Social Media Can Be Your Secret Weapon — Here’s How I Use It
Social media has evolved from what I saw as a digital scrapbook into an essential tool for success personally and professionally. Brands can use social media as a form of direct communication and relationship building with customers. They can provide customer service, mitigate complaints, and interact with followers in a public arena. This can be a double-edged sword at times if handled improperly managing complaints and providing customer service publicly can reflect poorly on a brand. However, it can also show prospective customers how excellent a brand is.
Social media can also be an asset to individuals. It creates the opportunity to cultivate your personal brand. It gives you the chance to truly be seen how you want to. In the professional world, this can be an asset. According to CareerBuilder (2017) 70% of employers review candidates’ social media profiles during the application process. Based on this research, 54% of employers have chosen not to hire someone (Curtin, 2020). When it comes to my social media, I try to create a mixture of personal and professional branding. After all, an employer is looking to hire me, not just the me that wears a blazer.
In creating a personal brand you have to hone in on what is unique to you. As Sally Hogshead says, find what makes you fascinating. Everyone has something that makes them who they are and everyone has a story to tell. For me, I realized that my story was intertwined with stories I experienced through books, television, friends, and family. But what truly is unique about this is the way I see the world. I am in a constant state of developing my personal brand by telling my stories in my posts.
My social media efforts are mainly focused on my personal brand on Instagram and Pinterest with the exception of LinkedIn. While I want to create a consistent brand, I view these channels as a deeper look into who I am and aspire to be as a person. While I have begun to use Facebook and Twitter more, I am considerably more interesting and interested in the community that I find on Instagram and Pinterest.
I use Instagram to give moments of my life where I feel I can brighten someone’s day and as a happy reminder of things I once did (flashback to the digital scrapbook).
On Pinterest though, I collect quotes and typography on my “Words to Live By” board. It’s my main source of inspiration. That network lets me explore how to make things, elevate my aspirations, and uplift me when I need it.
I recently was encouraged to audit my social media channels. This audit allowed me to change my profiles and handles to create consistency across the board. With the exception of my Facebook and LinkedIn I have the same profile picture. I use the handle @stephanielilis on Instagram, Pinterest, and Medium. On LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter I can be found as Stephanie Brint. This creates a slight separation for me, but still consistently will allow me to be found.
I focus my professional brand through LinkedIn and use this network specifically for this purpose. Obviously, LinkedIn is a social media networking platform for professionals. I’ve used this to connect with other professionals, to find learning opportunities, and have used it to land interviews. By following people who inspire me professionally, I am able to learn from things they share whether they are organic posts or articles written by people who inspire them. On the professional branding side, I have recently begun to use Facebook as a professional network to build a freelancing portfolio.
Over the past few months, I have been reintroduced to Twitter as a platform that is not as intimidating as I once thought it was. I have curated my feed to include people who inspire me to be better and Tweet the way I hope to. I use Twitter to learn from them and stay in conversations.
I personally hold kindness as one of my highest values. I am an enneagram type 2 — the helper. I constantly look for ways to uplift and support the people I care about. I am well aware that the kindness I show to someone may be the only kindness they experience all day and I use my personal social media post to reflect that. I use my social media networks to build my personal brand as a reader, thinker, and ray of sunshine in a sometimes too dark world.
References:
Curtin, M. (2020, January 9). 54 Percent of Employers Have Eliminated a Candidate Based on Social Media. Time to Clean Up Your Feed (and Tags). Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/54-percent-of-employers-have-eliminated-a-candidate-based-on-social-media-time-to-clean-up-your-feed-and-tags.html
Salm, L. (2017, June 15). 70% of employers are snooping candidates’ social media profiles. Retrieved from https://www.careerbuilder.com/advice/social-media-survey-2017
Trying to choose between a thought leader and dynamic speaker? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.sallyhogshead.com/
