How To Use Social Media to Position Yourself As An Authority In Your Industry

There’s no denying the power of social media these days. 

Hello, people, it’s 2020 and if you have a business, you better believe it’s time to choose a social platform and CONNECT. And yet, if you’re like many entrepreneurs we know, the thought of sitting down to write something both beneficial to the reader and poetic to the ear seems daunting to say the least.

Instead, they quickly toss up a mildly industry-related quote, hashtag #MicDrop and hope it speaks enough to their audience that it prompts engagement.

Well, sorry not sorry, but that’s not going to cut it if you want to play with the big boys and girls in the authority pool.

Why? Because according to Business News Daily, approximately 70% of Americans are on social media—and that HUGE market is waiting to hear from you. That said, having a growing list of followers and subscribers means nothing if it isn’t growing your business in some way. How you show up on social media can make all the difference.

Here are six ways to use social media to show up as the expert you are...

1. Know Your (Character) Limit

Before you write even one word, it’s important to know how much space you have to work with. Many people make the mistake of thinking they can wax nostalgic on Facebook only to copy and paste that bad boy into Twitter--but you can’t--unless the post is less than 280 characters or you’re willing to let Twitter truncate it.

You may not think Facebook has a character limit… but actually, it does. 63,206 characters to be exact. While we highly doubt you’ll ever get close to that (to give you an idea of just how out of reach that is, this blog post is about 6,500 characters), other limits — such as 280 for Twitter or 700 for company posts on LinkedIn — are important to remember.

Need a cheat sheet?

2. Silence Spammy Pammy

Ultimately, social media pages are for being exactly that—SOCIAL. That means if you act like Spammy Pammy and constantly share what you’re selling and nothing else, you’re going to be blacklisted faster than you can say “buy now.” 

Can we be honest? We all have that ONE friend who hasn’t quite figured out the nuances to “selling on social media” without coming off pushy, and frankly, annoying. We run for the hills when we see him or her, right? 

Don’t be THAT person. 

Instead, work to create genuinely incredible content that drives home who you are and what your business has to offer...without sounding like a slimy used car salesman. When you’re able to master this, you won’t even have to ask for the sale… the sale will come to you.

3. Stay Current

If you want to BE the talk of the town, then you need to know what the town is talking about. And you can’t do that without being on top of the most trending topics in your industry—and even beyond.

When you know what content is currently “trending” you can use it:

• As a jumping point for your own content
• To join the conversation (and show up with an impressive… and well thought out… POV)
• To be aware of what’s NOT hot right now (and sideline that content for now)

Staying current does more than just give you solid small talk advantages… it’s the edge you need to stay ahead of the competition and on the tip of everyone’s tongue.

4. Plan It Out!

Nothing says rookie like a post full of typos or an unorganized train of thought. Whatever you do, don’t just “wing it” when it comes to your social posts. If you want to get your audience’s attention, and keep it long enough for them to see your expertise, you’ve got to plan ahead. 

Planning out your posts allows you to strategically create content that A) you know your audience wants, B) you know your audience NEEDS (even if they don’t know it yet) and C) you know you can speak to, with authenticity and experience.

5. Engage Your Audience

Gaining traction on your posts is important because it will increase visibility per post. And while it can feel like overkill to continuously say “like and comment” on each post in the hopes of gaining traction, there are better ways to get the job done. Here are a few tips to engage your audience, that they’ll enjoy being a part of, just as much as you enjoy the results:

• Asking the reader to “tag a friend”. IE: The summer savings are coming to an end… tag a friend that can’t miss this 50% discount!
• Schedule an #AMA Day. Ask Me Anything posts typically drive TONS of questions… which in turn drive engagement. If you want to really connect with your audience, and you have an active community, do this on Facebook Live! (And if you’re not sure if your audience will join you on Facebook Live, ask for questions ahead of time so you have something to talk about if no one jumps on with you)
• Ask For User Generated Content (UGC). UGC posts are delightfully successful, especially when done on the right platforms, with the right audiences and tagged accordingly. 
• Ask Your Audience to Share. Different from UGC, all this means is you ask a question and people respond—except make it PERSONAL. For better or for worse, people want to talk about themselves and when given the chance, they dive ALL IN. Ask them to share their anniversary, wedding, childbirth, or engagement stories. Ask them about their favorite vacation. Ask them… ANYTHING… people just want to give their 2 cents, and in this case, it actually helps you!
• Schedule a Poll. Same concept, same reason, same results as just mentioned. Odds are your audience LOVES having a voice.

6. Contribute, Contribute, Contribute

We have good news… and we have bad news.

We’re big believers in ripping off the bandaid, so let’s get the bad news out of the way first. It’s not enough to just show up on your own page and write really great posts. 

The good news? All you need to do is start engaging on OTHER PEOPLE’S posts (and in groups).

When you engage and contribute with authentic, actionable and experienced advice, you will quickly see a return of investment on your time. Your audience is waiting in more places than just your own page. 

Schedule time each week to peruse a handful of strategically chosen Facebook groups or pages and engage with posts that you can offer credible advice to. No selling. No tagging your business (unless asked). No Spammy Pammy. Just drop your advice in a comment and virtual moonwalk out of there. 

The right people WILL take notice—and from there, you can post to impress!

All of the things above work together to increase the amount of people engaging with your account—and when those numbers begin to grow, so does the number of eyeballs landing on your posts. Social algorithms LOVE popular posts and do their part to build the momentum behind clearly successful content. Want to learn how to position yourself as an authority everywhere you show up online? Join the SizzleForce Marketing Club today for just $47 to get immediate access to my robust library of digital trainings and tools, and 2 hours of mastermind style live consulting with me, Stephanie Nivinskus!