Increase Audience Engagement and Turn Fans Into Clients by Showcasing Your Personality in Your Marketing

People are more likely to hire a business they know, like and trust, but how are you building that type of relationship with your audience? One way is to educate your audience to showcase your expertise in your field. But have you considered getting more personal by giving your audience a peek at who you are and what you value as a business owner?

I was recently at a networking event talking about an upcoming event that I’ve put together, the Business Brand Kickstart. In promoting the event I mentioned to the audience that it was the perfect way to bring some of their personality to their marketing. Not only would attendees have the opportunity to work with a personal stylist to find their signature style, but they’d also walk away with professional photos of themselves showcasing their personality and a marketing strategy with how to use them. After I sat down one of the attendees said to me, “You know, this is one area where I really struggle. I never know what I should share on social media. I want my audience to get to know me, but do they really need to know where I go on vacation or what I’m eating for lunch?”.

My short answer was “do what you feel comfortable doing, but realize there are more ways to share who you are than vacation recaps and pictures of your amazing salad”. (I used “salad” as an example because come on, my fellow salad lovers have to agree, when you find a really good salad, who isn’t sharing a photo of it?)

But my long answer is this.

Know Your Audience

What does your audience need to know about you to decide whether they know you enough to like what you do and trust how you do it? Images and video dominate social media right now because it’s what grabs everyone’s attention. What can you share in your images that would resonate with your audience or help them understand you (and your business) more?

Are you a mother and an entrepreneur with an audience of fellow moms? Then breaking up your social media feed with a picture of a messy playroom is a great way to say “hey, I get it, I’ve got messes too!”. Put into perspective that you’re not judging anyone’s hectic mom life and you let your audience feel like they can relate.

Not everyone works in a traditional office setting anymore, so why not showcase your unique work environment with images of you working in your favorite spot, at a coffee shop, a park or your own backyard? It’s a creative way to show prospective clients that you’re not the type of professional who sits behind a desk all day either.

Tips For Creating Your Personal Look

Crystal Hollman of Crystal Clear Photography offers these tips as well in her blog post “Prepping For Your Business Lifestyle Session”:

• Wear colors to match your brand. This will be especially helpful when it comes to using your images in your marketing alongside your logo or on your website.  Need help pulling your look together?  Consider hiring a professional stylist to help you find your signature style.
• Incorporate props into your photos to further showcase your personality.
• Have a plan ahead of time for where you will be using your images. Think about where you want to inject some of your personality into your marketing.  Is it your Facebook Cover Image, in a LinkedIn article or on the About section of your website?  (Psst, that’s all covered in the Business Brand Kickstart I mentioned at the beginning of the post).

Getting more personal with your audience doesn’t have to mean sharing your secrets, compromising your personal boundaries or taking out your phone at lunch to get a great shot of your empanada.  It really is as easy (and fun!) as setting up a photo shoot and letting your personality shine through the camera.