Social Media 101 – Step 9: You’re The Expert, Right?
You do what you do, you do it well. You know your audience, you know your niche, and you know how to get your work done. You’re the expert, right?
When folks visit your Facebook page, your Twitter account, your Tumblr, LinkedIn profile or other social outlet, you want them to feel like they’ve hit on a place (business, person, cause, whatever) that actually knows what they’re talking about. And, really – you might know what you’re talking about – but are you an expert? God, I hope so…
Your social presence needs to show confidence. It needs to show personality. It needs to show intelligence – but most importantly, it needs to display expertise.
That’s what folks are looking for. Expertise. No apologies, no excuses, no self-deprecating. Damn, man – shape up! YOU’RE THE EXPERT.
Mow lawns? Be the best lawn mower out there. Bake pies? Show the world why you’re the best.*
Folks want to feel confident in their choice to follow, like, favorite or bookmark you – and that confidence will spill over into real users, real sales and real quantifiable ROI with your social media campaign.
And so, with no further prevaricating about the bush, I offer…
Lesson 9: You’re The Expert, Right?
The Exercise: Show expertise daily – with good content and genuine thought.
- Post Photos of Your Work. I’m a bit of an amateur photographer – and I think I take some pretty interesting photos. But, they’re a lot of photos of children, little things and splattered stuff in parking lots around Asheville. Interesting – but they’re not my work. The folks looking for me to show expertise want to see my WORK. Keep your kids and your artsy photos on your personal pages and accounts – put your work up to show off.
- Post Links of Value: Experts keep up to date on their field, and they read as much stuff concerning their business as they can get their hands on. Show that off. Post relevant links. Post infographics (those are HOT,) and post things that your end user/customer can look at and see that you’ve looked at it, too. That way, they see that you keep your finger on the pulse of what they’re ostensibly hiring you for. Another nice perk here – you don’t have to write a ton of content to build a lot of content. “Hey, here’s a wonderful article on the biodegradability of grass clippings and their benefits to your lawn: LINK.” See how easy that was? You write a sentence – or better yet, a synopsis – and post a link. Suddenly, you’ve got a great blog post, status update or tweet – and all you had to do was read. Sweet!
- Share YOUR Information: Give away a little bit of knowledge. Don’t always wait for people to ask for it – give it to ’em up front. That way, they’ll feel more like they have the information it takes to make an informed decision when it comes to buying your services. And – if you gave them some nuggets that they other guy doesn’t, who are they more likely to pick?
- Brag: But not in a braggy way. Something like “You know we make great pies? Did you also know we make delicious cupcakes? Click here to see our cupcake portfolio!” See, you just upsold! Beautiful. If you’re looking for content, just say something nice about your business or your services.
- Learn When You’re NOT the Expert: Sometimes, being an expert is about knowing when you’re out of your depth. Don’t try to fake your way through it. Delegate when the need arises – and don’t be apologetic about it. “Hey – look at this great project we facilitated. We partnered with Jimbob’s Cake Decorating Services to bring you this great wedding cake.” See – you didn’t have to make the cake, but you can take some ownership of it by mentioning that you had a hand in it. There’s absolutely no shame in this – and it can be a good selling point. “Hey, I’m not the expert in this exact little thing, but I have a team that I can call on that will knock it out of the park.” See – you’re the expert without being the expert.
- Speaking of You Not Being the Expert: Here’s where we upsell you. Not an expert in social media and marketing? Don’t have the time? Don’t want to burn a zillion brain cells trying to figure out when to post, what to post and where to post? We can help. Contact us, and let us show you how we can make you appear to be a social marketing expert. We can build a plan, give you words and images and we can help you set it all up. That way you can focus on what you do best while we take care of what we do best.
