4 Steps To YOUR Social Media Brand?

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.

Related Article: Brand Awareness With Unexpected Platforms?

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 X.

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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..

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  Post Crafted By:

  Fred Hansen Brand Alchemist at YourWorldBrand.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 ;)

Growing YOUR Social Media Reputation?

Five easy ways to grow your reputation on social media today..

Concerned that using social media to grow your reputation will take too much time?

Related Article: Brand Awareness With Unexpected Platforms?

Wondering whether it’s worthwhile to build your online profile? Maybe you think if you post nothing, you are “safe.”

Those feelings are understandable in this day of constant information overload. We are short on time and long on distractions. Yet, if you neglect your personal brand, you are allowing others to take control of your narrative.

Building your reputation on social media doesn’t have to be time-consuming. You can do in just a few minutes a day and still be extremely effective. It’s easy if you follow these branding tips.

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1. Post Links To Articles You’re Already Reading

Content can be served in many ways: standard news sites, YouTube, Flipboard, Apple Podcasts, Google Play and others. You likely have your own favorite content mediums and sites. Why not share what you’re already consuming?

Once a day, save a piece of content that you find interesting. Then, when you’re ready, simply add a bit of commentary that shows your point of view on the subject and post a link.

Curation like this saves you from having to create long posts but still allows you to share what you find interesting, introduce your point of view and provide value to your network.

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2. Follow Hashtags

What hashtags describe your interests? Do you like #contentmarketing or #womenleaders? Are you more interested in #UX or #customerservice? Whatever your focus, you are sure to find a corresponding hashtag.

Open your social media channel of choice and search the hashtags that interest you. You will instantly find a tribe of like-minded people.

Follow those folks and respond to their posts. This is an easy way to build an audience that overlaps with your interests and develop a reputation as an insightful person.

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3. Create A Twitter List

The constant, rapid stream of information on Twitter might be intimidating. That’s where lists come in. They make your stream manageable and targeted.

Choose an area in which you want to be known as an expert. Then, build a list of people who are talking about that subject. That way, whenever you open Twitter, you can focus your attention on conversing with a relevant group of people.

Twitter lists are especially important when you have several topics of interest. For example, I talk with people who want me to present about growing the careers of women in tech. I also talk about Doctor Who, my favorite TV show. There is not much crossover between those groups. That’s why I have a list for each.

Related Article: What Other Peoples Advertising Can Teach YOU?

4. Join A Facebook Or LinkedIn Group

Facebook groups can be ideal for developing professional connections. Joining a group lets you segment your business conversations from photos of your pets and kids. Moreover, you can talk with an audience that is discussing the same topics as you.

LinkedIn groups work similarly. People from the groups you interact with might also enjoy your personal updates if you share articles or other data that fits their area of business.

Therefore, you may want to invite them to join your personal network in addition to interacting with them in a group setting.

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5. Follow Influencers

Influencer marketing is great for businesses and individuals. Influencers have audiences you may not otherwise have access to. Through influencers, you can tap into those audiences, too.

Respond to influencer updates with insights. Share links to the material you read. Turn your comments into a conversation. This helps develop your influencer relationships and allows you to connect with their audiences to build your credibility.

Guest Authored By Holly Chessman. Holly runs Holly Chessman Marketing, a premier marketing firm providing strategic advice, digital services, and social media guidance. Follow Holly on Twitter.

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"You don’t have to follow all of these self-branding tips but you do have to do something to build your personal brand. So, take control of your reputation. Even not posting anything says something about you. And worse, if you don’t manage your reputation, someone else will.

Wouldn’t you rather be the one in control?" -HollyChessman

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  Post Crafted By:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Salt Lake City, UT. 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 ;)

Building Trust For YOUR Social Media Brand?

3 Ways leading brands build trust via social media..

Without frequent interaction with customers, some organizations face uphill battles.

Related Article: Social Media Marketing Steps To Success?

One of the biggest selling points of social media for brands is that it allows for the natural fostering of trust.

For brands that operate in taboo/highly scrutinized industries like credit repair or pharmaceuticals, the value of social media can’t be overstated.

When you study certain industries, you’ll notice that there are particularly warm connections between businesses and their consumers. For example, the coffee shop down the street from you—the one that’s been there for decades—has no trouble building trust with customers.

Then there’s your favorite online retailer, where you shop for shoes multiple times per year. Again, there’s a familiarity that exists and it drives trust.

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But then you have those companies that consumers only interact with every so often.

And if they happen to be in an industry that’s highly scrutinized, customers approach them with trepidation and skepticism. There certainly isn’t any trust in the relationship.

The pharmaceuticals industry is a great example. According to one report, just 31 percent of people believe the industry has a great reputation. While there are some reasons to distrust certain companies in the pharma industry, there are also plenty of reasons to believe in them. But without frequent interaction with customers, these organizations face an uphill battle.

The credit-repair industry is another good example. Credit-repair scams are rampant—so much so that there’s a Credit Repair Organization Act that bans credit-repair companies from misleading clients about their services. But not all of these companies are bad.

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In fact, there are a number of highly rated credit-repair companies that help people get back on track.

The problem is that most people only interact with these companies once or twice in their lifetime, so a single negative exchange can destroy trust indefinitely.

If you operate in an industry like this, then you know just how challenging it can be to overcome the negative stigma your business is associated with and build trust with your target market. Thankfully, it’s not impossible.

With social media, you’re able to interact with your target audience and control your image and voice—even when they aren’t directly engaging with you in a transaction. By no means is it easy, but the channel exists, and you have the chance to utilize it.

The exact methods you use will depend on a number of unique factors, but here are three specific methods you can use for building trust via social media.

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Publish Honest Content

For starters, you have to publish honest content. Honest content is content that comes from the heart. It’s stuff that you write and publish without sending it through five or six different departments, where it gets stripped down and generalized by people who want a pristine brand image. Honest content is more like a journal entry and less like a landing page that’s been A/B-tested to the max.

Directly Engage Followers

The second piece of advice is to directly engage your followers. Remember that social media is a two-way street and that you have to give as much as you take.

Ask your followers questions. Respond to their comments. Like and comment on other profiles. All of these actions will show that you’re there to participate, and not just to advertise.

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Host Livestreamed Video

If you want to kick things up a notch and take your social media efforts to the next level, consider giving livestreamed video a try. Livestreamed video—whether via Facebook Live or Twitter’s Periscope — is extremely popular right now and has been shown to boost engagement by significant levels.

From a trust-building perspective, it tears down walls and puts you directly in front of your customers. This can help you humanize your brand and establish more meaningful connections. Give it a shot.

Guest Authored By Larry Alton. Larry is an independent business consultant specializing in social media trends, business, and entrepreneurship. Follow Larry on Twitter.

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"Social media isn’t a channel for bombarding people with advertisements and self-serving content.

While you have the freedom to use it in any way you please, it’s most effective when utilized as a tool for increasing trust—particularly if you’re in a highly scrutinized industry like pharmaceuticals or credit repair.

Are you making the most out of it?" -LarryAlton

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  Post Crafted By:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at GetMoreHere.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. 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 ;)