How can you use social media to establish your brand as an authority in your industry?

Share useful insight that someone can use IRL. Go short and simple or long and valuable. Don't preach or gloat for the sake of character count.

Unbeatable content framework: 1. Test and apply stuff in your wheelhouse 2. Document it through video, text, or visuals 3. Share it on social media in your favorite format Talk about it in 3 different ways: 1. Your wins, failures, and transformations 2. Teach other people how you've done what 3. Showcase evidence, social proof, and results Make it bulletproof: Never deviate from what you do for whom.

In the vast landscape of industries, education stands out as the only category where demand is unlimited. The thirst for knowledge is insatiable, with individuals aspiring to enhance their understanding every single day. Imagine if your brand's social media account becomes a source of education about your industry or service – it's a game-changer. Authenticity is key. Share genuine stories, unveil real struggles, and impart sincere learnings. Your audience will not just consume content; they will genuinely love and connect with it.

Social Media may be the best resource businesses have to distribute information to their audience. This is a key nuance that is underappreciated. Think of it in this way: "What is the most important information for people to know about my brand?" and use that to define 3 content pillars to develop all your content around. Create videos in a reel/story format that have a good "hook" and are about 0:15-0:50 in length.

Brands who want to establish themselves as authoritative and build a community within their ICP on social media should try to follow the 80-20 rule. 80% of your content should provide value, and only 20% should be promotional. You want people, in and out of your ICP, to see your content, find value in it, and engage. This is especially important for challenger brands trying to build awareness and compete with market giants.

My boring yet effective engagement routine: 1. I publish a LinkedIn post 2. I reply to 60-70% of the comments 3. I log off to get some actual work done 4. I comment to 5-10 peer and ICP posts If you just start out: do 5-10 connection requests to peers and ICPs too. The challenge isn't the tactic. The challenge is executing it for months on end. Post. Engage. Build momentum.

This is the most underrated part of a social media strategy. True value comes from the two way exchange and conversational nature of socials. Social media evens the playing field between creator and audience, brand and consumer. There are opportunities for co-creation and engagement as part of a two-way dialogue. However, if you only expect others to engage on your brand's posts, you're wasting the chance to deepen engagement with your community. Consider meeting a person for the first time. If they only talk about themselves, and their perspectives, this quickly becomes wearisome. If they show interest in you, you're more likely to be receptive to future communication across any channel. The same principles can be applied to social.

Many overlook a golden opportunity on social media i.e engaging with their audience. It's a missed connection when creators don't interact after posting. Engagement isn't just about visibility but building a loyal community. When you reply to comments, you ignite excitement and joy. This simple act can transform a casual follower into a potential customer. It's like opening a two-way street; you not only talk but also listen, creating a dialogue. Each response, each interaction boosts your post's impressions and encourages others to engage. So, remember, the power of engagement on social media is immense – it's the key to turning posts into meaningful conversations and followers into a dedicated community. Don't ghost your audience!

Use polls for relevant and topical questions and you will see large spikes in impressions and engagements. Rule of thumb for comments: 1. Always ask a question at the end of your post. 2. Respond to your comments tagging the user. 3. Consider tagging another user who could join the commentary.

Social media is changing a lot. In the context of B2B marketing, marketing teams are observing that their prospects and customers do not want to engage with their brand organically on social media in the same way they may have 3-5 years ago. Instead, they want to engage with other people -- content creators, thought leaders, and influencers of a certain niche. When I think of the B2B SaaS space in particular, more brand teams are strategizing and creating content for their C-Suite and VPs, whether it be X or LinkedIn, to enhance their online presence. This humanizes your brand for your audience, who is craving genuine human interaction and connection, as opposed to the clever back-and-forth we still tend to see in B2C.

I learned from the best that simple and cheeky does the trick Nothing beats light hearted humour delivered with intelligent insights all in one Be genuine and truly interested in the other ‘influencer’ And stay away from saying things you wouldn’t say in real life

Industry influencers are not always industry authorities. Some are just goofy or pretty people who are fluent in the language of an industry. Working with the latter can be useful, but only in the sense that they can amplify whatever authority you bring with you in what you say. You can't just show up if you want to build your brand's authority.

