Building a Professional Brand: Why You Should Share Your Knowledge on Social Media
If you’re a seasoned professional in your field, the world at large has a lot to gain from your knowledge and expertise. It hasn’t always been possible for a single person to reach audiences of thousands and millions. However, with the evolution of the internet and the advent of social media, there are virtually no limits.
People from all over the world are constantly connecting and engaging with those who have similar interests, skills, and knowledge. Moreover, we’re all learning from one another through the content we make. If you’re at a stage in your life where you’ve reached your goals and are searching for a new purpose, joining social media could be it.
Now, I know social media can seem superficial, but it’s an incredible tool to build a community and a brand based on your expertise. If you want to position yourself as a leader in your industry, you need to get out there. Plus, social media is all about the content you create. If you create valuable, insightful, and impactful content, your social media experience won’t be superficial at all.
Breathe New Life into Your Career
I don’t have to tell you that the process of meeting your career goals and reaching your biggest ambitions is all-consuming. It’s only natural that, once you’ve reached the top, you’re left wondering: “What now?” Well, it might be time to find a new project and that’s where social media can help.
Through all your professional trials and tribulations, you’ve learned extremely valuable information and skills. Your new purpose could be sharing what you know as you continue to grow as an individual. You’re not out of the game yet, not by a long shot. There’s still a lot you can accomplish.
The Power of Social Media
By now, you must have a general idea of how powerful social media is. Whether you’re involved in it or not, the fact that social media is a force is undeniable. Individuals and companies all over the world are using it to increase their reach, grow their businesses, build their brands, and create a true legacy. But why is social media so effective? How has it become so essential?
In one word? Reach. It’s estimated that 60% of the world’s population uses social media. That’s 4.80 billion people, which is a staggering amount. This is why social media is so effective at helping businesses grow, fostering connections, and more. Social media will only continue to grow and evolve, so it’s safe to say it’s not going anywhere any time soon.
With a social media presence, you can create a platform for yourself. This platform can be entirely focused on your expertise, skills, knowledge, and career. It can help you grow even more and it can also help other people because they can learn from what you have to offer.
Building a professional brand has never been easier. So, it’s time you joined the thousands of creators who are using social media to share how they’ve gotten where they are today. With a social media presence, you’ll be able to develop a unique brand, find opportunities, grow your business, create a community, and network with people from all over the world.
4 Reasons Why You Should Share Your Professional Knowledge on Social Media
If you’re still not convinced getting into social media is a good decision, this list of reasons will help settle things. Many benefits come with sharing your knowledge on social media, but these are just a few of the most compelling ones:
1. It strengthens your knowledge
It took a lot of work to get where you are and I’m sure it wasn’t all smooth sailing. But what are you doing with all that knowledge at this point in your career? If the answer is you’re hoarding it in your brain, the next question would be: how is that serving you, exactly? Your expertise is an incredible gift that you should share with the world. It could be exactly what someone out there needs to reach their own goals and dreams.
Moreover, it’s also something that helps you. Nothing strengthens and deepens your knowledge more than sharing it. When you expose your skills and expertise to the world, you open yourself up to discussion with like-minded people. And yes, some people will challenge you, but that will also help you. Whether that’s by helping you strengthen your approach or showing you the gaps you need to fill.
2. It will help you gain even more knowledge
The social part of social media is perhaps one of the biggest benefits of sharing your knowledge. Every time you publish new content, you will be inviting conversations with all kinds of people from all walks of life. This can give you a ton of perspective you wouldn’t have otherwise.
It can also help you connect with people who know even more than you. All you have to do is keep your mind open and engage as much as possible. In the process of sharing your knowledge and expertise, you can gain even more than you already have. It’s quite beautiful how easy it is to share ideas on social media and that’s one of the biggest reasons you should jump in.
3. It helps you establish your reputation
If you want to be seen as a true leader in your field, you need to establish your reputation within your industry. That requires you to step out of the shadows and be vocal about what you’ve been bringing to the table all this time. And what you will continue to bring to the table.
It’s no longer enough to say “I have X years of expertise” because people want to be shown. So, instead of just saying you’re an expert, social media can allow you to showcase it. Show people how you got to where you are and what you’re doing to maintain that position. With the power of social media, you will become a reference in your field.
