GETTING STARTED ON SOCIAL

While spending 15+ years working in a corporate environment (Disney), my social media presence included a personal Facebook page I barely kept up with (when I did it was simply to catch up with friends), and a LinkedIn page that read like a digital resume.  In other words, I barely had a social media presence, and I certainly had not built a personal brand yet or leveraged social media strategically.

When I decided starting my own brand strategy business and online education platform was what I wanted to do, I knew I’d be starting my social media strategy from ground zero.  Literally - 0 followers to start.  The first few hundred people I gained as followers were the people who knew me and were paying attention: friends, family and my former entertainment network of colleagues across movie studios, cable and broadcast networks, and creative vendors. 

Interestingly enough, none of these people were my target audience. I had chosen to position my business to help entrepreneurs and not only was I a brand new entrepreneur, I didn’t know any other entrepreneurs yet!   (Might have been easier to target entertainment brands and leveraged the network I already had, but I was set on forging an entirely new path and excited about helping others do what I was doing - building a business of my own and a brand I could sink all my energy into to create my own impact in the world).

SOCIAL MEDI A BRAND-BUILDING TIP #1 : Know Your Audience

In order to build the brand you want, you first have to know who you’re targeting and planning to serve.  Only then can you create content that will be relatable and specific enough to really resonate.

DISCOVERING WHAT WORKED FOR MY BRAND ON INSTAGRAM

Like with anything I do, when I start something I have to be excited about it; that’s when I do my best work.  I was most excited about building my brand on Instagram, even though I did upgrade my LinkedIn presence and establish a Facebook Business page.  When I began, all my efforts for content creation revolved around Instagram.

At that point, Instagram was still very much about loving the beautifully curated feeds with captivating and original photos leading the way.  And guess what, even today, even with the algorithm doing it’s thing - - - still, the most popular content on Instagram is when I post a brand photo of myself (I can caption it with a personal story, some inspiration for entrepreneurs, or branding tips - - - whatever I pair it with messaging-wise,  it’s photos of me -  showing my face - showing up as ME that gets the most traction).

SOCIAL MEDIA BRAND-BUILDING TIP #2 - Invest In Professional Photos

Don’t underestimate the power of professional photography for your brand to lead the way for your content creation.  People want to see the face behind the brand!   It establishes trust, credibility and professionalism (because it’s obvious you invested money into designing a brand that puts its best foot forward in your overall style, strategy and messaging).

PLUS, nowadays there are so many Brand Photographers who also offer video content during your photo day shoot so you end up with beautiful videos you can use in Reels, Stories, on your website, and more.

BUILDING MY INSTAGRAM TO 11K, THEN GETTING HACKED

I grew my Instagram account over 6 years from 0 followers to over 11K.…and then my account got hacked. What this quickly taught me is you can't focus all your brand’s marketing efforts on a “borrowed platform.” My focus quickly shifted to getting all of my relevant followers from all my social media platforms onto an email list because that can’t be hacked or taken away - - - or be altered by an algorithm.

Yes, I did get my Instagram account back, but I have 9K followers now, and since it was hacked, it’s never been the same.  The engagement remains very low,, I gain the right followers and then accounts that really shouldn’t be following me fall off, so it’s like my followers hover in the 9K range and never really change or grow.  I’m sharing this story as I’m about to make a switch and begin my entire Instagram account anew with an account starting back at 0 (probably in early 2024 - I’ll announce it so you can follow along with the switch!). 

There are SEVERAL additional brand-building tips I recommend based on what I’ve learned via my Instagram experience, so here they are:

SOCIAL MEDIA TIP #3: Set up Two-Factor Authentication

Whichever social media platform(s) you decide to be on - set up Two Factor Authentication. It’s a security measure that will make it much less likely for your account to be hacked or stolen.

SOCIAL MEDIA BRAND-BUILDING TIP #4: Establish Your Branded Content Pillars

This is something I help entrepreneurs do as part of building their overall brand strategy. You want to determine the key focus areas your brand will communicate about consistently to build the brand perception you want and that will resonate with your target audience. These content pillars will help guide more purposeful content.

SOCIAL MEDIA BRAND-BUILDING TIP #5: Consistency Is Key

Be consistent. No matter how often you decide to post - 1x / week, 3x / week, daily…the key is to be consistent with what you choose to do.  This builds trust and credibility.

SOCIAL MEDIA BRAND-BUILDING TIP #6:  Engage Your Audience

Don’t simply post, engage. Just because you show up on social media, doesn’t mean your audience will automatically find you. A key part of your follower growth strategy on social media needs to be going out and engaging with people who you feel represent your ideal clients in order to entice them back to check out your page.

You can become known for what you do by thoughtfully commenting on posts, videos and stories from your ideal clients by showcasing value from your perspective.

SOCIAL MEDIA BRAND-BUILDING TIP #7: Leverage Social Media Strategically

It’s not just about the numbers, it’s about having the right people follow you and engage with your content.  Also, while this might seem the opposite of a social media strategy - it’s not, it’s just smart.  Your and #1 focus should be using social media as a promotional platform to drive people off of social media, directing them to your lead magnets, marketing funnels and offers.

Need additional help defining and refining your brand strategy? That’s where I come in! Feel free to set up a Brand Consult Call and we can talk about what it looks like to develop your brand strategy working together.