I often get asked when I career coach or facilitate workshops for job hunters how to develop a digital footprint with social media like LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.
Above all else, I emphasise that you must have a social media strategy and have well-thought-out reasons for that strategy (beyond I want to get a new job or I want to sell more stuff).
Here then are ten questions that will help to keep you focussed on developing a strategy that will put you way ahead of 99 percent of people developing a personal brand. These are not easy to answer…but they are certainly worthwhile.
10 Questions for an Effective Personal Brand Social Media Strategy
- Who is my target audience? (Think: job function, location, company, industry)
- What is important to them? (Think: current topics, values, papers, news)
- Where do they spend their time online? (Think: LinkedIn, Facebook, job boards, technical bulletins, industry news.)
- At what times of the day/week are they most likely to go online? (Think: before, during, after work, weekends, multiple times)
- What is your target audience intending to do, once they are online? (Think: news, resources, gain knowledge, keep up to date, connect)
- How can I communicate with them, in this context? (Think: email, blog, LinkedIn)
- How could I provide value to them; inform, educate and inspire them? (Think: papers, resources, others’ useful posts and resources.)
- Why will they care about my message? (Think: what are they there for; what is in it for them?)
- Why am I reaching out to them? (Think: how your agenda can be useful for them – save money, save time, hiring the best, differentiating)
- What results am I expecting? (Think: measurement, outcomes stage of adoption cycle – Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action.)
These are not just once off questions. They change each campaign.
Answering them will underpin a successful personal brand social media strategy and from my experience, place you ahead of 99 percent of all others.
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