8 Ways to Stand Out on Social Media
Standing apart from the crowd on social media is important if you want to become known as a thought leader and be successful. You know that the key to getting more buyers can be as simple as being known, liked, and trusted. Social media is the key to getting you there faster. But first, you need to know what to do in order to get there. The good news is you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You can get started today to ensure that you stand out in the crowd and attract attention.
Get Personal on Social Media
One of the biggest problems with social media is that many users treat it as an advertising billboard. Don’t overlook its primary objective, being SOCIAL. You need to get to know people on a more personal level to make an impact. Some ways that you can do that are to send them direct messages (or private messages depending on the platform). Ask questions and take the time to send them a personalized message that shows that you bothered reading their profile and that you really want to get to know them as much as you want them to know you. Be authentic! This is not another method to advertise.
Avoid Too Much Automation
While automation can save a lot of time, it’s very important that you identify what should be done on a personal level and what can be automated. You need to truly spend time interacting personally and connecting authentically with your audience and don’t be afraid to show your passion for your topic or niche. Remember, even if there is a lot of competition in your niche, no one else can be you, but you.
If you are just too busy to monitor your social media platforms and reply as needed, consider outsourcing to a virtual assistant. Your VA can monitor your platforms and bring your attention to any conversations that need your personal touch.
Provide Excellent Customer Care
70% of consumers would use channels other than the phone if they felt confident they could get a resolution on the first attempt. (Ovum)
Social customer care costs around $1 per interaction while phone support costs at least $6. (NM Incite)
As these stats demonstrate, your customers expect your business to provide some level of customer support through social media. If you focus on putting your customers first, you’ll be able to redirect the customer to the appropriate place for support or take care of the situation in a way that reflects your commitment to your customers. When you can do this in front of others, you have the potential of winning over more customers or clients. Learn more about customer care via social media.
Keep Branding Consistent on All Social Media Platforms
It has been said that your brand is the promise you make to your customers. Your brand embodies the qualities, characteristics, values, and ideas that are representative of your business. Your brand is your business image, the message you project through words, logos, photos, video, audio, and more.
Keep your branding consistent in all of your business endeavors. This is exceptionally important for all of your social media channels and profiles. When potential and existing customers see the same branding repeatedly, it helps them to remember you, what you stand for, what you believe in, what your “promise” looks like (your logo), and what they can expect from you. But most of all, consistency encourages people to trust you. You can learn more about branding in this article from Entrepreneur.com.
Share Testimonials
A wonderful way to boost the “know, like trust” component of your social media presence and show your appreciation is to highlight testimonials you receive. When someone says something nice about their experience with you, ask them if you can quote them on it. When they say yes, share their words with social followers and connections. Be sure to thank them for “making your day” or “making you smile.”
Go Live
One of the best ways to highlight your trustworthiness is to “go live.” You can do this on webinars, YouTube.com, Facebook Live and more. When you interact in real-time, people can easily see who you are and learn from you. Since you won’t have a script or be able to edit anything before your live audience sees it, “going live” helps you to build trust. You’ll just be who you are and it will give your audience an opportunity to see how you think on your feet.
Focus On Your Target Audience
Get to know your target audience well. In particular, you should know what problems they face, their gender, lifestyle, occupation, etc. Talk to each person as an individual, not the group as a whole. Create a persona and talk with the “person” who is your ideal customer or client. (Some business people will actually give this ideal client a name.) This will work far better than trying to appeal to everyone.
Work Your Social Media Profile
Each social media network has a profile area that is slightly different from the others. While you don’t want your profile to be copied verbatim on each network, it should be consistent with your branding and provide helpful information, including links when possible. Your profiles provide a way for your audience to get to know you and your business. Use all the space you’re allowed on each network to stand out.
These 8 best practices work on all social media networks. But, in our next blog let’s get more specific about what you can do on a few commonly used networks to stand out even more.
This can all be a little overwhelming! I just published an e-book to give you some tools and resources that will help you. Just complete the form below and it will be on the way!
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