With more than half the world’s population using social media now, platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are incredible places to share your brand story and build trust with potential clients and customers. But only when you show up authentically!
We’ve all seen it – brands who simply use social media as a highlight reel, focusing on the features of their offers rather than showcasing their passion and what makes them unique. When you post for the sake of posting, rather than putting effort into each piece of content, your voice will struggle to resonate with others.
The solution? Sharing from the heart. Opening up, getting real, and sharing more about why you love what you do. These are the posts that make us want to hit the like button. And they’re also the posts that will turn potential leads into loyal clients.
If you’re looking to align your heart’s purpose and your social media, here are five things you can start incorporating into your marketing efforts.
Get clear on your values
Your business is more than just an entity that sells things—it’s a culmination of your skills, qualities, and values. You are your business! So to show up on social media in a genuine way, you need to get clear on what you value most about your entrepreneurial journey.
Think about how you’d identify your business. Customer-centric, creative, fun, professional, laidback – what comes to mind? Make a note of these qualities and focus on how you can present them throughout your social media posts. A business can go in countless directions, but yours needs to align with who you are.
Understand your ideal client avatar (ICA)
Your ICA allows you to better understand your audience and what they want to see from you. Once you get clear on their unique values, you can gear your messaging toward them. Hopefully, their values are similar to yours!
Targeting “everyone” is a strategy many businesses adopt. And though it may seem smart in terms of generating additional revenue, it’s actually counterproductive—when you target everyone, you’re targeting no one, as your message is too broad to hit home. So instead, get specific regarding whose lives you want to change. Then, you can create content that’s true to you while still attention-grabbing for them.
Write from the heart
Sometimes, we get so caught up in our business that we start shifting towards selling instead of the value-based content that made our audience trust us in the first place. Yes, social media is an incredible place to generate leads, but it’s also an excellent place for you to foster new connections and share your purpose.
Before you start to sell your latest offerings, allow your audience to get to know you (and your team) a bit better. Write your social media captions as if you’re writing a letter to a close friend—this is the voice that will stop the scroll. Writing from the heart allows your followers to relate to who you are and what you do. Dry sales copy isn’t hard to come by, but remember that authenticity is where the magic happens!
Gather images that feel true to you
Generic stock photos are an easy route to take when it comes to gathering content. Unfortunately, they don’t often capture the real essence of our brand. Your social media pages will never feel authentic if you don’t like what you see each time you open your app. Of course, captions are important, but you want to be able to identify with the imagery you use as well!
Let your intuition guide you here. If you can’t incorporate original photography, search for stock photo sites and memberships that accurately represent your values. Then, when you’re clear on what you want and what your audience is looking for, you can find photos and graphics that resonate with your ICA.
Break the status quo
If you’re going to align your heart’s purpose with your social media marketing efforts, you will need to take a few risks. Forget about what you think you have to share—what do you want to share? It’s okay to post things you haven’t yet seen before! This one-of-a-kind content is what’s going to set you apart. It’s how you’ll ensure your audience is hanging onto every word.
Authenticity is something that many overlook in their pursuit of sales—but don’t let this be you! Instead, allow yourself to leave behind the thought of what you “should” do and instead focus on your heart’s purpose. When you abandon society’s standards, you can truly stand out and differentiate yourself from the crowd.
Aleya Harris, CPCE is an award-winning marketer and former chef and catering company owner. She is the owner of Flourish Marketing, an agency that provides marketing education, strategy, and tools to help wedding and creative professionals get and keep a consistent stream of clients. Aleya is a StoryBrand Certified Guide. She uses that narrative-based framework to develop clear, engaging, and highly converting marketing assets, like email sales funnels and social media solutions. Aleya is the current Marketing Committee Chair and Black Caucus Chair for NACE and a top speaker at conferences like Catersource and The Special Event.
