Strategic Social Networking: Unleashing the Power of Unconventional Tactics

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Social media has quickly become an integral part of modern life. A strong social media presence can boost your personal and professional reputation, too. This is key if you want to land a new role, expand your current business, or connect with potential clients in the future.

Make the most of your social presence by unleashing the power of social networking. Social networking helps you build an authentic brand presence online and can supercharge your efforts to move up in the entrepreneurial world.

Beyond Business Cards

Aspirational entrepreneurs used to build their brand and network with clients via business cards. Instead, you need to embrace networking strategies that work today.

Get the ball rolling by setting goals and expanding your social media presence. Social media helps you connect with folks in your field and can grant you access to industry-specific insights. Sites like LinkedIn can be particularly powerful if you’re looking to land a promotion or impress a potential client.

However, you must be an active participant if you want your social media presence to empower your professional development. This means you need to get busy liking, commenting, and sharing other people’s content to build traction, gain followers, and boost your profile organically.

If you’re struggling to connect with like-minded professionals, consider subscribing to relevant professional organizations in your field. Professional organizations that represent employees will highlight upcoming events on their pages and may even promote followers who align with their goals. This will boost your credibility and help you stay abreast of changes in your industry.

Content That Adds Value

If you follow fellow entrepreneurs on social media, you’ve probably noticed that many of them lean on engaging, informative, video content to boost their channels. This should come as no surprise, as folks will only hit the “follow” button if you can produce content that adds meaningful value to their lives.

Start by creating informative “how-to” short-form videos that pertain to your profession. This is the simplest form of content creation as you’ll simply be detailing your typical work day and the tasks you already excel at. Posting “how-to” content builds your authority on the subject and shows prospective employers that you have a genuine understanding of best practices in your field.

As your follower count grows, consider offering freebies. Freebies don’t necessarily have to cost you money but should entice folks to comment, like, and share your social posts. Consider running prizes and giveaways or give a discount to those who support your channel. Just remember to calculate your ROI before giving out physical gifts to ensure that your freebie idea will actually generate enough interest to merit the cost.

If you’ve developed a reputation as a leader in your field, consider starting a Patreon to coach others in your industry. Patreon can generate some extra income and help you connect with clients who take their work seriously. Just ensure that you are genuinely offering advice and content that adds meaningful value to members’ lives and offers exclusive perks that aren’t available to typical followers.

Scheduling Your Posts

Offering freebies and high-quality video content is sure to impress your followers and boost engagement on your page. However, running a high-quality social media profile is time and energy-intensive. This means you may not have the capacity to create new posts every day.

Make the process easier by scheduling posts throughout the week. Try to schedule these posts to go live at times when most of your followers are online, too. For example, if you’re committed to posting to LinkedIn, be sure to abide by the commonly accepted best times to post to LinkedIn, including:

• Tuesdays: 7 am – 8:30 am, 10 am – 12 pm, 5 pm – 6 pm
• Wednesdays: 7 am – 12 pm, 5 pm – 6 pm
• Thursdays: 7 am – 8:30 am, 9 am, 1 pm – 2 pm, 5 pm – 6 pm
• Fridays: 7 am – 8:30 am, 12pm

This is when most busy professionals have time to check LinkedIn. Posting early in the morning ensures that you’re on your peer’s minds throughout the day, too. Consider pushing your best content out on Wednesday or Thursday, as this seems to be the best day of the week to connect with other professional people.

Conclusion

Social media is a powerful tool in your professional development arsenal. Unleash the power of unconventional tactics by creating highly engaging content that adds genuine value to the lives of your followers. This may take the form of “how-tos”, podcasts, or short-form informative videos. Just be sure to post regularly and time your content to go live when your followers are most likely to see it.