How to Stand Out on Social Media: Just Be You
There are millions of people on social media. Depending on your industry, there might be thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people who do what you do and are trying to get in front of your prospects online. How are you supposed to compete against all that?
You can use all kinds of social media tricks and gimmicks to try and figure out how to stand out on social media, but that has two pitfalls The first is that people tend to see right through it, and it turns them off The second is that it’s not sustainable because you’re constantly trying to be someone you’re not, and eventually you’ll burn out.
By contrast, when you decide to just be yourself on social media, everything gets much easier.
If the idea of talking about yourself and posting pictures and videos of yourself to a bunch of strangers online terrifies you, you’re not alone.
But if you can move past the fear and allow yourself to be vulnerable when marketing your business on social media, here’s what you’ll find:
People Work with People They Know, Like, and Trust
You’ve probably already heard that people work with people they know, like, and trust And you’ve probably applied it to other areas of your business, like networking. But you also need to apply it to your social media strategy.
Remember that social media was designed for people to meet and connect with other, like-minded people. That means people don’t go on social media to look for stuff to buy. They sign on to see what their friends and family are up to, what their favorite influencers are doing these days, and (increasingly) to look for information.
If you can provide information relevant to your business while showing off your unique personality, you’ll find it much easier to get the attention of your ideal clients.
People Identify with Your Values
People are increasingly choosing to spend their money with brands that share their values Sharing your values online might seem like it’s beside the point when you’re trying to grow a business. On the contrary, your values can do much more to convince someone to buy from you than talking about any of your new features.
Your Unique Spin Can Make Any Topic New and Refreshing
Most industries have topics that have been covered to death and people are sick of hearing about. But if you can draw on your personal experiences in a way that’s relevant to the topic, you can portray it in a whole new light for your audience
For example, everyone who has ever talked to a financial planner knows the importance of getting and maintaining a strong credit score. But the financial planner who talks about how their mom died when they were a teenager and they found out their credit score was trash because their mom had taken out loans in their name gives the topic much more urgency.
Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Already Taken.
Trying to copy someone else’s social media strategy never works because it doesn’t give people a reason to come to you for answers, much less your product/service. If they can find the exact content somewhere else, why would they subscribe to get more of the same from you?
Being yourself is the only way to make sure your content will be truly original Other people might be saying the same thing, but no one can say it quite like you can. So don’t be afraid to let your freak flag fly.