10 Ways to Build Your Business and Brand Using Social Media

Stefanie Marrone Consulting
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Social media has been one of the key ways I've built my brand and business over the years. It took time and dedication, but once I figured out how to use social media to my advantage, it wasn’t hard.

A major factor in my social media success was in building my audience’s trust through sustaining an authentic brand persona – meaning: being myself.

One of the key lessons I learned was that I didn’t need to be on every social media channel. It’s better to choose one or two and do it right. For me, LinkedIn is the primary channel where I focus my efforts.

What you don’t want to do is spread yourself too thin or be on the wrong social media channels – meaning those where your clients aren’t.

However, your brand should be unified and in line with your brand identity across all social media channels. Be consistent with graphics, color, style and language and even post frequency if you’re using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn etc.

You also don’t want to post the same content on every social media platform. It’s simply just not one size fits all. Not to mention the dimensions of the images need to be adjusted and the way in which you use hashtags are different on each platform.

It’s also so important to post frequently. If you’re not posting with a regular cadence, you’re not visible, and if you’re not visible, you’re forgettable, so focus on the frequency of your posts while also focusing on their quality. Quality is just as important as the quantity of your posts.

Here are 10 quick ways anyone can use social media to build their business and brand.

  1. Share content that is helpful and useful for your target audience and written in their language (that means no legalese!)
  2. Offer solutions and insights to your clients’ pain points in every post – keep the self-congratulatory posts to a minimum – everything needs to be focused on your clients
  3. Don’t wait to post — your good is often good enough – don’t miss your opportunity
  4. Use visuals and the right hashtags to help people discover your posts and so they “stop the scroll”
  5. Experiment with new media such as videos and podcasts to engage with your connections in a medium that has high engagement
  6. Generate leads with a clear call to action at the end of your posts
  7. Encourage employees to share company content to their social networks – tapping into their social networks is key for your social media success in order to amplify your posts
  8. Interact with your connections on LinkedIn daily by liking, commenting and sharing their content as well as yours
  9. Actively build your network — don’t just accept connections — initiate them. That’s how you’ll increase your network and visibility.
  10. Make sure your posts always do at least one of five things for your followers/network:
  • Educate
  • Entertain
  • Inform
  • Inspire
  • Empower

If your social media post does more than one of these – even better!

I recommend creating an Excel spreadsheet or Google doc so you can keep a running list of ideas for posts in each of these areas. Map these ideas to your content pillars, which are five or so areas that align with your strengths and opportunities on which all of your content will focus.

Remember there is no such thing as giving away too much information or tips on social media. In fact giving away information of value without expecting anything in return should be the goal of everything you post on social media.

Don’t worry about giving away your “secrets.” That’s how you build your brand, clout and following. Besides they will still need you to implement your ideas and there’s only so much you can really give away in a social media post. Then watch your network grow and the opportunities that come from it will as well.

I hope these tips have given you some ideas for how you can raise your social media presence without putting a ton of time or effort into it. Anyone can do any of these tips at any point of their careers.

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Stefanie Marrone advises law firms of all sizes, professional service firms, B2B companies, recruiters and individuals on the full range of marketing and business development consulting services designed to enhance revenue, retain current clients and achieve greater brand recognition. She also serves as outsourced chief marketing officer/marketing department for small and mid-size law firms. Over her nearly 20-year legal marketing career, she has worked at and with a broad range of big law, mid-size and small firms, which has given her a valuable perspective of the legal industry. Connect with her on LinkedIn, sign up for her email list and follow her latest writing on JD Supra.

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