I grew up with matriarchs. My grandmother was the boss, and now my mother, as petite and gentle as she is, can whip us into shape with one look. My mother never got mad, just “disappointed”—but that was enough to keep us in line. I may not have known it when I was younger, but my mom instilled a lot of knowledge in me that has come to benefit me in many ways, including my career in social media marketing.

For our weekly 3 lessons series, we take a look at the events or individuals that have stirred up worldwide discussions on social media. And since many of you may share our sentiments about moms, in honour of Mother’s Day we’ve decided to take a look at three social media marketing lessons we learned from our moms.

Instead of acting like a boss, act like a MOM

Moms do everything. They wear countless hats and are master multitaskers. They also seem to know what you’re thinking, and sometimes it feels like they have eyes in the back of their heads.
As a social media marketing professional, these are  qualities you should strive to embody. Act like a mom, and learn as much as you can about all aspects of social media and how it relates to your business. Try on different hats—the SEO expert, the Photoshop whiz—and get comfortable with multitasking. Be attentive and listen to trends, to what your competitors are doing and to how your audience thinks. You’ll become a far better-rounded social media professional (and you’ll probably appreciate your mom a little bit more).

You don’t mess with Mama, so don’t mess with your experts

Moms are experts. You may have disagreed with countless decisions they made throughout your life, but a good chunk of the time they probably knew better than you.

Treat the experts around you the same way and know when to accept that they probably know better than you—remember, you thought your mom was wrong, and look at where that got you! For example, trust the creatives to guide your visual presence on social media. Designer, writers and other creatives will let you know if it feels like something is out of place, and you should believe them. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t offer input along the way; it simply means that when something is wrong, usually momma knows best.

Treat your customers like your mom treated you when you were sick

Image via Eden Pictures

Being sick sucks, but your mom always knew how to comfort you and get you through the day. She would pick up on all the little discomforts and right those wrongs. She would listen to your complaints without annoyance and be patient with you. And she would provide you with the medicine you needed to get through whatever ailed you.

When your customers are complaining on social media, you need to take a very similar approach. Listen to their problems and be patient, not confrontational. Show them that you’re a professional, and you’ve been through this many times before. Work to remove the issue on your end or provide them with the solution they need to get through it. Strong social media customer support is invaluable to your business, and you can achieve that with a little help from your Mom.

Every week, we take a newsworthy topic and share relevant content and social media marketing lessons that can be drawn from seemingly unrelated subjects, such as Star Wars News and hockey beards. Tune in next week for another surprise post.