3 Key Elements of Social Media to develop your Personal Branding

Living in the social world we do today, it is clear that not only does everyone have a story to tell but, everyone wants to be heard. While social media offers many platforms that are great tools towards creating the life you seek, there is an art to this. Once you have found your passion, established your business model, and created your website, blog or both; it is now time to build your audience. Fraga (2016) asserts that gaining exposure on social media is the most vital component to your future successes but, it is something that requires time and skill. So let us look into the window to the soul of the universe to better understand what is meant by attention and how this exposure can help brand yourself.

o Capturing Attention in Social Media

Think about all those people on social media sights such as Facebook, Instagram, MySpace, Twitter, Periscope, Snap Chat, and so forth, posting all those images of themselves. While the average person may see this person as being someone conceited, the business world sees this as expressing themselves to build their followers, and gain exposure around the world.

Growth of online social media networks occurs by growing the number of members it holds, and their desires to distribute and monopolize content. According to Ruiz, Aiello & James (2014), it is this intricate networking amongst members that allows us to increase our appearances on social media. While this assumption is very true, let it be known that not all content shared will get the same attention as other posts will. This is why Ruiz, Aiello & James (2014) vindicate the need to understand your audience, and what motivates them.

While you may not be able to establish connections with everyone due to the limited amount of friends allotted on some platforms, it is vital to ensure you are following them. You also want to be sure to follow your followers. Implementing these two strategies will not only feed your pipelines but, it is going to allow your content to be seen by the friends of your friend’s friend, and so forth. Having said that, your ticket to success now rests upon the relationships you build.

o Maintaining Engagement in Social Media

Social media has opened the doors to your friends, old and new to allow its members to foster relationships and establish new ones. Although some will say they are on social media to grow their business, and not interested in making friends they may never met; they fail to realize the key to any business is by building relationships.

Building relationships with your connections is vital to your success in business. In fact, Reichheld & Schefter (2000) profess that people don’t buy from those they know and like but, from those they trust. Understanding this concept, if you are in sales, it is vital to come from a place of service rather than from a sales perspective. As an entrepreneur, it is vital to understand that there are a million places your customers can go to purchase their goods but, caring about the needs of your customer, and then going above and beyond to meet those needs, will gain you a loyal friend and ongoing customer. The same applies to building your exposure and growing your audience on social media.

Allowing yourself to see the perspectives of your contact conveys the message that you care more about them than you do the sale. This is why it is important to not only talk with your potential clients but, you have to listen to what they are saying. More importantly, listen to what they are not saying to you. For instance, you’re set up at a trade show where you promote manicure items. A young mother to three little ones enters your booth. You greet her, and begin talking with her to establish a connection. Throughout the conversation, she shares with you how much she loves having her nails done but, being a single mom to three young children with no support from the father makes it very hard to afford what they need, little on what they might want.

What we have learned in this conversation is that mom puts her children’s needs first, and while she loves manicure items, she just knows she can’t afford them. However, having the capacity to step over into her situation, you are able to identify that not only does she love the products you offer but, she may just be the perfect hostess; she may even be interested in starting her own little side business.

For any business or entrepreneur starting out, social media is not only the quickest way to reach the masses but, it is free advertising. Generating leads through social media is the fundamental asset to gaining exposure and growing your personal branding. However, if you’re going to be successful with this approach, you must be sharing content geared towards your audience, and not always business posts; you must also link all platforms to your business page and name. Last but not least, you must be consistent in all your marketing approaches, and share from one page to all your others.

Successful social media marketing is a numbers game. The more followers and fans you use to establish your online presence, your reach will escalate. As this reach grows, so does your pipelines and sales funnels. Understanding all of this, it is clear to see that at the very center of this means to marketing, you must take necessary steps to educate yourself on the trends, engage in all social media platforms so you can grow your horizon.

References

Fraga, M. A. (2016). Audience Emotion & Experience as a Source for the Development of New Marketing Strategies for Concert Dance.

Powell, J. (2009). 33 million people in the room: how to create, influence, and run a successful business with social networking. Que Publishing.

Reichheld, F.F., & Schefter, P. (2000). E-loyalty: your secret weapon on the web. Harvard Business Review, 78(4), 105–113.

Ruiz, C. V., Aiello, L. M., & Jaimes, A. (2014). Modeling dynamics of attention in social media with user efficiency. EPJ Data Science, 3(1), 1–12.

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Cheryl Miller -JamGram

Written by

Successful entrepreneur with Jamberry nails, Co-Author, Co-publisher of 100 Voices- motivational testimonies from one hundred individuals around the globe

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