I am a big fan of collaboration with other brands and influencers. This provides an opportunity to cross-promote and audience share, but also allows likeminded communities to come together, like galaxies colliding. The effects can really have an impact. The other advantage of guesting on podcasts or having people guest on a podcast is the networking opportunity it provides. You can also garner some authority by association, and collaboration provides a degree of social proof, validation and credibility to you and those who you partner with. The easiest collaboration is tagging or sharing content, which is an endorsement of alignment with similar values. But it may also provide an opportunity to differ as well. This helps grow the following.

With social media profiles, nothing beats simplicity and being consistent with you message If I come to your profile, and I am instantly confused as to what you do, you have lost me Make your profile highlight one route, one role, and one message Nobody cares what role you had 10+ years ago and therefore it shouldn’t be highlighted on your profile either!

If you’re about to post frequently, it’s important that your profile is optimized. This way, if customers look at your profile they’ll be more tempted to book a call/ buy your online product (whatsoever). On LinkedIn, make sure you have: - a headline that tells what you do and what problem you solve. - a CTA in the ‘featured’ section (to book a call per example). Make a sharp visual in the colors of your brand. - a banner that tells what you do, which customers you work for and matches your brand. - a strong ‘about me’ piece of text where you’ll tell your customers what their problem is, why it is a problem and how you’re gonna solve this —> also use this in your work experience. You can add text there as well!

Ensuring consistency in your branding and messaging, particularly on your main profile pages on social is extremely important. Your display picture should demonstrate how you show up in your industry. Your profile handle should be authentic and define how you want to be referenced. And your description needs to reflect truth, else you risk destroying trust from the get go. Knowing who your industry, community or preferred follower is can help you map out how you would like to be perceived. They say a first impression is a lasting one, so make sure your key messages are well representative of who you are and what you want to be known for. Devote a good amount of time an energy in getting this right to make a good first impression.

I definitely agree with this profiles volumes and consistency is the key. Be specific about what you do and what industries as roles and can be misleading.

1. Use your insights at the start - monitor what has performed well on Google Trends and your social media metrics. 2. What are you trying to achieve. Think about one single objective. Remember: A comment or share is more powerful than a like so are engagements worth measuring? 3. Continuously evaluate and create a benchmark for success by averaging 3 months or more of owned data.

I advocate success is made up of several core components that can be duplicated, and the third component is 'Purpose'. From a business or brand perspective, every piece of content should be strategic and content should be intentional. But you can only fully understand growth and success when it is measured. Measuring can give you purpose and goals. Using the analytical tools social provides is a big benefit to a content marketer. It helps drive real world decisions; helping identify opportunities as well as determine if your targeted personas resonate with what you share. Engagement is a great subjective mechanism, but numbers can provide insights you may not have considered. Success leaves clues, and analytics is one way to find them.

Continuous learning is an important element to grow and upskill yourself. This way you add to existing knowledge to improve and better your audience. When you practice what you have learnt, your audience can sense it as your communication and how you do things changes. It’s good to have mentors to guide you through transitions, for you to walk their journey and pave a way for your own. Continue to educate yourself, learn and do research to enhance your knowledge. We can never know more than others. There will always be something you don’t know and can learn from others thus be a forever learner or an academic.

Organic reach is terrible, which means social media is not a great way to establish authority in your industry, even if you have a relatively large following. If you have the resources, you need to speak at events, engage with the media, engage with analysts. Things like this. It works way better than just making your case to the Internet directly.

Your brand should focus on showcasing thought leadership in terms of innovation, research, and successful case studies within your industry domain. It is also important to create a dynamic two-way communication space, such as webinars and podcasts, that allows your brand to inform, share insights, encourage discussions, and contribute to the growth of your community. Being on the right platform is equally important to build your brand’s credibility. Therefore, carefully select the social media channels where your target audience consumes content and gathers knowledge.