From keeping things brief to putting a face on your brand, here are 12 answers to the question, “Can you share your best tips for establishing your expertise and building credibility through social media?”
DEEPER DIVE: Forecasting 2023 PR and marketing trends
- Be Succinct
- Create From a Place of Authenticity and Passion
- Build Relationships, Not Followers
- Make Progress Every Day
- Collaborate With Others to build social media expertise
- Have Your Boots on the Ground
- Find Common Ground With Those Who Interest You
- Help Your Audience Make Informed Decisions
- Show Expertise Alongside Educational and Humorous Content
- Stay Consistent
- Focus on Transparency
- Add a Relatable Human Element
Be Succinct
Deliver value and end the video. Have a plan, an outline of what you’re going to say before you turn on the camera. What you put in is just as important as what you take out.
I learned these important lessons in mobile app development when I launched and sold my mobile app, EventKey. In the world of software, you have ”feature overload.” It’s when software has too many features. Before I make any piece of content, I have a goal. Once the goal is accomplished, I end the video/article.
Rafael Testai, Content Creator
Create From a Place of Authenticity and Passion
You can’t fake authenticity; it’s an energy that flows through your words to the audience. Establishing expertise and credibility on social media doesn’t happen overnight. Your experience and written words are the building blocks; over time, you’ll gain credibility if you speak from a place of sincerity.
Honing your knowledge and craft by consuming books, podcasts, and messages from thought leaders in your niche, using that as inspiration, and putting your spin on what you’ve learned will position you as an expert in your field.
You must take risks by taking a stance or having an unpopular opinion while remaining respectful. Expertise on social platforms is the intersection of excellent copywriting skills and consistency in messaging and branding.
Ricky Camacho, Senior Talent Advisor, FreightVana
Build Relationships, Not Followers
Focus on building relationships with your sphere. You do this by posting engaging content that is tailored to your audience!
Social media has turned into a space that allows you to share your knowledge and truly build strong connections. Don’t be afraid to reach out to other influencers in your field as well, to collaborate and create content with them that will reach a wider audience.
Finally, showcase your personality and use social media to show your passion and enthusiasm for your industry—this will help you build trust and loyalty with anyone willing to listen!
Shawn Malkou, Managing Mortgage Broker, X2 Mortgage
Make Progress Every Day
Having no “zero days” is a powerful strategy to establish yourself within your field via social media. By doing something every day that gets measurable results, you create momentum and build on your progress.
For example, if you’re a writer, committing to writing something every day, even if it’s just a few sentences, can help you establish a regular writing habit and build a portfolio of work. Even small actions, like sharing an interesting article or engaging with a follower’s post, can help you maintain a consistent presence and show your dedication to your field.
The key is to make progress every day, no matter how small, and to not let a day go by without taking some action toward your goals. Over time, this can lead to significant growth and opportunities within your field, helping you to establish yourself as a knowledgeable and dedicated expert in your industry.
Caleb King, Director of Engineering, Forbes
Collaborate With Others
Collaborating with other experts and influencers in your industry is an effective way to establish your expertise and build credibility through social media.
By sharing their content and working together on projects, you can reach a wider audience and position yourself as part of a more extensive network of experts in your field. This will help you build relationships with other influencers, expand your reach, and gain credibility with your followers.
Collaborating with others also helps to create a sense of community and foster collaboration within your industry, which can help you stay up-to-date with the latest developments and trends.
When choosing who to collaborate with, look for individuals and organizations that have a solid following and are respected in your industry. This will help to ensure that you are building relationships with the right people and enhancing your credibility in the right way.
Jim Mayer, President, TCO Strategies
Have Your Boots on the Ground
To establish credibility on social media, keep in mind the following: don’t sell and do very little self-promotion. If possible, include your audience in your content.
I help nursing home staff, so as much as possible, I have real nursing home staff in my content. I have my boots on the ground and can create content as it happens, not from a distance or a desk! It may sound obvious, but make yourself available as a resource; giving information is great, but answering questions is best!
Dr. Buffy Lloyd-Krejci, CEO, IPCWell
Find Common Ground With Those Who Interest You
Post answers to questions, ask questions, and write about subjects you know daily on multiple social media platforms. Building credibility with people who interest you requires interaction with them.
Find articles by people you admire and write a witty comment or ask a provocative question that will engage them with you. Don’t just quickly react to a question posted by a person of interest; take the time to craft an answer that will require further comments. Post well-crafted comments that reflect how you feel about a subject, and you will make meaningful connections.
Michael McCune, Content Creator, Mike’s Mountain Adventures
Help Your Audience Make Informed Decisions
We all know it’s important to understand who our target audience is; however, it’s important that we establish credibility with our audience by providing educational and informative content that is relatable to them.
By focusing on providing the pros and cons of educational content, we will allow our audience to be better equipped to make informed decisions, thus building trust. Most content creators focus on telling their audience what to do based on their beliefs; however, the ones who stand out the most inform their audience with education and let the audience decide.
As the saying goes, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.
Raman Singh, Founder, Singh Private Wealth Management
Show Expertise Alongside Educational and Humorous Content
Followers gain your trust when you clearly state your education and expertise, including your field of work and credentials. By using short and concise educational videos, my audience stays engaged. My field is very detail-oriented and user-dependent. Showcasing major educational topics, along with smaller, simpler topics, engages and educates my audience.
I also talk about the day-to-day aspects of this career in educational and humorous videos, which makes me relatable to my audience, as though we are all “in the trenches” together.
I am easy to contact, and I respond quickly to direct messages and to comments made on videos and images. My followers ask for certain topics to discuss, and if one person is asking for education on a specific topic, there are typically many more that also struggle with it.
Marybeth Tomory, Advanced Practice Sonographer, Access TeleCare
Stay Consistent
If you want your content to be noticed, if you want your voice to be heard, and if you want your ideas to be seen, you need to be consistent. You cannot just make one post on one social media platform one day, then post again a few days later, and hope to get noticed. Social media, in all forms, loves consistent content. Be consistent and you will thrive.
Matt Taylor, Youtuber/Food Blogger, Ringthorn Productions
Focus on Transparency
Building credibility and expertise in social media always start with transparency. It’s no secret that social media is ever-changing, as are the ways brands and creators need to approach their audiences and strategies.
There is one common thing among the most popular brands and creators across all platforms: transparency. Transparency lies in multiple avenues: showing products in real-life situations, on real people, in real scenarios and experiences—there’s a reason TikTok is booming!
This helps take the “guesswork” out of whether a product or service is really what it’s made out to be. Consumers are exhausted from being “sold” something everywhere they go now; in stores, on television, in magazines, and now on social media. Establishing this real-life, transparent form of content will build trust between consumers and brands alike.
Romy Bross, Social Media Manager, Tiny Tags
Add a Relatable Human Element
This is especially true if you are launching a new brand and have an existing network. Corporate brands can hold a lot of value, like Coca-Cola, but they are hard to relate to directly.
Creating a parallel personal brand can help people relate. Jack in the Box, Colonel Sanders, and Steve Jobs, all added a human and relatable element to the brand. Whether made up or real, having a relatable character helps connect people to your brand.
If you are the founder, it would benefit you to be the face of the company and have a personal brand too.
Ian Peterman, IDSA, Founder, Peterman Design Firm
