Post with Purpose:

Improve Your Social Media Formula

Raise (your hand, your glass, both arms, your voice) if this ever happens to you:

You open up your preferred social media platform to “make a post” and your mind goes completely blank.  You thought you had a purpose for posting, but now your message seems… insignificant.  Silly.  Disjointed.  Confusing.  You don’t even know why you’re there.  And you wonder how you can expect anyone else to understand your message if you don’t.

The good news: you’re not alone in this feeling.  We work with so many clients on a regular basis who have been plagued with the same dilemma!

The other good news: we have solutions!  Here at Chic, we happen to specialize in them.

This question keeps finding its way to our inboxes recently:

Social media “experts” are saying that I should only post about one thing on my platform.  Do you think this is the most effective way to go?  I don’t know what I want to be known for!

For the majority of individuals running an online business, especially those who haven’t yet established what they want to be known for, this is a tough strategy to employ.  In our experience, the people who are only posting about ONE thing generally have a really strong back-end marketing strategy (for example, email campaigns) and that is a blog for a whole other day!

For most of us, we believe that to post with purpose, you want to talk about three things:

1.  The business you run.
2.  The products you represent.
3.  Your unique sharing proposition.

Let’s take a deeper dive into what this looks like and how you can post with purpose to establish your strongest social media presence.

Posting with purpose about your business

The majority of women that we work with could sit 1:1 with a friend and talk about ALL the things they love about their current company.  But when asked to share in the social space, they’d rather climb underneath a table and hide.

Let’s unpack 4 ways to share about your business without feeling all the scary and intimidating feels!

1.  Do you have your staple story ready to roll?  If you’re not sure what we are talking about, check out our podcast from last week and get to constructing your own staple story!  Katy teaches you all about how to integrate your staple story into your marketing message and it’s absolute GOLD.
2. You have the option to share testimonials about the business.  This isn’t just your staple story, but it’s the story of others that you know in your downline and organization.  A note about this: you don’t always have to share the BIG wins from top leaders!  In fact, most people resonate more with the relatable wins.  For example, the women who can pay for their child’s dance lessons, hockey leagues, travel teams.  The ones who are taking their families on vacations and contributing financially to the family’s goals as a whole.  These testimonials speak much louder than the million dollar earners in your organization.
3. Post with purpose about what your job actually entails.  YES, we know you’re earning cool trips and fun incentives and that part is amazing!  But, what are you DOING to get those perks?  Really showcasing the hard work that it takes to build a successful business attracts other people who are also ready to work!
4. Other people’s objections to your business are your content gold.  Use the objections that you hear (and maybe ones that you’ve had yourself) to educate and teach about your industry and business.

Posting with purpose about your products or services

Allow us to make this part easy on you.  You’re going to follow the same sort of formula as above when it comes to posting about your products or services.  Let’s break it down!

1.  Just as you have a business staple story, you have a product or services one.  Who were you before your products and who are you on the other side of them? What made them worthy of your personal representation?  Integrate this into your marketing message!
2. Testimonials in the form of before and afters are great representations of what your products can do!  Don’t just show your own before and afters, but also those of people you know or current customers of yours.  These visual images go a long way!  Showcasing yourself using the products and talking about them firsthand are vital points to be weaving into your brand.  Any time that you can align yourself with your products/services and people can start to associate you with them is powerful.
3. Not to sound like a broken record, but… their objections are your content, friend!  What are you hearing that is holding people back from using your product or service?  Spin those fears into education about why and how you and your products can help!

Diving into your Unique Sharing Proposition

Alright ladies.  This is IT.  Your USP or Unique Sharing Proposition is THE thing that makes you stand out from the crowd.

In the words of our brilliant Katy, “Post about something that you care about without worrying about marketing yourself.  This is your passion.  Bring this in as a part of your messaging.”

If you didn’t have a worry in the world about branding yourself, selling your product, bringing people into your organization, what would you post about?  This is where your passion lies!  Is it the challenges of motherhood?  The ups and downs of marriage?  Hair and makeup styling tips?  Fashion?  Cooking hacks?

Whatever makes you light up and the thing that you could talk about for hours– this is your USP!

Nothing allows you to post with purpose like sharing what is nearest and dearest to you in the season that you’re in.  And here’s the thing: people come for your USP, but they stay for the rest.

If you’re having trouble figuring out what your Unique Sharing Proposition really is, let’s start with a few questions.  Grab a notebook, light a candle, pour a bevy and put in those noise cancelling headphones for a few.

• What do you want to be known for outside of what you sell?
• Is there something that people ask you about a lot?
• What topic do you find yourself thinking/talking about regularly?
• What do you feel like you know a lot about?
• How does or can this interest that you have serve others?

Your USP lies somewhere in these answers!

If you’re still struggling to unlock your USP, this is what we do every day at Chic Way Media through our Chic Branding Experience.  We would love to help you figure out your staple story and how you can reach and serve your ideal clients in a way that feels effortless and authentic to you.

One final note about evolving

Friend, just when you think you’ve got the whole formula down to post with purpose on your social media, life may hit you with a curveball.  What you once cared about and integrated so effortlessly into your marketing message and USP may suddenly not fit anymore.

THIS IS OKAY!

You are a human who is ever-evolving and changing with the seasons of life.  And you know what?  Your network is made of humans who are ever-evolving and changing with the seasons of life.  Don’t be afraid to grow and change your messaging.  You will lose some followers and you will gain new ones.  You have a purpose to fulfill and you will do it if you stay true to yourself and your own heart.

To wrap this up in a nutshell

From where we stand, your social media is a balanced formula of your business, your products and services, your USP with your personality sprinkled throughout.

If you’re only talking about your business and products, you’re not connecting with your audience.  Likewise, if you’re only talking about your unique sharing proposition and never mentioning your business and products, you’re missing a vital link.

Most importantly, though: just begin.  Do it imperfectly.  Do it without being 100% sure.  We promise, with consistent effort and practice, it will fall into place.

Please know that you can always email support@chicinfluencer.com if you have any questions.  We have so many services and resources, both free and paid, that may be able to benefit you.  Let one of our Chic team members direct you to the best path for you!