Authority Content Series: Taking it to Social Media

February 2, 2017 by Lindsey Perron

So far in our series about authority content marketing, we have talked about what authority content is, how to develop high-quality content, and how to use a robust content curation strategy to enhance your authority. Today we will focus more on getting the word out and positioning yourself as an authority on digital platforms with your content.

Social media has become an incredibly influential tool for businesses of all types. At this point, companies that are not already using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and various other social networks are behind the game.

When trying to establish yourself as a trusted authority in your field, it is not enough to simply create and share high-quality content. You must be able to spread your message across the internet. The best, easiest method of doing this is to use social media.

Here are five steps to building a social media presence that helps you establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.

1. Build up your following across your social media platforms.

This step is, by far, the hardest part of social media marketing. How exactly do you get people to follow you and get engaged with what you are posting and sharing?

Simply put, it takes time and commitment to build up a large social media following. There are no shortcuts. Sure, you could go out and purchase 10,000 followers, but none of them are going to be particularly engaged with what you are sharing. To create a truly receptive and engaged audience, you have to focus on building relationships and interacting with other people and thought leaders in your field.

By becoming a valuable part of the discussions already happening on social media about topics relating to your business, people will be naturally more interested in hearing what you have to say, which will in turn make them more likely to follow you. The hardest part is that first thousand followers. As you continue to build your audience, more people will share your content, which will snowball into getting more followers.

But again, you have to be committed. If you are going to succeed in positioning yourself as a leader on social media, there are no shortcuts.

2. Stay active on your social media channels

It’s going to be impossible to establish any sort of following on social media if you do not stay consistent with your updates. Commit yourself to following a schedule of posts, and even plan them out ahead of time if you need to. The frequency with which you post depends largely on the platform in question. It’s much more acceptable to post frequently (multiple times per day) on Twitter than it is on Facebook, for example.

If you’re not regularly publishing content or sharing your opinions, then you’re not going to have people getting their eyes on your brand’s accounts.

3. Use paid advertising platforms available on the various social media channels.

Several of the most popular social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, have paid advertising options that allow you to boost your content so it is viewed by more people. On Facebook, for example, there are different payment levels to be able to push your content out to certain numbers of people. While you cannot guarantee that everyone who sees your content is going to be interested in it, it’s certainly a good way to gain some exposure.

Bottom Line? Almost all social media channels are publicly held companies looking for profits, they have the leads, to gain their traffic it is pay-to-play!

Typically these sponsored post features are also not extremely expensive. So if you need help getting the ball rolling with developing a following on your social media networks, this is a good way to do it.

4. Target other thought leaders in your conversations.

See what other thought leaders in your industry are saying on social media, and get involved in conversations. If people see you getting regularly retweeted or mentioned in these thought leaders’ posts because you’re contributing high-quality content to the discussion, then they are going to be more likely to follow you. Being associated with some of these established thought leaders is great publicity for your brand.

5. Don’t focus too much on self-promotion.

While your end goal is certainly to increase your brand’s following and create more sales, your sole focus on social media should be building relationships and goodwill among your followers, not promoting your company. Social media is a great place to share content you have created and to tell your followers about promotions you have going on, but this should only be one aspect of your social media activities. You should focus on genuine interactions with your followers and taking part in interesting, valuable discussions.

Social media is the best tool you have to spread your authority content and become seen as an authority figure yourself in your field. Use it wisely!

Copyright 2017 Viral Solutions

Queen of the Machine for Viral Solutions LLC

“If a brand genuinely wants to make a social contribution, it should start with who they are, not what they do. For only when a brand has defined itself and its core values can it identify causes or social responsibility initiatives that are in alignment with its authentic brand story.” ~ Simon Mainwaring

Filed Under: Content Creation Tagged With: content marketing, Conversion rate optimization, facebook, social media

About Lindsey Perron

As Thomas’ daughter, Lindsey was introduced to the world of sales and marketing at an early age. Curious about what her dad did, Lindsey would jump at every opportunity to help and ride along on sales calls. Always quick to take charge and lead the group—a trait that has only grown with time—Lindsey was frequently told by her parents that she was destined to be a manager or CEO of some sort. While working toward earning her bachelor’s degree in human services from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Lindsey interned with the UW Office of Equality and Affirmative Action and served on several councils, which gave her the opportunity to develop her persuasive writing skills, researching skills, problem-solving skills, project management skills, and more. After working as the lead teacher of the 4-year-old room at the local daycare center, Lindsey decided to switch gears and join the Viral Solutions team. In her position, Lindsey is able to help clients think through an end goal and reverse engineer it into the steps needed to achieve it.

When she’s not working, Lindsey loves spending time with family, be it traveling somewhere together or just hanging out at home.