#AwesomeInSocial – Improve Your Credibility with Robust Social Proof

Influence and word-of-mouth are cornerstones to your credibility. This builds social proof. Social proof is the social pressure for consumers to purchase a product or service based on the reviews and influence of others. The more social proof you have, the more customers and clients you’ll gain. It becomes easier as the social proof increases.
But how do you gain a robust social proof?
You gain it through testimonials, ratings and reviews, influencer endorsements, media logos, certifications, subscriber counts, social connections, social shares, clients, and case studies.
Testimonials
A testimonial is a statement made by a customer or consumer that provides an objective viewpoint. This “outsider influence” is something you’ll see more of in this list. It’s important to note that testimonials involve stories about how your product or service bettered their lives in some way. It’s similar, but not the same, as reviews.
Ratings and Reviews
Think about the last time you purchased something online. If the rating was available, did you look at it? Did it influence your buying decision? Of course it did. And if reviews were available, you likely read a few of those as well. The scoring system of a rating is a powerful influence in social proof. A review usually accompanies a rating. The greater your number of ratings and reviews, the more power it holds over the viewing public.
Influencer Endorsements
Influencer Endorsements aren’t the same as testimonials. An influencer is a well-known person or business who has a heavy social media following. A mention of your business, product, or service can cause an instant rise in social proof. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship, as your willingness to connect with them builds their credibility. Keep in mind that their reputation is just as important as yours.
Media Logos
You’ve noticed these before, and likely didn’t realize it. “As seen on…” is an excellent example. It’s important to note, you can only use these media logos if you’ve actually appeared on their networks, in their paper, etc. Misrepresentation of your credentials will destroy the credibility you’ve tried so hard to develop.
Certifications and Case Studies
Certifications and case studies are professional endorsements of your credibility. They prove your expertise, and therefore increase your social proof.
Subscriber Counts, Social Connections, and Social Shares
All of these combined build a pressing need to go along with the crowd. Like reviews and testimonials, the more you have, the more you’ll gain. It may take five years to get 10k subscribers, but the next 10k could take one or less. The more influence you have socially, the more people accept your credibility.
Clients and Word of Mouth
Word of mouth is still as strong as ever. People are more influenced by those they know than those they don’t. If a happy client spreads the word about your work, social proof will naturally follow.

Now you know the best ways to build your social proof. Building momentum is key to successfully enhancing your credibility. Take the time to do it right, and you’ll be #AwesomeInSocial.
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Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

#AwesomeConsistency – Hashtags & Brand Awareness

Hashtags may have begun as a fundamental aspect of early Twitter’s success, but today they are a mainstay for many social media activities. There are a ton of people using hashtags in social right now, some are doing it well and others, well….not so much. You may be wondering what the hoopla is all about when it comes to hashtags and whether or not they provide real value to your online branding efforts?  For many professionals, the idea of the hashtag may seem unprofessional or even irrelevant. We’re here to tell you that if social media is a part of your marketing strategy, hashtags should not be overlooked.
Hashtags & Search
Are you aware that each of the social media platforms operates as its own search engine? Whether you are in Facebook or Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram, doing a search on any of these sites will pull up an abundance of information that you can’t get simply by going to Google. Each of the platforms is built with this search functionality whether you are looking for a person, a business, a feed, an interest, a job title…all depending on what you are looking for and where you are hunting. In fact, that is really how hashtags grew in popularity, as a way of organizing and searching Twitter to find groups of people with similar interests.
Interested in the origins of this powerful symbol? You can read all about it here.
Finding Your Audience
Researching and using the appropriate hashtags for your brand, business and industry narrows down the field and brings your business into direct contact with its target audience. If you know who your ideal client is, and what hashtags they are using, you’ve developed a direct channel of communication and the opportunity to build and grow new relationships.  To achieve maximum impact, spend time searching these same hashtags and either starting or engaging in conversations on places such as Twitter and Instagram.  Just posting them is a way for people to find you but a combination of posting and engagement is always going to make for a more impactful end result.
Branding & Identity
Creating, and trademarking, hashtags that are unique to your personal or corporate brand enables you to present yourself online in a way that is immediately recognizable to your audience. This can be especially beneficial when initially building presence or when attempting to tie brand concepts together. Once people are looking up your content by these unique identifiers, you can begin developing hashtag campaigns to truly grow presence and reach.
As with any marketing effort, understanding the tool and developing a strategy for using it wisely is the path to success. Spend some time discovering what the right hashtags for your brand are – Kim Garst has a great article on that topic here. Once you know your hashtags, have set some goals, and built a strategy for using them effectively, the returns will convince you of how powerful this approach can be.

Now, go out there and #BeAwesome with your social media marketing by incorporating hashtags!
Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!
Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

#AwesomeConsistency – Frequency of Posts to Stay Top of Mind

Keeping up with social media posts can be a tricky thing – if you are posting too much, your audience tends to tune you out.  Posting too little can lead to a dropping off of followers. So what is the secret?  Consistency.  Consistency gives your readers and followers a predictable flow of information from you and keeps them coming back for more.

Consistency in Tone

The tone and voice used in your posts should reflect your company and its culture.  Are you laid back and willing to take a lighter tone or are you more professional and serious?  Take a look at the tone you want to represent your brand and stick with it – your tone should reflect the audience you are trying to attract.  Once you have set that tone, stick to it.  Be consistent, not only with the writing style and tone, but also with the content.  Every time you put a post on a social media outlet, you are releasing your brand voice to the public.  To make your brand more recognizable to new and old followers, consistency is the key.  Changing your tone or brand strategy too much can lead to consumer confusion.

Consistency Across Platforms

Your brand voice is your identity, and your identity should be consistent no matter the social media platform.  If you want your customers to know your brand as relaxed and witty, then it should reflect that across all social platforms.  Followers will be disappointed or confused and your brand voice will lose credibility without this consistency.  Focusing on keeping your tone and brand voice consistent will resonate with customers across all social media platforms.

Consistent Timing

Not everyone can post every day and that is ok. Whatever your schedule and preference, the key is to be consistent.  If you are posting every single day on Facebook but only twice a day on Twitter, don’t switch schedules.  What if you post every single day on Facebook for a year and then something happens that cuts into your time?  You have a couple of options – inform your followers that there will be a change coming in your posting frequency, or hire someone that does your posting for you.  The key is consistency – if your customers have to guess when they will see the next post from you, you could fall from top of mind and the audience may move on to the multiple other options available.  However, over inundating social media platforms with your brand voice can lead to content fatigue.  Pick a schedule, according to when your audience is most active online, and be consistent!

Consistently Relevant

Relevance goes hand in hand with consistency.  If you are updating your social media consistently with relevant posts, your followers will stay engaged.  An engaged follower is more likely to talk up your brand and bring in more followers.  It is important to not only be consistent with your brand voice and timing, but also with the relevancy of the topics you are covering.  Part of creating a brand that stands out on social media is maintaining consistency on relevant topics that are in the interest of your company and your followers.  In fact,  according to the Sprout Social Q3 2016 Index, 41% of consumers admitted to unfollowing brands who don’t share relevant information.

Consistency is important in so many aspects of your small business, but it can make or break your social media presence. To keep your followers happy and to gain a stronger brand voice and a strong reputation, be consistent in voice, timing, and relevancy across all social media platforms.

Be sure to Follow us and Let’s Engage!
Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

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