Information in this blog post was obtained from the Sprout Social, Hootsuite, and Pretty Little Marketer.
Social media - a creation of how to express yourself and inspire others. Mostly everyone has social media nowadays because it is a form of how individuals can express themselves and inspire others. Social media platforms consist of creating web content, having conversations, and sharing information with the world. Without social media, many people would be out of a job and without a way of enjoyment. Social media has evolved throughout the years, for both the worst and for the better. Popular social media platforms include Facebook (the most popular), TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and about 200 more (200 is a lot, right!?).
Social media platforms are very important to businesses and to your professional life. And if you want to be successful in the future, you want to be able to stand out to others by learning and engaging as much as you can. Social media is constantly growing every day and it is something very important, and sometimes difficult, to be engaged in. You're allowed to reach and engage with others and this is very big, especially for marketers and for personal branding.
The Beginning of Yourself and Social Media
The amount that social media has changed throughout the years is outrageous, and it is going to be changing even more throughout the years. It used to be that only celebrities could be verified on Twitter and Instagram, but now, as of 2023, you can start paying for a subscription in order to get that blue checkmark by your name. Isn't that crazy!? You can now feel and look like a celebrity when your profile has a blue checkmark by your name!
Social media is changing in all aspects, whether it's with influencers or with building your personal brand. Influencers started from nothing and now they are making thousands of dollars per post, but how can we all get somewhat close to there? It's all about marketing yourself on social media!
How Can I Market Myself Online?
Starting off when marketing yourself and building your own personal brand is never easy, and that is why I am here to help you! The most important thing is that you have to be able to set goals for yourself. Who do you want to educate? What kind of content do you want to produce or promote?
It's all a matter of setting goals for yourself and your personal brand. It's not easy when starting out from scratch, but it's all about building yourself over time. In order to attract followers, likes, and comments, you have to be able to attract those followers with your content. Social media is a growing feature and it won't ever stop growing, it's all a matter of time to get yourself out there. The sooner, the better!
Your Social Media Accounts
Personal social media accounts can either be made for fun or for business. The first step when marketing yourself online and building your personal brand is keeping up with your social media accounts. This means keeping them up to date by checking your accounts every day and posting updates whenever you get the chance! This doesn't mean that you have to post every day, but simply checking your social media accounts will let your followers know that your account is still up-to-date.
With your social media accounts, remember to be engaging with your followers! Interact with your followers through comments, messages, and mentions. When you're engaging with your followers, this creates a special relationship with your followers and will help you build even more relationships and even some last-longing friendships.
With this, you can share tips with others on how to create a unique and memorable username, profile picture, and bio.
Another thing -- be positive! Social media is hard sometimes, and if you're positive, you can help lift up other followers and yourself.
Research Your Target Audience!
Even though it can be crucial, research what kind of content your target audience wants to see on their feed and be able to satisfy their needs. Researching your target audience is the most important thing when building your brand. This allows you to understand your customers and makes YOU more effective.
Your Brand
Your brand is how you make others feel and how others want to express themselves. Be able to gain trust and credibility with others and be able to encourage your audience to create and share content related to your brand. Keep your brand consistent. Be sure to be consistent with your messaging and with your posting. If you're consistent, your brand will build awareness and your followers will develop trust and loyalty with you. Consistency is key!
Keep Up with Trends
When developing your brand, you have to be yourself and be able to keep up with trends every day. If potential followers see that you're keeping up with current trends and with what's going on in the world, they will subscribe to you and will watch your content. Social media is not easy, that is why it is a full-time job for a lot of people!
Be Yourself
The MOST important thing when marketing yourself online is to... be yourself!! Potential followers want someone who is authentic and who is passionate about what they do. Social media is about being able to have fun and connecting with others with your content. This is the most important aspect when marketing yourself online. If you're not having fun when doing it, then why do it?
Create Engaging Content
There are many types of content, including text, images, blogs, videos, etc. and they all have their own importance in social media marketing. When you create engaging content, people will want to follow you and get to know you even more! TikTok trends are very popular nowadays and when you're creating engaging content, you will be able to market yourself in a heartbeat!
Social Media Ads and Promotions
While scrolling through TikTok, you see a lot of paid advertising for sites such as Lululemon, White Fox, and, especially, Amazon! Many influencers have their own storefront in their TikTok and Instagram bios and are paid to promote their products. These e-commerce sites do this to promote their products to a wider audience. You can create effective ads and target the right audience to be able to get paid to promote different kinds of products for different companies!
Using Analytics
Social media analytics can help you track your performance and improve your marketing efforts. Using analytics, you can share tips for identifying key metrics and using data to make decisions. When you track your performance, you can see how far you've come from the beginning!
Don't Give Up
The most important thing is don't give up! When you are not seeing results or when you don't like where you're at, take a break, and don't ever give up! It is okay to take a break from social media because it can be too much at times, and taking a break is just what everyone needs sometimes. Social media isn't easy and it takes lots of practice and getting used to!
When receiving negative feedback, maintain a positive online presence.
When you see those results, you are going to be so grateful that you started marketing yourself on social media! You will see those results and you will make those new professional contacts and friendships, which is what it is all about! Learn from your mistakes and continue to adapt the strategies you learn along the way.
Marketing yourself on social media is not going to take a couple of days. It is going to take time and effort. If you start implementing these strategies, you will be able to market yourself on social media effectively.
For information on how to start a career in social media marketing, check out Reed's post here!
Resources
Gomez, Ronnie. “Social Media Careers: The Skills You Need, Where to Look and Jobs to Consider.” Sprout Social, 11 Aug. 2022, https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-careers/
Israel, Sarah. “Top Influencers in 2023: Who to Watch and Why They're Great.” Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard, 14 Feb. 2023, https://blog.hootsuite.com/top-influencers/
“Pretty Little Marketer" (2023). Pretty Little Marketer, https://www.prettylittlemarketer.com/
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