Are you using social media to its fullest? Find out why it matters to the success of your personal brand.
Key takeaways
- Establish a strong online presence with a dynamic, user-friendly website, results-oriented content strategy, and SEO optimization.
- Powerful personal branding requires compelling design elements, knowing your audience, and building credibility with them.
- Find out which social media platforms to use to reach your audience, and stay engaged with social every day.
- Track the right metrics using analytics tools.
Social media continues to dominate pretty much everything on the web. There’s a really good chance that most of your audience is on at least one social channel (and most likely more) every day. Social media is a great place to be, well, social, and it’s become one of the primary ways entrepreneurs and business owners can amplify their personal brands, which is how you define and present yourself to the world.
But what are you doing to maximize engagement? Are you trying to actively boost social media conversions?
You might have some content and social media accounts, but how do you use them both properly to reach the highest number of current and potential customers?
In this post, we’ll walk through establishing a strong online presence, how that helps amplify your personal brand, and how to leverage social media platforms effectively. We’ll also talk about why tracking social media metrics is key to getting results.
Building a better online presence starts here
Having an online presence is a must in today’s digital world – and you want it to be a stellar presence that speaks to your target audience. If you know something’s not quite right with your current presence, but you don’t know how to fix it, this is your guide, broken down into website, content, and SEO elements.
1. Knock your website out of the park
Your website is your brand’s online hub, where interested individuals, groups, and orgs can find everything they need to know about you. Therefore, you want it to be well-designed, user-friendly, and representative of your brand. Here are three steps to do that:
- Step 1: Choose/evaluate a domain name. Whatever you’re calling your brand or business, start there. Even if it’s just “yourname.com” which is beautifully straightforward. Just make sure it’s not too long and doesn’t include unnecessary articles, like “the” or “a,” unless they’re important parts of your brand.
- Step 2: Select your website platform. You can’t go wrong with basic tools like WordPress or Squarespace. Look around and see what templates you like. Make sure the style you choose provides all the features you need.
- Step 3: Design/update an amazing site. Don’t be afraid to ask for some help with website design. Your number-one goal is to create something incredibly attractive and responsive. It could be worth it to work with a designer who can deliver exactly what you’re looking for since most people are very visual.
Now, you’re on your way to a website that accurately and enthusiastically reflects who you are.
2. Crafting the perfect content strategy
Next up: Create a content strategy to establish how you use your website and social platforms. Start by identifying your target audience. What are their needs and wants? How can you help solve their problems?
Create a plan for how often you’ll post on social and what kinds of content you want to share – blog posts, videos, text posts, images, etc. Who will create and edit your content?
Also, include a strategy for incorporating SEO techniques so your content is found organically through Google searches (more on that next).
3. Optimize content for search engines
Your online presence will soar when you’re listed highly on search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO gets you to the top when you know how to use it. Here are a few tips:
- Conduct keyword research to find out how to stand out and what people are searching for
- Use on-page optimization, including meta tags, keyword-based headings, and anchor text
- Use off-page optimization, including link building and guest posting
Your goal is to be discoverable online. Period. Then, you can start inspiring people.
How to establish a strong personal brand
Whether they realize it or not, everyone has a personal brand and it can help people/businesses stand out and attract appealing new opportunities. You want to take control of your personal brand online and shape it so that people see you in the way you want to present. Your personal brand should be authoritative while reflecting your voice and values. So, how do you balance everything just right?
Start by defining your brand identity. Describe your unique selling proposition – what value do you deliver that no one else does? That’s where you begin when telling a compelling brand story. Think through what led you here and why people should care. Defining your identity helps you establish a consistent brand voice and tone across your channels.
You’ll also need a logo. What color scheme aligns with your tone? Create brand visuals that will stand out and represent who you are as a person. Remember that font matters, too. Make sure it’s readable and memorable.
When you’re thinking through all these moving parts, keep in mind that your goal is to build credibility and trust alongside your name. Think about how you can post content that shows your expertise. Prioritize being informative and helpful. Ask clients to write reviews and provide testimonials. And always be authentic.
Now, let’s talk about using social media to amplify your personal brand.
Leveraging social media platforms for your brand
Mastering social media starts with knowing what platforms you need to engage with. This takes a deep understanding of where your target audience is. Research your target demographics and where they like to hang out.
Also, consider how different platforms help you meet your social media goals. For example, if your brand is very visual-oriented, like a photography business, Instagram may be your top priority since it’s focused around sharing photos.
Crafting engaging social media content is the next factor to focus on. Write compelling captions and headlines. Incorporate exciting elements like infographics and videos. Use storytelling techniques in your posts to captivate your followers.
Social media platforms provide unlimited opportunities to build a strong community and network with other brands. A few ways to stay engaged and, in turn, engage your audience include:
- Responding to comments
- Liking other peoples’ posts
- Following accounts of people who inspire you
- Responding to messages quickly
- Participating in discussions about your industry
- Finding events through social platforms
- Collaborating with influencers on your content
Remember, social media is a two-way street, and what you put into it (through interacting with others and sharing valuable content, not just self-promotion) is what you’ll reap. The key takeaway here is to stay active. Remind yourself to get on social daily and give people likable experiences.
Don’t forget to measure performance
To fully leverage social media for your brand image, remember to track metrics and analyze results. Focus on these two areas for measurement:
- Set and track key performance indicators (KPIs): What are your goals for your social presence and brand? Defining these goals helps you understand which metrics you need to track. Examples of KPIs include social engagement rate, follower count, website traffic, and click-through rate.
- Use analytics tools: Lucky for you, social platforms can deliver helpful analytics directly. Make sure to utilize these analytics integrations to track performance and engagement. For your website, you can use Google Analytics to see how your content is resonating with people.
To make better decisions for your brand, you need insights. These simple steps will put you in the driver’s seat with data about your content and your audience.
On social media, content is king
Today, everything seems to be digital. Your personal brand can only be amplified when you master your online presence and successfully use social media platforms.
You can take all the right steps to get there, but they won’t get you anywhere unless your content is killer. Every bit of messaging you release into the world needs to be accurate, compelling, and well-written. Then, you can establish a strong personal brand and authority in your industry.
ContentBacon helps make that happen. We know just how important it is to craft relevant, tasty content your audience will love. Contact us to find out more about our content subscriptions.
