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The Anti Social Media - Social Media Marketing Agency

It's Not That We're Against Social Media... As Much As We're:
Pro-Human, Pro-Vision & Pro- Creativity on Social Media...

Basically we’re a social media agency that isn’t prepared to compromise on our core values. We call our non-negotiables the "core four": Vision Over Trends; Quality over Quantity; Humans over Algorithms; Sustainable Growth over Short Term Gain.
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Principle 1: Vision Over Trends. On social media, each of us is a creator with a vision that is 100% unique to us; our account should act as our unique fingerprint in the digital world. It may be difficult, to stay unique in a world full of trends which promise rapid follower growth, increased engagement & faster return on investment. But there’s no guarantee that those trends will work or align with you. So we've decided we won't compromise your creative vision at any cost for a trend.

Principle 2: Quality over Quantity. Social media works on user generated content (videos, text, images, music). This content shapes how you connect & communicate with others in the digital world. Social Networks profit when they have more user engagement and when they can keep people on their platforms. This  often misleads creators into creating A LOT of content in the hopes that the networks will give them more exposure.  But your existence on these platforms should be meaningful & serve a purpose. Each piece of content must add value, representing exactly what you are trying to say to your desired audience. We won’t compromise the quality of your message by posting frequent, poor quality content to "potentially" appease to the algorithms of these social networks.  

Principle 3: Humans over Algorithms. Let’s not forget, that social media is operated by humans. As consumers, we tell these social networks what we want to consume more of. Algorithms are built around human behaviour so we don't believe in  changing our behaviour to appeal to these algorithms. Instead, we will find creative ways of using the platforms, trends and algorithms to appeal to us. First and foremost, we are looking to create quality content, build effective communication strategies & grow meaningful human-to-human interactions on social media.

Principle 4: Sustainable Growth over Short Term Gain. Social media shouldn’t define your worth or value as a business and especially not as a human. You must know your value and worth before social media determines it with its metrics. Social media capitalizes on the instant gratification culture we live in by making claims such as " Become a millionaire in a week, grow your following by thousands in a few days".  These claims oversimplify the process, negate the fact that everybody’s journey is different & create a scarcity mindset that will make you feel like you will never “be enough” for social media. Above all, we will not compromise your mental, emotional or physical health for metrics.

We understand that social media is here to stay. We can’t and won’t dispute the power of social media platforms in growing your brand, connecting you to your desired audience and helping you build meaningful connections. Leveraging social media gives you massive global potential in expressing your message creatively, expanding your business & sales and offering new and life-changing oppourtunities, and yes all of this power is within the palm of your hands. So how do we strike the balance?

If you feel us keep scrolling & we'll show you how
1.
Vision
Over Trends
Your vision is more important than trends. It has the power to become the next trend. We adapt trends to your vision & not your vision to trends
2.
Quality
Over Quantity
Each piece of content must add value & should serve a purpose in communicating your message to your audience.
3.
Humans Over
Algorithims
No bots, no fake followers or purchased engagement. We choose to stay as real to our approach, message & branding as possible while using these platforms.
4.
Sustainable Growth
Over
Short Term Gain
If compromising our mental, emotional and physical health, vision and principles is what will give us “fast growth” then we don’t want it  
Our Niche Is Our Authentic Philosophy

Balance is created when you learn how to use Social media to Serve You...

We love social media, we just want to tailor its uses and benefits to YOU as opposed to changing YOU to cater to it. After working as a social media content creator and manager with various businesses across vastly different industries ( real estate, tourism associations, architects, restaurants) I’ve reached a point in my journey where my principles on social media are clear. My niche isn’t specific to an industry, product or service. Instead, it’s specific to my philosophy and approach to social media. So if you agree with the aforementioned principles of my philosophy then I’m happy to say that you’ve completed the first part of any social media marketing strategy: finding your niche. You’ve found your niche in us!

Okay so I’ll make the next part of your social media strategy even easier by starting your market research on this niche right here. By scrolling through My Social Media Journal, you will join me on my journey of applying this authenticity on social media, I will show you the progress I've made, the hardships along the way, the growth & the struggles. The next section is as much educational & strategic as well as an open and honest reflection of my experiences in this industry. It is my insights based on trial & error with my clients in both Romania and Canada. So across industries and across the world, this is my social media journey...


- Founder, Nicole Dragus
all of my social media secrets in one place
my
social
media journal
scroll to open
success on social media?


If you want to succeed on social media start by asking yourself this: how much fulfillment does the platform actually bring you? If you’re comparing yourself, feeling like you aren’t enough, GET OFF the app now! Take a break.  Because regardless of what anyone says, social media will ALWAYS be a curated version of reality. So long as there’s a screen between you and the other person it is not 100% real.

Success on social media is defined by one thing only and that is if it’s making you happy. This means, if you’re a creator, are you able to unleash and showcase your full creative potential on the platform or do you feel restricted? If you’re a business owner are you connecting with clients, getting collaborations or building greater awareness around your business? If you’re a consumer do you feel transparency & proximity to your favourite brands/products? Ask yourself and be honest, are you actually getting information that you feel is useful to you on these apps?

When you have intention & awareness, you are "succeeding" on social media because you are using it to your benefit as opposed to letting it use and abuse you!

08/31/2022 - 1 minute read
Values & Ethics First


Have you ever heard those stories of crazy things that people are willing to do to go “viral on social media”? You know  like licking polls? Dangerously  filming themselves on falling roofs or jumping in front of cars? Last week I saw a group of teenagers starting a fist fight and filming it; which almost made me think was the fight real or was it  staged for social media? Do we change for social media ? If so, how much and why? Is this change intentional?

