We often talk about the importance of being authentic and being yourself on social media. It’s great advice. But it’s not always as easy as it sounds. Sometimes, hiding your personality is so much easier than embracing it in all its complexities. That’s ok, though. Humans are complex and we can use our messy, complex selves to build up our brand. How, you ask? We invited marketing consultant Brianne Fleming to talk it out. Here’s a summary of our chat.
Guest: Brianne Fleming
Topic: Bringing personality to your social media
Format: Eight questions directed at the guest. Everyone’s welcome to share.
Our guest says, yes. Our personality is what makes us us. When you share your personality on social media, it attracts the right audience to your content. That’s how you’ll find your tribe. That said, though, share only what you’re comfortable sharing. It’s still a public forum, and you don’t want to put yourself in an uncomfortable position.
A1: Your personality is your inherent differentiator. Being yourself is your best shot at happiness, both on and offline.
Sharing who you really are will also attract your right audience and deepen relationships. But only share what you’re comfortable sharing! #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/x35BqnnZEn
— Brianne Fleming (@brianne2k) September 16, 2021
As Rachel from Express Writers added, sharing your personality helps people get to know you better. Over time, you’ll develop relationships and build your Know, Like, and Trust factors, making you more credible among your audience.
A1: Showing your personality allows people to get to know you better, which is the first step in building the Know, Like, and Trust Factor. It gives them the chance to connect with you on a deeper level. #TwitterSmarter
— Express Writers | Your Content Writing Partner (@ExpWriters) September 16, 2021
Brianne’s top tip is to showcase who you really are as a person. Apart from what you do for a living, also talk about your hobbies, interests, and elements of your personality that people can relate to. For example, our guest loves boy bands and pop culture. And she doesn’t hide it. By sharing that in her bio, she resonates with the millions of people who share the same interests.
A2: Your bio doesn’t have to read like a resumé. Include personal interests among the things you’re proud of! This gives a potential follower something to relate to. Show other dimensions of who you are besides your professional accomplishments. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/z4AwU49vbM
— Brianne Fleming (@brianne2k) September 16, 2021
Jeremy spoke about the power of using emojis to show your personality. Emojis can convey powerful emotions and feelings in a single character, and so it’s an economical way of conveying your vibe. Whatever tone you’re trying to portray in your bio should also reflect in your profile photo and header image, completing your whole profile.
A2: I try to add emojis that correspond with my overall vibe. Whatever I am describing in my bio needs to flow and connect and that includes my profile photo and the cover image. #TwitterSmarter
— Jeremy Linaburg (@jeremy_linaburg) September 16, 2021
Of course, a couple of relevant hashtags don’t go amiss either.
When someone opens your profile, one of the first things they see is your pinned tweet. Make it count. Instead of trying to impress your audience, use that tweet to showcase your personality. Talk about something that makes you relatable to others but also makes you unique. Like a marketing instructor at the University of Florida who likes to chat about boy bands—that’s Brianne, by the way.
A3: Your pinned tweet is prime real estate to attract a follower. Use your pinned tweet to endear, not to impress. It’s one more place to show what makes you different, relatable, interesting. Pin a tweet that is your personality in a nutshell. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/RvAWD31kmh
— Brianne Fleming (@brianne2k) September 16, 2021
As Jim rightly pointed out, your pinned tweet can be an extension of your bio. Use that space to elaborate on what you’ve said in your bio, and you can even use audio/visual elements like a banner image, GIF, or a video to do that.
A3 Pinned tweets give you more depth than the few characters of your bio allow. Plus, you can get into audiovisual content to help you stand out even more. #TwitterSmarter
— Jim Katzaman – Get Debt-Free One Family at a Time (@JKatzaman) September 16, 2021
Your primary call to action on Twitter is the follow button. In addition to that, you can also add a web link (your website, newsletter, another social handle) in your bio. So in your pinned tweet, don’t add yet another call to action. Instead, add a tweet that you personally connect to, something that sounds like you.
A4: Your profile already has a call-to-action: FOLLOW. Don’t ask people to click any links or read a full thread. Instead, choose a tweet that feels most like your voice and reflects what your audience can expect from you. When in doubt, pick your favorite tweet. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/F2qWk0AWgY
— Brianne Fleming (@brianne2k) September 16, 2021
Madalyn suggested using pinned tweets to showcase your best content. In her case, it’s her latest blog post. This could also be a new video you made or a snappy two-liner about why you like fish fingers and custard. In other words, you want your pinned tweet to give people a good, memorable first impression of you.
A4b: Personally, I use the pinned tweet feature to showcase my most recent blog post. It’s great for promoting your content and driving traffic back to your website. You could also pin evergreen content that is always relevant to your target audience. #TwitterSmarter
— Madalyn Sklar Digital Marketing Since 1996 (@MadalynSklar) September 16, 2021
Twitter now supports multiple ways of showcasing yourself. As our guest pointed out, apart from text-based tweets, show other sides of yourself as well by participating in Twitter Spaces, sharing videos, and GIFs. These multimedia elements help your audience understand your personality a bit more because they can hear the same weird accent they have or they see that you have a streak of green in your blond hair.
