Four ways to brand yourself on social media..
Social media is an important aspect of branding for many professions today. When you begin teaching others about your product or service, you must ask yourself, "Am I establishing a solid foundation?"
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As a consultant who helps businesses and executives brand themselves through social media, I've seen that when it is time to promote yourself to a target audience online, things can become a little sticky if you are a jack-of-all-trades; you don't always know what to focus on.
Let’s look at an example: A cosmetic company I formerly worked with promoted not only its beauty items for sale but also the camaraderie that comes along with its product. The founder was able to tap into something that consumers were searching for and positively promote it. Targeted campaigns were run on different platforms with a consistent message to reach a certain goal.
I believe your focus should be the same as you promote your company and yourself as a business owner, professional, expert and specialist; highlight the skills and expertise people are looking for.
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Analyze Your Brand's Reputation
People skills are often an important factor when hiring and promoting. I have seen technical individuals receive promotions because they knew the ins and outs of a certain process or technology and were able to create great results. But once they became managers of people, their success rates began to dwindle because they weren't able to connect with their teams or see the areas of themselves they could improve.
I believe you can apply this lesson to your social media branding. Knowing how you and your company are represented is a necessity. Evolving your self-awareness is the first step to improving your brand. As a business owner or leader, improvement is crucial to be successful. To discover your brand's reputation, look at your personal reputation. It is important that your messages line up so a consistent message is received. The following steps can help you clarify this message and ensure you're reaching your targeted audience.
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Find The Right Platform
To further develop and enhance your social media branding, pick the right platform for you, and start small. Trying to work on every medium you can think of simultaneously can be stressful and unproductive.
If your target audience is a conservative, business-oriented group, for example, working with LinkedIn or Twitter might be the best place for you to start. In my experience, these platforms tend to cater more toward professional viewpoints and goals.
But if you want to target a younger demographic, Instagram might be the most logical place for you to focus on first. Do your research to discover where your audience spends its time online.
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Maintain Consistency
Being consistent is key. Make a plan each week to outline when you will post an update or how many times you will share an article, picture or video so your audience knows when to look out for your content (and so you can stay organized).
Stay within your color palette so that your followers can easily recognize your brand, logo, symbol or mascot even when the photos are different.
Knowing who your target audience is will allow you to determine the flexibility you have when making changes without offending, confusing or losing them. Keep your audience in mind to help lead you in the right direction.
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Be Intentional With Your Content
On social media, you are vying for the attention of your audience so your brand is known and recognized. Staying aware of how your brand affects your audience will help you to know if and when it is time to change pieces of your content. Make sure you are intentional about what you post because I believe this shows your audience you care about helping them achieve their goals. Knowing what your brand stands for along with selling your service or product is very important. Just “selling” something today does not mean that your audience will buy from you tomorrow.
Be deliberate in your messaging so others who want to support your brand know what they are going along with. To be sure you're sharing content that is important to your brand, list the things you want yourself and your company to be known for. You might even consider contacting a brand manager to get outside help with sharing your message. Be purposeful in letting the audience know your product is something they should be proud to support.
Guest Authored By Michelle Weathersby. Michelle is making life easier by focusing on your future. Career coaching & consulting, workshops at Lens Consulting Firm. Follow Michelle on Twitter.
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To successfully brand yourself on social media, be sure you know who your target audience is and what they want and need.
Present yourself and your brand consistently so your audience knows what to expect when reaching out to you, and if you are not sure where to start, don’t be afraid to ask for help.. -MichelleWeathersby
Post Crafted By:Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at GetMoreHere.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, CO. where I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends. My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)
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