Question: How can you determine what content to share on social media, versus NOT share?
This is going to be a great episode for anyone who IS their business, and wants to reach clients through social media. By that I mean anyone who doesn’t just have an abstract product to sell, but where you ARE the product. Your knowledge, your expertise, your experience, your working style, your personality – this is every real estate agent, coach, massage therapist or even artist/maker. Your goal through your marketing is to create and build know/like/trust. And how do you do this? But of course through authenticity in your content!
Your personal brand is essential for you because you want to give someone the feeling of what it is to work with you before they even know they need you. Then you need to stay consistent so not only you remain top-of-mind, but also to nurture that relationship so that as soon as they need your services, they instantly think of you and trust that you would be their best choice.
Let me remind you that your goal is NOT to appeal to everyone. It is impossible to be the best choice for every single consumer. Your goal instead is to reach the people that you can best serve. The people you are uniquely designed to help. Go back and listen to Episode 8 about Ideal Clients for a refresher on this perspective.
And now, I’ll return to the main question for today – how to know what you should or shouldn’t share on your account for business when you want (or need) to create content. This question has also been posed as: How do I know what content is ‘professional’ or things that people ‘want to see’? How can you determine what’s share-worthy content?
First thing’s first: if you are new to social media or new to using it intentionally for business, you’re going to go through a period of trial & error to know what kind of content resonates with your audience. You’ll need to test and experiment and, like any truly scientific process, the more structured you are with your intention and parameters the more relevant feedback you’ll gain. Create a plan to try things out and don’t be emotionally attached to the results.
While you are creating your plan, you want to keep asking yourself questions to stay on track and keep your messaging consistent. In no particular order of priority, these questions are:
*What can you share to empower, entertain or educate your ideal clients? And how do you want your brand to be known? For entertaining, educating or empowering? Or a combination? What percentage (roughly) of each?
*What is unique about how you interact with your clients? How do you make them feel at ease? (You can ask for feedback from previous clients or objective friends – and then communicate that aspect of your personality through your content. For example, I am a perfectionist who is also sarcastic, and obsessed with optimizing my health. For my own personal brand, I share a variety of content that tells that story and gives people that feeling – either directly or indirectly – while making sure to tie in with my niche and services offered.)
*How will someone (your ideal client) benefit from your content? If it’s all about you and your concerns, your audience has no reason to be there, unless they are already emotionally invested in your journey. 100% you should tell your story, but always from the perspective of how it benefits the audience you want to attract.
In reflecting on these questions, you’ll naturally design a framework for the type of content you can create to build your personal brand. This is an essential Step 1. Next week I’ll go deeper into this topic to help you learn to create share-worthy content. In other words: how to get others to share (and save for later) your post so that you get even more exposure.
Do you want some 1-on-1 support to design your framework or help you create content? Let’s talk! Schedule a free 15-min call with me and let’s see if I’m a good fit to help you get the ball rolling! Click here!
