Your own perception of you and your company aren’t important – What truly matters is how other people perceive you.
Social Media is your window to the world where people can freely window shop all day long. What do they see when looking at your personal & company profiles on Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn?
There are 3 core elements to apply when considering how you’re perceived on Social Media:
1) Volume
2) Image
3) Ambiguity
What perception do you portray VIA Social Media?
1) Volume
How many likes & followers do you have? – This is one of the 1st areas people will see when they view your Social Media profile.
Achieving likes & followers should always be based on achieving quality connections – But do not dilute that quality by over-emphasising on achieving a higher volume.
To build the volume of likes & followers – Build slowly and sustainably. Make sure you give each like & follow the individual care and attention they deserve.
Do NOT buy likes & follows – It’s easy to spot based on your post/followers ratio. Build organically to be perceived as honest and transparent.
2) Image
You’ve got about 10 seconds to make an impact on Social Media which all depends on the Image you portray.
Your personal/business profile is the very 1st point of contact you’ll have with your Social Media audience. Keep your Friday night party pictures for your friends and ensure you have a professional picture on all your profiles.
Use keywords in your profiles to help briefly describe your company and any specialist areas – This is your chance to differentiate your company from your competitors.
Be Yourself – Inject a little humour and your own personality. People connect with people and you’re more likely to build trust by being yourself and not just a cold corporate face.
What you post on Social Media is there for all to see – Think before you post. Try not to be too salesy in your posts – Aim to be genuine, professional & approachable.
3) Ambiguity
I recently sent a post to my Twitter followers asking “What’s the biggest problem you experience when using Social Media?”
One of the responses was “Not sure exactly who reads your Tweets”
What I read was “who reads your tweets” and was a little insulted to say the least! But how I was wrong. I perceived the response to be directed at me personally when in fact the lady was kind enough to answer my question – She wanted to know which of her followers had been reading her Tweets.
Communicating in 140 characters means people shorten their words which can result in ambiguity. As I learned you must consider what you perceive may be different from what other people actually mean.
If in doubt seek clarification and learn to STOP before you send posts and think about how others perceive your words.
Remember to think about how people perceive you VIA Social Media –
Volume
Image
Ambiguity.
I’d like to thank Janis Cornwall from the Sothern Reporter for inspiring me to write this blog.
Have you experienced a misunderstanding on Social Media?