Social media is an effective way to build your brand and attract clients. Don’t believe me? Have you bought an item because you saw someone else with it online? Have you ever gone to a restaurant because you had a reputable and trusted person has gone to that restaurant? Are you currently working in a co-working space because you had from Social Media that it was a good place? You have been influenced several times to do all these before and will continue to.
So why not do the same for your consultancy?
As a consultant, you have a skill which you can share and social media is making it simple for anyone to do so. How can you use the various social media platforms to make them work for you and get discovered by potential clients?
Almost everyone is on Facebook. From your boomers to millennials. The younger generation – Generation Z may be spending their time on other platforms but there is an entire target audience already existing here. However, if you are working to build your own brand you cannot run away from creating a Facebook page for your business. With 1.9 billion daily active users, I don’t see why you wouldn’t create a page. Facebook also has numerous options which all the other platforms don’t. You can write a 5000-word blog post, and share more than 10 photos at once - there is also the option of having an album, and uploading a one-hour-long video and the platform has the best ad-targeting option compared to other counterparts. Why then would you not be on Facebook?
Considered a platform where you will get the latest news or event, this is a great place to share your knowledge and opinions in real-time. Are you an expert in a certain topic? Tweet about it, hijack a conversation and reply to other users as often as you can. Set yourself apart by providing information that others are looking for and build a brand around it. You are always one tweet away from instant fame and getting noticed.
Although Instagram mainly focuses on incredible content, if you put in the work to make yourself stand out you will be well on your way to attracting clients. Always use the search icon to your advantage to find out how other users are discussing the same topic. Use this to your advantage on which type of content you can share. Although the platform is shifting towards video content, you can also use this to your advantage.
This may be a more serious platform but this should not stop you from using it. Every topic has a serious aspect - even comedy. It depends on the use of words. You could be talking about what you love doing and how it has changed your life or even the lessons you have learnt as a consultant. This is also a great platform to search for clients and find out what they are doing and even send in your pitches if you are brave enough to.
TikTok
TikTok is overtaking Google as a search engine. The younger generation would rather go on TikTok to learn how to manage their finances, cook a whole chicken, park a car and even paint a cabinet. Google may soon not become reliable. TikTok is a platform where you can talk about your niche and even follow others discussing the same thing as you when you follow specific hashtags. It’s a whole community to want to share your skills and expertise with users spending 197.8 million hours on the app daily.
YouTube
Millions of people are making a living by sharing what they love doing and their work on YouTube. Thinking you don’t have the face for YouTube, why not give it a try? You could be a real estate consultant which doesn’t need to show your face just the houses. Or you could decide to interview others and be behind the camera. What you do can be valuable to someone else.