This is my last post for 2018! I can’t wait to start next year. I’ve got some new stuff on the backburner all ready to go. I’m very excited about today’s topic because I think it’s one of the most omitted things. So many pages forget to do this. That’s why it’s secret, because nobody else does it! What is the secret for success in 2019, that super secret sauce that you can use on your social media that will help you surpass other and grow likes and keep everybody’s attention?

Are you ready? It’s YOU! You’re the secret sauce. People want to see you, they want to connect with you, they want to learn more about your company and your brand. The only way to do that is to integrate yourself into your social media and marketing plan. If you’re going to have a social media presence, if you’re going to have a business, you have to bring yourself into it.

There are some simple ways to do this. In fact, there are five easy ways you can integrate yourself into your own marketing plan. Some of you are absolutely freaking out because you don’t want your face out there or your information listed, but it’s a know-like-trust factor. No one’s going to work with you or buy from you unless they know and like you first. Part of getting known and liked is your face. Welcome your own image into your brand. One of the easiest ways to do that is quotes. Some of the best posts for my client Genny are the ones with her face and a quote from her across the top. You don’t have to be tap dancing on camera, that’s not completely necessary, but simply add a picture with a quote from you or just a picture and your favorite quote (just give the person who said it credit). Although, if you’ve been in business any length of time you have plenty of your own quotes to share. You can get a photographer to do some headshots or just share some phone shots. Images on Instagram with faces do 38% better than images with no faces. When I share posts with images of me and my team, our numbers grow.

A second way to integrate yourself is to add testimonials. This is a way to get around the whole “your face” thing. So if somebody leaves a cool testimonial on Facebook , we like to do a screen grab so that people can see the face and the name of the person who’s giving the testimonial. It lends credibility. Then we dress it up a little bit with a background or a graphic and use that information on your page so that they can see you. Other people love you, other people can trust you, let’s show them those people. It’s a great way to encourage potential clients to come and talk to you.

Number three is to add team pics. Now if you’re a solopreneur and you do it by yourself, you still have a team. You might have a dog or a cat (people love that stuff). One of the radio stations I post for, their entire Instagram feed is of their cat interviewing their guests. It’s cool and people love it. If you have grandkids, a spouse, these can be team members. It totally works, it’s ok to feature your team members especially if they work with your clients or your end users. They need to be comfortable with your clients. Best way to get comfortable? Know-like-trust, pictures of their face.
Number four, add your personality! I’m full of personality (haha). I think it’s ok to integrate part of who you are. If you are someone who loves to cook, it’s great to talk about that once in a while, especially on Instagram or Pinterest. Those platforms are more welcoming to personal information. You can get away with it a little bit on Facebook. People want to know more about you because it helps them see behind the curtain.

There’s a way to be personal without being too personal. I have a weird, quirky sense of humor. I love humorous posts, I’m a smidge sarcastic and you see that in my videos and everything I post. When I started embracing my own personality and posted more in my own voice, my numbers went up. It made a tremendous difference. So if you’re a fun guy and you like to play golf, golf it up on your Facebook page. Other people like it, too, and they’ll relate to you. Huge Beatles fan? I think it’s ok to quote them sometimes. You want to have some of you wherever you are.

The fifth thing is — and I’m going to get some pushback for this one — is video. Live video is huge. I’ve been doing research for another presentation and the numbers are so mind boggling they sound fake. Like I’m going to have to quote resources when I give this presentation because nobody’s going to believe me! Video is huge, and live video is…even more huge.

One of the great ways to integrate yourself is to have some live video. Now, it doesn’t have to be your face all the time. Not everybody wants to get in front of the camera and answer cold questions, it can be daunting. If you don’t like to tap dance when somebody turns the spotlight on you, that’s totally ok. But it’s ok to bring your personality. Let’s go back to your dog or cat. I think it’s fine to have them live for one minute every other week, that stuff is fun. Or you could easily do a two-minute tip. Talk to me about what you’re an expert in. Your videos will be viewed more than anything else you can post, hands down. Here’s one of those statistics that don’t sound real, but videos are 1200% more likely to be shared than images and text combined. The numbers are staggering, and live video is higher than that! Because Facebook wants Live to be a success, they’re going to push it out to more people.

It’s important to get your face out there, but if you are camera shy and some people are, you can do other things. For example, if you love shoes and are known for your shoe collection, you can show me your feet twice a week and talk about what you’re wearing. I would love to see you go live once a week. I have one client who absolutely flips out about being on camera so he only can do it twice a month and only about two minutes at a time, but that’s awesome. I’d love to see once a week, but done is better than perfect, I’ll take it.

When you’re doing Live on your own page and not in a group they really push it out there. I do videos on my page Facebook.com/staysocialu once a week on Wednesdays and I field questions. I just put myself out there and answer questions and some of those videos are long. You wonder, who’s going to watch a 30-minute video, but they do. I have several that have been watched over 100 times, the entire 30 minutes. That’s crazy to me! But, people are more likely to stick with live than recorded video. They’re more likely to watch all the way to the end, they’re more likely to talk to you and ask you questions. Again, it’s that know-like-trust factor. How can you not love me when I’m live twice a week, right?

Create a schedule and get out there and share. You’re the expert. You are the secret weapon for success in your own marketing plan in 2019.