A5: Tweets are great, but text can only go so far. Sharing your voice on Twitter Spaces or posting a video talking into camera gives us a better understanding of your personality. We can see your mannerisms, watch your expressions, and hear the tone in your voice! #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/OvL3wDBEQp
— Brianne Fleming (@brianne2k) September 16, 2021
Zen shared a great piece of advice: be interested to become interesting. Most of us often forget to listen because we’re so keen for others to listen to what we have to say. However, people will care about you only when you care about them in the first place. It’s just like real life—be yourself. Take time to engage in genuine conversation with people. Be curious, helpful, and supportive.
A5. Like how you do IRL. Be interested to become interesting. There is no such thing as fake it till you make it in my book of life exps. Be yourself. Strike up convos with folks you can share ideas with.
Be joyful. Witty. Helpful. Supportive – if that's you! #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/OOHnvpgDqA— Zen Yinger (@ZenYinger) September 16, 2021
To consciously infuse your personality into your social media strategy, you have to stop yourself from being too conscious. Don’t strive for perfection and overly sterilized content. No one is naturally like that. When you think and edit too much, you tend to strip away the raw beauty of your personality. Catch yourself before you cut out too much.
A6: Remember that you are multi-dimensional. There’s more to you than your profession or accomplishments. Usually, when you edit too much or overthink your personal social, you’re stripping away what makes you, you. There’s no strategy for being yourself! #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/RLdeV7K0QA
— Brianne Fleming (@brianne2k) September 16, 2021
Chris shared a bunch more ideas, including telling your brand’s story, talking about your team and your employees, keeping the DMs open for your audience and having helpful discussions, and being consistent with your strategy. He also suggested doing whatever Wendy’s does—which is mostly great customer service delivered in a sincere voice. Sound advice.
A6:
– tell your brands story
– talk about your team
– make DM's personal / F/U
– be consistent about who you are
and…
– do whatever Wendy's is doing#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/RwLYDk1kEg— ?️Chris – The Social Village (24/100)#tweet100 (@socialaudioguy) September 16, 2021
Indeed! When you work with someone else, your personality comes through naturally. At the same time, you’ll also be complementing the other party’s personality. When multiple people come together to work on one project, they all bring different things to the table. All of these are important and helpful in their own way. That’s why you should be cautious of people who expect to stifle your personality in a collaboration. After all, we all love stories that have multiple, varying characters. What’s the fun in a book full of robots all the same shape and size and mindset?
A7: Yes, this is when our personalities shine! In fact, people will want to collaborate with you in the first place BECAUSE of your personality. Don’t accept an opportunity to collab if you feel like you won’t be comfortable being yourself. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/pBnoGwF6s0
— Brianne Fleming (@brianne2k) September 16, 2021
As Megan said, if you’re collaborating with someone else on a single brand account—like our chat regulars Charlie Appel Agency and NOW Marketing Group—you can sign off with your name on every tweet. Alyx and Julia do that for the brands they represent respectively.
A7. Absolutely!! I do think adding your name when it's not from one person's account is smart, though… Like @jbethjs and @ColfaxInsurance do, so it is YOUR personality people are seeing.#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/4OcGvwOB8Q
— Megan Powers of Marketing? #BlackLivesMatter (@meganpowers) September 16, 2021
The most important thing to remember is that you don’t create your personality for your social media. Your personality is who you are offline, before and away from social media. That’s the character you need to channel into your social efforts. You may not appeal to everyone, but you will appeal to the ones that matter. In other words, just be who you are.
A8: Reflect on your personality, don’t reinvent it for social media. Your personality is already established offline. It’s who you’ve always been. Remember that you may not be for every audience, but being yourself will attract the ~right~ audience. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/Vz9JNzYIWE
— Brianne Fleming (@brianne2k) September 16, 2021
Some do’s Jim shared include showcasing your voice and aspects of your personal life. Some of the don’ts include talking about politics and religion (unless that’s your brand) and being salesy.
A8.
Do
✅ Speak in your own voice
✅ Share photos and short vidoes
✅ Share some non business postsDon't
❌ Talk religion or politics unless that is your brand
❌ Be salesly#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/7q7EE7c0hM— Jim Fuhs #DealcastersLive #DigitalMarketing (@FuhsionMktg) September 16, 2021
Alyx added a few more do’s including prioritizing relationships and listening to your instincts, and don’ts such as copying others and doing things that make you uncomfortable.
A8 DO
Use your personal voice
Be consistent
Listen to your gut on decisions
Focus on establishing and building relationships
DON'T
Copy others
Do things that don't feel right
-Alyx #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/4jKAqWPBxq— Charlie & Alyx – Charlie Appel Agency (@ColfaxInsurance) September 16, 2021
Well, folks, that’s all from me this week. Thanks so much for reading through, and for more great insights from our chat with Brianne, have a look at this Twitter Moment that Joana put together. And if you have some spare time next Thursday, join us live for our next #TwitterSmarter chat. We’ll be on from 1pm ET. Catch you then!
About me, Narmadhaa:
I write all the things—technical and marketing copy to fill the pocket; haiku and short stories to fill the soul. A social media enthusiast, I’m a member of the #TwitterSmarter chat crew, and always happy to take on writing gigs.
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