4. It increases your value as a professional
Sharing your professional knowledge on social media can help you become a more valuable part of your field or industry. Your presence matters and it can have a huge impact on your career. Using social media as a megaphone can help you reach amazing people and gain opportunities you didn’t even know were possible.
If you’re worried about looking or sounding arrogant by sharing your professional knowledge on social media, you need to change your mindset. Sharing what you know with the world is not based on ego, it’s based on service. If you make it about yourself, then you will come across as arrogant. If you make it about others, then you’re not gloating, you’re giving them value.
How to Choose a Platform to Share Your Professional Knowledge
One of the wonderful things about social media is it has taken a lot of different forms. So, here are a few things you should do to make sure you choose the right social media channel for you.
Consider your ideal audience
Audience is one of the top factors to consider when choosing a social media platform. It’s even more important than the size of the platform itself. It doesn’t matter how big or small it is, it won’t serve you if your target audience isn’t active there.
If your ideal audience is on Facebook, you don’t need to be on Twitter unless it’s to promote your Facebook. So, what is your ideal audience? Who do you want to reach with your knowledge and expertise-based content? That will help narrow things down.
Consider your preferences
You know yourself better than anyone, so you need to consider your preferences when choosing a social media platform. If you love talking and public speaking is one of your strengths, perhaps video or audio content will be your strong suit.
If you have a way with words, written content is the way to go. If you express yourself visually, you need a platform that will support that kind of content. This is key to maintaining consistency. If you don’t like the content you’re making it will become a burden and you’ll stop sooner rather than later.
Consider the competition
It’s always a good idea to do some research and see what you’re up against. This is not meant to discourage you, it’s meant to serve as inspiration. Seeing what others are doing and how they’re doing it can help you find your own path.
So, research the kind of content creators you want to become and check out their different social media. What do you gravitate towards? What kind of channel do you think you can dominate like they do or better? A good look at the competition can and will inform your decision.
Understand each type of social media
This is the most important part of the process of choosing a social media platform to share your professional knowledge. Understanding each type of social media will help you make the best possible decision. So, here’s a quick overview of the different social media categories:
Platforms for social networking
Social networking platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook represent the type of social media where users interact with one another. You can set up a professional profile that includes details about your career and businesses (with relevant links). Then, you can start posting content about your knowledge so people can interact with it with likes, comments, messages, shares, and more.
This type of social media can help you build strong communities and start building a brand. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are some of the most prominent social media platforms and they allow you to post different types of content, including photos and videos.
Platforms for photo sharing
Pinterest is one of the biggest platforms for photo sharing and it’s known as a visual search engine that can help you find all kinds of visual inspiration. In this type of platform, users can also interact with each other. It’s just that the priority is the visual content. Instagram can also be included in this category and it also works for video sharing.
If your knowledge is based on visual content and design, this is a great way to show your expertise. Plus, you can create all kinds of informative visual content to share your knowledge. Photo-sharing is a great way to build awareness for your professional brand and reach a wider audience.
Platforms for video sharing
If you enjoy talking and you communicate a lot better that way, video-sharing platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, and TikTok might be the right choice. Video is one of the most engaging ways to share knowledge and expertise, so you can make long and short-form content providing insights, advice, analysis, tips, and more.
The only downside is that creating video content is a bit more time-consuming. However, it’s definitely worth it because video has a lot more reach. Especially on platforms like TikTok, which are designed for virality.
Platforms for blogging
Social media platforms like Reddit allow users to share their knowledge on nice topics and all kinds of other content. So, platforms that are dedicated to blogging will allow you to share your written content and build a community.
On Reddit, you can share your knowledge by making posts, but the most organic way is to answer questions from users. If that’s not enough, you can create your own blog and use social media to drive traffic to it. Either way, it will get your content to the right people.
Do your research and get familiar with each option before you decide. That way, you’ll actually enjoy the process of sharing your professional knowledge on social media.
Conclusion
If you think you’re at the end of the line because you’ve accomplished everything you set out to do, think again. Sharing your professional knowledge on social media is a great way to start something new and become an even better expert.
Reference(s):
Leave a comment