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8 Strategies to Help You Stand Out on Social Media

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8 Social Media Strategies to Help You Stand Out in the Crowd

 

Standing apart from the crowd on social media is important if you want to become known and successful. You know that the key to getting more buyers is whether you are known, liked, and trusted.

Social media is the key to getting you there faster. But first, you need to know what to do in order to get there. Social media best practices aren’t always common knowledge.

Thankfully, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You can get started today to ensure that you stand apart from the crowd and get attention.

 

Let’s go through the 8 Social Media Strategies

 

These strategies will help you stand out from the crowd, no matter what type of social media you’re using.

If you do nothing more than these 8 things, you are more likely to stand out in the crowd. But, keep in mind that these strategies are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what you can do to maintain your edge on social media.

 

1. Get Personal

 

One of the biggest problems with social media is that many users treat it as a one-size fits all type of system. In reality, you need to get to know people on a more personal level to make an impact.

Some ways that you can do that are to send them direct messages (or private messages depending on the platform).

Ask questions and take the time to send them a personalized message that shows that you bothered reading their profile and that you really want to get to know them as much as you want them to know you.

 

2. Avoid Too Much Automation

 

While automation can save a lot of time, it’s very important that you identify what should be done on a personal level and what should include automation.

You need to truly spend time interacting personally and connecting authentically with your audience. Don’t be afraid to show your passion for your topic or niche.

Remember, even if there is a lot of competition in your niche, no one else can be you, but you.

 

3. Provide Excellent Customer Care

 

Once you open social media accounts for your business, there may be times when you are asked to provide a little customer care.

If you focus on putting your customers first, you’ll be able to redirect the customer to the appropriate place for support or take care of the situation in a way that reflects your commitment to your customers.

When you can do this in front of others, you have the potential of winning over more customers or clients.

 

4. Keep Branding Consistent

It has been said that your brand is the promise you make to your customers. Your brand embodies the qualities, characteristics, values, and ideas that are representative of your business.

Your brand is your business image, the message you project through words, logos, photos, video, audio. Your brand is the promise the experience your audience expects from you, so all those pieces come together to give that experience.

Keep your branding consistent in all of your business endeavors. This is exceptionally important for all of your social media channels and profiles.

When potential and existing customers see the same branding repeatedly, it helps them to remember you, what you stand for, what you believe in, what your “promise” looks like (your logo), and what they can expect from you.

But most of all, consistency encourages people to trust you.

 

5. Share Testimonials

A wonderful way to boost the “know, like, trust” component of your social media presence and show your appreciation is to highlight testimonials you receive.

When someone says something nice about their experience with you, ask them if you can quote them on it. When they say yes, share their words with social followers and connections.

Be sure to thank them for “making your day” or “making you smile.”

 

6. Go Live

One of the best ways to highlight your trustworthiness is to “go live.” You can do this on webinars, YouTube.com, Facebook Live and more. When you interact in real-time, people can easily see who you are and learn from you.

Since you won’t have a script or be able to edit anything before your live audience sees it, “going live” helps you to build trust.

You’ll just be who you are and it will give your audience an opportunity to see how you think on your feet.

 

7. Focus On Your Target Audience

Get to know your target audience well. In particular, you should know what problems they face, their gender, lifestyle, occupation, etc.

Talk to each person as an individual, not the group as a whole. Create a persona and talk with the “person” who is your ideal customer or client.

This will work far better than trying to appeal to everyone. The more you know about your audience the easier it is to create engaging content and keep them coming back for more.

 

8. Work Your Profile

Each social media network has a profile area that is slightly different from the others. While you don’t want your profile to be copied verbatim on each network.  It should be consistent with your branding and provide helpful information, including links when possible.

Your profiles provide a way for your audience to get to know you and your business. Use all the space you’re allowed on each network to stand out.

Try not to make your profile sound like a resume instead think about what your audience needs to know so that you can help them with their issues.

The more you focus on your audience the more likely they are to reach out to you, to engage with you, share your content and recommend you to others.

 

Here’s a checklist to help you put it altogether

Standing out on social media may seem difficult these days but this checklist will help you to ensure that you’re doing all that you can to separate yourself from the crowd, all by being yourself.

 

Profiles

It’s imperative that you have complete profiles on each social network where you participate. Have you included these items?

  • Professional headshot
  • Intro videos
  • Keywords
  • Branded content
  • Examples / portfolio
  • Contact information
  • Additional info

 

Engagement

Social media is all about engaging with others. Accomplish this and you’ll stand out more. How many of these things have you done?

  • Comment on other people’s posts
  • Answer questions
  • Share other people’s posts
  • Start conversations
  • Provide a call to action (CTA)

 

Content

 
Of course, the content you share is very important so.

  • Ensure content is relevant
  • Share content regularly
  • Create high-quality content
  • Know what your audience needs
  • Include a CTA
  • Use images & video

 

Cross Promote

Wherever you are, be sure to call out your other social accounts and let your audience know what’s unique socializing with you there. For example, perhaps you offer exclusive content on Snapchat, tell them.

  • Promote your other social media
  • Promote your email list
  • Promote your blog

 

Be Authentic

You hear this all the time but what does it mean? It means to be genuine and consistent.

  • Know your voice
  • Be true to your values
  • Know your mission
  • Stay relevant

 

Limit Automation

Some automation is good, such as blog post auto-sharing. But, avoid too much automation if it takes away from engagement.

Even if you outsource to a person, you still need to go in there and engage with people yourself to make social media really work for you.

  • Engagement must be real to be effective
  • Include a new blurb for each share
  • Be social and interact
  • Outsource strategically but never your engagement

So, go ahead now and work through those 8 strategies and stand out from the crowd. This is your time to shine my friend. Be bold. Be brave. Be social and ….. Grow Viral!