Social media marketing requires unique positioning just like the rest of your marketing. In fact, it might be even more crucial in social media because you’re competing with hundreds or even thousands of other voices vying for attention at the exact same time.
When someone comes to your website, you still need to grab their attention, but there aren’t a bunch of other people shouting their latest tweet or status update all over your page. Unfortunately, that’s how it is on social media. Whether it’s your personality that shines through or the type of information you provide, there needs to be a reason your audience looks forward to your social media updates.
Start by thinking about why your readers are drawn to you. Why do they like and share your stuff? How are you fulfilling their wishes, helping them achieve their goals or how are you easing their worries? If you don’t know why, simply ask them.
If you’re still not sure what makes you different, take a look at your competition or other companies that you follow on social media. What do they do that makes them unique? Write a list of about 10 companies and determine their unique social positioning. That doesn’t mean you have to copy what they do, but by exploring it and being able to recognize uniqueness, you can find your own too.
Some of the things that might make you and others unique include the ability:
– to make people laugh
– to inspire people
– to make people ask themselves tough questions
…and just about anything else that evokes a strong emotion or thought. How can you get your audience feeling and thinking about something?
Your uniqueness can also be found by the type of media you are known for sharing, whether it’s:
– Video
– Images
…but there needs to be something unique about those videos, images or other media. After all, everyone and their dog has their own YouTube channel, but what makes your production different than everyone else?
Well, one way to ensure your content is different is to understand that uniqueness requires some self-development as well. It sounds airy-fairy, but it’s absolutely true. Offering something deeper doesn’t come because you want it to, it comes from being deeper yourself. That includes:
– Sharing an opinion: Don’t be afraid to say what you think, even if it’s not conventional wisdom. It doesn’t matter if people think you’re wrong, you’re getting people to think and you’re showing yourself as someone who is able to think for themselves.
– Look at things from different perspectives: In addition to having an opinion, take the time to understand different perspectives. The more you understand the opinions that oppose yours, the stronger your opinion will be.
– Avoid simply copying what everyone else is doing: Just because ABC Company is doing a series of videos on gardening tips, doesn’t mean you have to follow suit. The more you can pay attention to your own audience’s needs and disregard your competition (unless you’re in a one on one battle of some type), the more likely you’re to find your uniqueness.
– Experience things: Don’t just talk about stuff on social media, get out and do it. By doing more, you have more valuable content to share with your audience. Whether it’s opinions based on your experiences, photos, videos or something else, by getting out and experiencing life, you bring more to the table for your audience.
If you look at all this again, you’ll see that being unique really comes from bringing your best self forward.
If you want to stand out from the crowd, dig deep to find your best self and serve your audience faithfully. The benefits will be worth it.…and just about anything else that evokes a strong emotion or thought.