. To track conversions, measure the number of people who complete a specific action — like making a purchase or filling out a contact form.

📌Instead of tracking vanity metrics like comments, try tracking the sentiment. Surprisingly positive, negative, and neutral comments don’t tell much about how people actually feel about your content or brand. Sometimes I can’t tell if a comment is sincere, sarcastic, or just trolling. But a sentiment analysis can. It processes language to analyze the tone of comments and other interactions like emojis. A sentiment analysis gives a more accurate sense of how your community really feels about your content, brand, products, or services. Tap here for TIPS and TOOLS to perform your own sentiment analysis!

📌Instead of focusing only on daily posting goals, try focusing on quality over quantity. Create high-quality original content that SPEAKS to people. This may mean posting high-quality content less frequently until you can handle posting high-quality content more frequently. It may seem counterintuitive, but it ultimately leads to better engagement and more meaningful interactions with your community.

So what’s the point here?

My point is to show you that focusing on meaningful metrics is the way to go ⸻ because it’s the BEST WAY to avoid the stress and pressure that comes from chasing what doesn’t matter.

Alright, let’s move on to strategy #2.

Strategy 2: Put your mental health first

If you’re a creator, entrepreneur, community manager, or anyone who posts online, you need to hear this. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

I used to work in a corporate job and let me tell you — it was way easier than working on social media.

Because…

Social media can mess with your mind. It can make you feel bad about yourself, your life, and your choices. It can push you to compare yourself to others who seem to have it all. It can stress you and depress you.

🚨BLOG: SOCIAL MEDIA AFFECTS INFLUENCERS’ MENTAL HEALTH VIA PSYCHOLOGY TODAY🚨

But then…

Social media can also bring moments of pure joy and connection.

Moments where you feel like you’re part of a community, part of something bigger than yourself.

I know this because I’ve been there.

My point is this: Social media can be AWESOME and AWFUL at the same time.

➡️ On the ONE HAND, social media can be a place to express yourself, build community, share your message, and even make money.

➡️ On the OTHER HAND, social media can also be addictive, exhausting, toxic, and harmful to your mental health.

So you must HELP YOURSELF by making your mental health a BIG priority.

That’s why I want to share some tips on how to take care of yourself while using social media.

We’ll cover that in the next section!

Strategy 3: Create content that sparks joy

Want to consistently create content in a way that sparks joy for you and your community? Try this:

1. Set up office hours: Office hours can help you maintain healthy work-life harmony. So set specific times for engaging with social media and stick to them.
2. Outsource tasks that drain you: If there are specific tasks that you don’t enjoy or find essential, consider outsourcing them to someone else. 
3. Use automation tools: Use tools like social media schedulers and content planning tools to automate your social media presence. 
4. Batch your content: Batching is grouping similar tasks together to streamline your work. You can batch your social media tasks together by creating multiple pieces of content at once. For specific examples, 🎧listen to Episode #138 — Tips From My Personal Journey of Social Media Burnout.
5. Repurpose your content: Repurposing your content means using the same content in different ways or formats. This is a USEFUL way to reach more people and extend the life of your content.
6. Work around your strengths: Identify when you are most productive and creative, then plan your social media work accordingly. If you’re a morning person, use that time to create your content. If you’re an evening person, use that time to engage with your community.
7. Connect with peers: Talk with other industry peers or fellow creators about your work. You can feel a sense of support and gain insight by talking with people who do what you do.
8. Set realistic goals: Focus on achievable goals rather than aspirational or aggressive ones. This can help you avoid discouragement from unnecessary failures or unrealistic expectations — and also help you celebrate your wins and track your progress.
9. Set boundaries: Set boundaries for yourself and for others. Don’t let social media take over your life. Learn to say no to requests or opportunities that don’t align with your values or goals.
10. Make time for joy: Schedule time each day for things that bring you joy. This can help you keep a positive outlook and reduce stress. 
11. Prioritize personal relationships: Make time to connect with family and friends in real life. Social media can be isolating, so be intentional about your real-world connections. They can provide you with the love, support, and feedback that social media can’t.
12. Check-in with yourself: Take time to reflect and assess your mental health and well-being. Then take steps to address what you feel. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask for it.
13. Take breaks: Regular breaks from social media and other work activities can help you recharge and avoid burnout. You don’t have to quit completely, but you can slow down and pull back from posting or checking your accounts. Use this time to reconnect with yourself and the people around you. 
14. Focus on what matters: Don’t let short-term wants or vanity metrics get in the way of what’s most important. Prioritize your mental health and well-being over social media metrics. Remember why you started and what your purpose is.
15. Plan for a crisis: Make a social media crisis plan to address any issues head-on before they arise. During times of crisis, you need clear communication, honesty, and calmness to bring peace, neutralize fears, reclaim trust, and resolve conflict. Make a plan now while things are good and your brain is calm.

@lolacabaya stop trying to go big and just go start already 😒🤷🏽‍♀️ #thesmokingprophet #socialmediapredictions #setintentionsdaily #propheticaffirmation #affirmationquote #listenableaffirmations #listenable ♬ original sound – Lola Cabaya

The truth about daily posting recommendations

People often ask, how much should I post daily?

And I hesitate to answer.

Because the truth is daily posting recommendations are just that…recommendations.

Some of them aren’t REALISTIC for everyone, so create your own best practice using this foundation:

Post frequently and post consistently.

• Posting frequently can help you increase your visibility and reach on social media platforms.
• Posting consistently can help you maintain your audience’s interest and trust.

During my PERSONAL JOURNEY OF BURNOUT, the overwhelming thought of making 20 posts per day became a breaking point. So PROMISE you’ll remember your social media journey is your own, and create your own best practices.

Do you still want some general posting recommendations? ⬇️⬇️⬇️

MY OPINION: DO WHAT’S REALISTIC FOR YOU.

Staying happy on social media

That’s a wrap for today’s blog post!

We covered a lot ⸻ from understanding what SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS matter to practical tips for avoiding social media burnout.

Rightfully so too.

We face so much pressure to perform and succeed online.

That being said, remember, it’s okay to feel overwhelmed or discouraged by social media at times. It’s NOT okay to burnout. So lean into the tips I shared (especially strategy 3) to avoid burnout, gain EMPOWERMENT, and grow with grace on social!

ARE YOU ON MY EMAIL LIST YET?

DANTE + LOLA

Dante is a money magnet and the king of optimization. He loves creating plans that cut losses, increase profits, and build cash.

Lola is a genius at creating digital content and obsessed with organization. Her gift is making things simple and organizing creative projects.

Got questions? Contact us!

dante@thesmokingprophet.com

lola@thesmokingprophet.com