Although social media is largely associated with entertainment and casual browsing, it’s also a powerful platform to build an image that impacts your work life.
It’s common for HR to look at a candidate’s social media profiles to verify information about a candidate and to find out if there’s content that can reflect poorly on the hiring company. It’s used as a vetting tool and is an important platform where you can establish your personal brand to create a positive impression.
You can use these completely free platforms to boost your personal brand and grow your audience. Let’s look at some winning ways you can enhance your online presence.
1. Keep your profiles updated
Go over all your social media profiles and make sure that you’ve updated them with information that showcases what you do. Building a personal brand means providing real-life details about the projects or work you’ve done, your work experience, as well as providing details related to dates and places that add authenticity to your image.
There are many more things we can do to make our profiles shine and we’ll dig deeper in the following sections.
2. Use visuals!
The power of images and video content on social media can’t be overstated. People recall 65% of visual content three days after they’ve viewed, while written content has a much lower memory recall. Creating your personal brand’s recall rate is a top priority so that people associate you with positive emotions.
LinkedIn allows you to upload pictures, presentations, and other visual content to many sections of your profile. By adding images, you create social proof by providing evidence of your work. Here are some ideas of images you can share:
- Products or solutions you’ve created
- A portfolio of your work
- Images of meetings with clients or colleagues at work (if appropriate)
- Pictures of you attending seminars, speaking, or any other type of event that’s relevant
These image suggestions can give you ideas on other types of images you can share on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and every other place you’ve created an account on.
Also, make sure that you add appropriate descriptions for every image to use. Many people tend to leave the description blank which misses the chance to create more information or to make your content appear as search results.
3. Use keywords in your profiles
Another way to get traffic to your profile and to stand out online is to use keywords. SEO matters even with your social media profiles. Not to mention, when people do searches on LinkedIn, Facebook, or elsewhere, these platforms’ will create results based on what’s on your social media feeds.
So, instead of always describing your profile based on what you do, frame the description based on keywords your audience might use. For example, you may be a content writer, but tell your audience that you’ll create copy for them which boosts their traffic and SEO.
Also, remember that different social media need different types of keywords in the description. If you are using LinkedIn then it makes sense to add more technical jargon since it’s relevant to your field.
On places like Facebook, Instagram, and informal platforms, consider using casual language that appeals to the larger audience. For example, if your customers are likely to search for a ‘drawing app’, then include that as a keyword instead of ‘ illustration software’.
Another great idea is to phrase your keyword in terms of your competition. People often look for alternatives to existing products in the hopes of finding something that’s less expensive or has more guaranteed features.
So, you can add a keyword like ‘ alternative to [insert competitor]’ so that your audience can find you.
Remember to use keywords in your image captions. This also plays a role in boosting your content for relevant keyword results.
4. Make your headlines attractive
Platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn have headline sections that will give visitors to your profile pages a snapshot of who you are and what you do.
This is the right place to encapsulate what you do in a very attractive manner. Make sure that it is short, punchy, and tells users what you’re all about and how you can help them. Your headlines are also another area where you can add keywords. you can also use keywords.
5. Be active on social media
You cannot engage people or stand out of social media unless you are actively engaging others. There are several ways for you to be active on social media and we consider a few of the major ones.
- Use a social media management tool like Hootsuite to post content regularly. This will save time since you can post to multiple platforms with one click. You can also schedule your content
- Join groups in your area of interest. Your participation and activities in these groups often show up to others and can cement your expertise and experience in the area.
- Curate content for your audience on social media. Many people often follow thought leaders not necessary for the original content but to find a reliable source for other helpful material.
- Post polls, surveys, or questions as a way to create interactivity.
- Make sure that your response to comments or comment on other people’s posts regularly
Spending time on social media in ways that are useful will provide your audience with important context which creates a positive brand image.
6. Develop a persona
Finally, developing a memorable persona for your online presence can make you stand out and stay in your audience’s mind.
You can do this by making humor a part of your tone or voice or building personality traits that are appropriate for your industry. A casual mode of speaking or a more formal and authoritative tone are other ways that can add to your online persona.
Try to make your online persona as authentic as possible and so that it plays to your strengths. This will make your presence online more impactful and will resonate with others.
Conclusion
We’ve looked at some very powerful ways for you to build your personal brand on social media. It’s a task that takes effort but can also result in positive outcomes.
With some work, you’ll see more interactions, better conversions, and an overall positive growth for your business over time.