#ShareYourMessage Archives - The Social Media Advisor

August 28, 2018
Blog, Social Media Marketing

#ShareYourMessage – How to Show Up as Your Brand

Creating, strengthening, and maintaining your brand is one of the most important things any business can do. It doesn’t matter if you are a small company, a big company, or somewhere in between. Your brand is the first thing your customers will think of when they hear your name.

A carefully crafted brand can give you a leg up on your competition, encourage people to come back, and differentiate you in the marketplace. But regardless of how well your brand is created, it must be reinforced everywhere your customers come in contact with it.

These days, many of your customers may only know you from what they see online. That means that one of the most important places for you to use your brand wisely is social media. Your social media content must be high value, build community, and be consistently engaging. While that may sound like a tall order, some simple rules can help you achieve that goal.

Understand your Brand

You may think you know your brand, but do you really? Write down your brand vision: does it make sense for who you are and the culture of your company? If you don’t believe it, then you can’t expect that your customers will. If it’s not what you want then start working to make it reflect the brand vision you do want.

Know Your Audience

You can do everything right with your content but if it’s not what your customers want you are wasting your time. If you don’t have a clear picture of how to best serve your customers with social media, then you need to find out now.

Be Authentic

Today’s social media users are seasoned and sophisticated. They can spot a fake a mile away. Regardless of what kind of content you are posting it has to reflect the real you, and it needs to look and sound human.

Be Consistent

Regardless of what platforms you are using they need to share a common message and flavor. Of course, you can tailor your content to the type of information that is best suited for unique social media feeds (i.e., Twitter versus Facebook versus Instagram), but all content should be true to your brand and culture.

Be Active

You can’t build a social media following if you rarely post. Develop a strategy that keeps you front and center of your community’s feed on a regular and consistent basis. Respond to comments and questions promptly and let your visitors know that you appreciate their feedback.

You owe it to yourself and your company to be a watchdog over your brand. Monitor what is being said about you online and keep an eye on what your employees are posting when they are representing the company. Your brand image is your business’s lifeline and if it is not managed carefully and nurtured regularly it can do you more harm than good.

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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.

Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.

August 21, 2018
Brand Storytelling

#ShareYourMessage – Creating Authenticity in Your Messaging

It doesn’t matter how unique and creative your social media messaging is if the people reading it don’t believe you. And if they don’t believe you, they certainly won’t engage with you.

Face it, today’s audience is pretty sophisticated. People can spot a fake a mile away. Mark it down in big red letters, your social media audience needs to trust you, or they will leave your space, and they probably won’t come back. That sounds pretty harsh, but it’s true. To be successful on social media you need to be authentic, and to be authentic, you need to be honest and true. But how can you create authenticity? Actually, there are a number of ways. Recognize, however, that these strategies work together. One does you no good without the others.

When your community talks, you need to listen. Whether the feedback you get is positive or negative, you need to respond in a way that is open and honest. Where improvements should be made, you must be accountable. When you get kudos, you should pass them along to the people on your team who deserve them. Your social media platforms should be a place where your customers will be safe from judgment.

Share a consistent message. When you talk to your community, your message should be consistent across platforms. That doesn’t mean that you should be a parrot, just that when someone sees your brand they know what to expect regardless of where they see it.

Be yourself, a human being. When people reach out to you for wisdom, advice, help, or whatever they come to your social media for, they want a response that is personal and human. They do now want a robot who cites chapter and verse. Think about the last interaction you had with a support person who lacked experience. Chances are he or she merely read from a manual rather than listening to what you were saying and jumping ahead to help you get to a solution. How did that make you feel? That is not the image you want for your social media.

Creating authenticity in your messaging is a process that consists of a variety of moving parts. The first step is really listening to what your audience is saying and giving them a personal, human response. You need to be real, open, and honest. When you do that you’ll create a community that trusts you and keeps coming back.

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Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.

August 14, 2018
Social Engagement

#ShareYourMessage – Building Know, Like & Trust in Your Social Media

Know, Like, and Trust: it’s a concept that salespeople have always embraced—you have to get people to know you, to like you, and to trust you. That part has never changed. What has changed is how we get people to do that. One key tool we can use to build the Know, Like, Trust Factor is social media. But how?

Let’s break it down:

The KNOW

Social media is all about engagement. When we engage with the members of our community, they spread the word. Whether it’s by sharing our content, offering reviews, or commenting on something they’ve seen, when people engage with our content we become more broadly known.

Think about a viral post. It’s called viral because its visibility spreads. Long story short, we need to post content that people want to engage with.

Good “Know” Content: Solutions to key problems, shareable content such as infographics, and customer profiles.

The LIKE

Getting our content shared isn’t enough. People have to share it because they like it. Think about it: something can go viral for lots of reasons. Some of the most widely shared posts and videos are passed along because they are negative or unattractive. That is not the best kind of exposure to get. Notoriety is one thing, being notorious is quite another. In other words, be nice and keep your content positive.

Good “Like” Content: Content that is personal, responses to comments and questions, content that focuses on building relationships.

The TRUST

It doesn’t really matter how good your content is if the people who see it don’t trust you. That means you need to be authoritative, reliable, and good at what you do.

Good “Trust” Content: Product giveaways, case studies, employee profiles, reviews, and testimonials.

You can’t create a strong Know, Like, Trust Factor overnight. It takes time, experimentation, and persistence. Your space may be crowded with others trying to do the same thing. But if you are patient and dedicated, you can do it!

Be consistent, be genuine, and value your relationships. Over time, your customers will come to know, like and trust you. It will be worth the effort.

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Click here for Social Media Training, Speaking and Strategy Consultations.

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#ShareYourMessage – Creating Authenticity in Your Messaging

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