Be Authentic in Your Social Media Marketing
Social media, if you allow it, can be an effective tool for making yourself more accessible to the public, giving them a glimpse of who you are and inviting them to become a part of your community.
When you’re considering how to show up online, it can be easy to become stuck between the desire to look polished and perfect, and at the same time remain authentic enough that your audience feel comfortable enough to engage with you and in turn, allow you to service them effectively.
While it is natural to have a set of production values that dictates the professionalism, style and aesthetic of your content, it’s also advantageous for the most part, to come across as human and relatable as you can.
Instead of veering towards perfection, rather allow your personality to shine through even if it is a little bit ‘rough around the edges’ at times – this creates a sense of intimacy with your followers and brings them closer to your environment instead of creating distance with them.Decide what it is that you actually want to use social media for – is it purely for promoting your products? For creating rapport with your followers? For engaging with and finding out more about your audience? Creating intimacy? Giving your audience a service point where they can access information about you? It’s important to consider your motives and intentions and from there begin to craft a dialogue with your audience that supports that. Social media is, at its very core, social and the SOCIAL part of it comes from interaction, from asking questions and getting to know more about the people who follow you and the kind of content they would like to see. This will allow you to adjust and improve as you become more acquainted with what your followers enjoy and begin to create a highly engaged audience during a phase where engagement is an increasingly more valuable metric than reach. One of the most important outcomes of your social media efforts should be building trust online by showing followers that you care about and listen to them and truly understand what is important to them.
This will make it easier for people who align with your core values and principles to find you easily and begin to form relationships with you that will allow you to create mutually beneficial outcomes.At this stage it’s important to mention that if someone else is handling your social media management for you, ensure that they’ve taken the time to get to know your business and your brand, and are able to speak to your values and principles and develop conversations and stories that are relevant to you and conducive to building your audience. Use stories, ask questions and create conversational spaces to bring your followers into your world, introduce members of your team online and show the faces behind the brand and very soon you’ll have a loyal, engaged following that will yield you truly phenomenal results.