If you don’t want to lose yourself   in the metaverse here’s one thing you can do for yourself or your company to stay you:  create a code of ethics. This is  a system of values that will help you define how you’re choosing to use the platform to bring the most fulfillment for yourself. I’ve developed the “core four” because after spending time on social media as a consumer, as well as working on social media and talking to clients about their social media experiences, I’ve realized that: Vision over trends. Quality over Quantity. Humans Over Algorithims and Sustainable Growth Over Short Term Gain aren’t things I’m willing to compromise on.

These are my non-negotiables and if my growth on here depends on me diminishing my social, emotional, spiritual and physical health and values then I don’t want it at all.

 

08/31/2022 - 1 minute read
Staying original in a world full of trends


To be original in a world full of trends means to be yourself. It is literally the only way because there is only one of you. This is where social media can be seen as as a form of personal development. Being yourself depends on knowing yourself and I want to be very clear here that knowing yourself is a process that happens over a period of time. Part of knowing yourself is starting to use and experiment with social media.

Here are some of my experiments over the years. This means different edits, types of content, music, and combinations of these creations. It could be that you follow trends and see how you like them. Regardless of what you do, you must understand that it may never feel 100% original because subconciously we’re so influenced by everything around us. But maybe just maybe, the fact that a) you’re doing it means that your perspective changes the thing and b) makes it different, c) maybe it's not new, but it's different. You make that difference and that's all it may take to inspire, educate or change someone's life.

09/02/2022 - 1 minute read
Do I need a niche?


One of my biggest marketing frustrations was the concept of finding a niche and to every social media strategy, there was always someone talking about starting on social media by “finding a niche.” But how can you start experimenting when the first step is literally the hardest? It may be difficult to find a niche if you’re a multi-passionate, multifaceted individual such as myself that is obssessed with learning about anything and everything, a niche may feel limitting.  

The concept of a niche is commonly described as having an “ ideal person,  industry, or audience who you’re speaking to." You’re told to think of their interests, their personalities, what they like or don’t like”. What I didn’t consider in this description is that perhaps a niche can be based around a system of thinking. Because I was getting clients on social media across very different niche’s I started to realize that the only commonality between them was that they shared the same values as my brand and well as me, the content creator. So don’t worry about finding your niche as much as about establishing your core values, along the way different niche’s will come and you will decide if you want to spend more time in one than another.

Because I wanted to learn from a variety of different industries and because I’m multipassionate I personally couldn’t pick one niche or industry, so I chose them all by focusing on myself as the common denominator.
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09/03/2022 - 1 minute read
What is real growth on social media?


Growth is a really trending topic on social media. Everyone’s talking about growing their followers, growing their engagement or sales, but how I grew on social media. As a person. That’s right, the growth that really stays with you is less about metrics and more about actual human impact. Because of social media I worked on managing the account of my city’s tourism association. I got in touch with my roots, I got to explore Sibiu’s nature trails, try local gastronomy. Learn from different culotural groups. I learned the history of the city and how sustainble travelo is about integrating with local culture and not all about eco-friendliness. I met role models in career & life and was able to build meaningful relationships, have deep life chats and come to them with anything. I’m there with my clients during milestone moments of their lives like weddings and bridal showers.

Social media simply provided the opporutunity for me to expand my network and build meaningful relationships so that’s what real growth is … I believe metrics will follow as I share the journey but honestly growth on social media goes beyond what you see on social media and the problem is so few people are showing the actual growth because they aren’t letting you see the real journey.
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09/03/2022 - 2 minute read
if i use filters or edits on my posts am i fake?


Filters and edits are a beautiful part of unleashing your creativity on social media but here’s how to keep it 100% real. Let me reiterate and repeat this over and over again: Social Media Isn’t real life. It is a representation of real life, of how you as the user perceive real life. As a user you are selecting what part of your real life you want to post or show but it is not in the moment your real life 100%.

So if you accept that social media will always have a superficial element to it then you can choose what filters and editing mean to you. I use this filter on my videos. This is my face with it and my face without it. Why? Because I love how it smoothes out the sharpness of the image, it doesn’t change or distort my face, it makes the lighting more warm and inviting and its grainy.

I love grain because I love vintage. I’m a historian so for me black and white grainy edits are my favourite in capturing what I believe is my old soul. I’m not pretending that this is my real face, unfiltered. I’m telling you that I am using these filters, I feel these filters represent this aspect of my communication strategy but IT IS NOT REAL.

You as the viewer can now decide how much it’s distorting my face or image or your perception of me but from my end filters & edits are there to capture the subtle vibe, essence or unspoken aspect of your communication strategy that you want people to feel. Go full out on filters and embrace them or don’t do it all, regardless your post on social media is not going to be 100% real. So embrace the fakeness & curate it to you.
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09/04/2022 - 3 minute read
can i take a social media break without ruining my traffic?


If you need to take a social media break that means there’s a good reason. Your human intuition is kicking in and YOU SHOULD LISTEN. You come first. Sure you may lose traffic and engagement but isn’t that the point of a break? To unwind? If you feel you need to take a break understand your priorities and measure out the impact on your business. But also understand the context that you feel you need a break when you’re asking for one.

When you overwork yourself then sure you may be at a breaking point where you need some time to disconnect from everything but I often find that it’s less permanent and less time than you anticipated so in some instances your audience may not even notice your absence. In other instnaces maybe you want to out a hold on creating content but you’re still engaging and interacting with people.

You have to understand what area you are experiening burnout in. Replenish that area and trust that when you’re at your best your performance will always overachieve what you envisioned. You will surpass your own expectations if you honour, respect and trust your feelings and intuition. No algorithim will ever be able to figure out human intuition so ultimately know that you’re power of attraction is much stronger.
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09/04/2022 - 3 minute read
@lhlsocials