Social media isn’t just good for connecting with friends and relatives. Businesses and professionals have used long social media as part of their branding and digital marketing campaigns. I said, professionals, because there are indeed a lot of people who utilize the power of social media to support their life as a professional.
Now, it is your turn. You too can use social media to boost your career. These tips and tricks will help you get started right away.
Create an Online Presence
Before you start using social media a certain way, you need to take the time to develop a strong online presence. This means setting up a website for yourself, either on free platforms such as Medium or WordPress.com or by creating a site with your own domain name.
Next, develop a consistent branding across all of your online pages. Your brand doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be the combination of a simple logo – your name handwritten in black – and one or two colors that you will use as branding elements.
The key here is consistency. You want people to recognize that these are your pages from the avatar you use, as well as the overall design of the pages.
Know What to Share
According to the master in communications department of the University of Southern California, content marketing is now one of the most powerful digital marketing instruments to use. A lot of people – including business owners and professionals – actually pursue an online MCM degree to be better at content marketing.
Content marketing is all about sharing valuable information. You already have the knowledge and skills to share with others since you are working in a particular field; all you have to do is develop ways to share them effectively, either through articles or videos.
Knowing what to share is also important. You don’t have to talk about work all the time, but you want to limit the number of personal posts you share on social media too. More importantly, you want to avoid sharing negative contents (i.e. an inappropriate photo of you at a party) on your social media pages.
Demonstrate Proficiency
Another great thing about sharing valuable content is that they give you the opportunity to show off your skills. If you are an expert in marketing, for instance, you can share strategies, tips and tricks, and general industry insights on your blog, and then post a link to the post on social media.
It is also a good idea to share longer posts, especially on platforms like LinkedIn. Twitter now lets you post Tweet storms if you need to discuss a topic at length. Don’t forget to engage the readers and provide practical and valuable answers to their questions. It will not be long before people start seeing you as an expert in what you do.
Once that branding is established, using your social media presence for the benefit of your career is actually very easy. You’ll get more recognition, more opportunities to grow, and plenty of career options to consider.
