More Than 8 Smart Ways to Shine on Social Media

More than half the world and four out of five people in the US are on social media (according to Statista), so there is a good chance that you, dear reader, are also active there. Whether you have explicit goals by participation in this sphere or not it never hurts to get better at what you are doing.

I took Guy Kawasaki’s course on How to Rock Social Media with this in mind and collected the eight most salient tips for you.

Kawasaki’s book The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users first came out in 2014 and the course, partially built around it contains a few dated examples, but it was also updated as recently as four months ago, so its content is still rather relevant.

1. Optimize your profile

It all starts how you, your profile shows up there. So start with picking a good screen name: that is logical and timeless. Your name is always a logical choice, (particularly if it is unique enough) but any of your characteristics that may change over time is not, so “youngredwindrrinker” is not so. Take a good, front-lit photo of your face that can show that you are competent, likable, and trustworthy, and use it as your avatar or profile picture. Have a core idea about who you are (in two to four words) and what kind of image you want to present. Then make sure the text of your profile reflects and emanates that message.

2. Provide value and/or entertainment

When posting on social media (and your own blog too) add value to the fellow members of the platform by supplying reliable information, analysis, assistance or advice. Or provide entertainment, be funny. Either way post such great stuff that the people who follow you get it and then reshare it to their followers.

3. Post consistently

I cannot put it more concisely then the lecturer did:

You can’t post 20 times one day, and then go a week and not post at all. You have to always be out there. You have to be in people’s faces all the time. Not so much that you overwhelm them, but they need to know that you’re there.

Alway attach a well sized and edited picture and pay attention to the ideal, platform dependent length of the posts too.

4. Amateur boxing rule of social media: max three rounds with trolls

When you engage with fans and followers, which you really should, you will bump into trolls. Go ahead and respond to their comments if you can stay positive (another important piece of advice), but even if the troll answers don’t go on and on. There is no reason to do so.

5. Don’t call yourself a guru or expert

It is quite self-explanatory: “If you are an expert or a guru, people will treat you that way. If you aren’t an expert or a guru, calling yourself an expert or guru is not going to make you one.” This advice is part of the “don’t look clueless” series, which is itself something you should pay attention to.

6. Tweet about your blog post three time

From Kawasaki’s ten tips on how to combine social media and blogging the most important for me was that it is not just OK, but recommended to tweet about your latest and greatest blog post three times, with 8 hours apart, because this way you can reach the most people. His other tips (on testing the post’s pin, social sharing and login, leveraging LinkedIn…), are also quite practical, so take the course.

7. Upload your videos to your Facebook posts

Facebook shows posts with videos to more people than those without or with embedded YouTube videos. So if you upload your video it will be seen by more people. More people will engage with it. And Facebook shows the more engaging posts to even more people

8. Be a Mensch

One of Kawasaki’s final tips is to “take the high road at all times. …if you’re generous, and you’re kind, and you’re honest, you will receive the same kind of treatment.” This is of course great life advice but too often people act less honorably online than offline. Don’t be one of those people.

How do you rock social media? When you finish the course, available here on LinkedIn Learning you will get a certificate as I did: