How to Stay Original on Social Media

By: Antoinette Floyd

When it comes to social media, people might feel the need to stay on trend to have a successful online presence; it can be hard to find your brand voice.

Being authentic on social media is critical to building a genuine and loyal following to achieve this. A great first start is to follow the 80/20 rule, which is that 80% of social media posts should be helpful to your audience, meaning the post should educate, entertain or offer a solution to the problem. The remaining 20% should explicitly promote your business.

If your goal is to create meaningful relationships on social media, you should seek a strategy that allows your company's voice to sound authentic and relatable to your target audience. According to Sendible, 86% of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding what brands they like and support. With this, entrepreneurs must learn how to create authentic social media content.

Tips for staying authentic on social media

1. Share what you know. Focus on content that fits your brand, industry, or niche. Sometimes trends or content strategies, do not work for everyone.

2. Be original. If you want to be real, then don't look to copy what others are doing to be authentic. Honestly, share what makes you YOU.

3. Don't forget why you are there. What is your main goal with sharing on social media? How can telling your story aid that? Then find ways to be authentic in communicating your brand, offering, or expertise. There is no one-size-fits-all on social media.

4. Engage with your audience. This can include responding to comments, direct messages, and reviews in a timely and authentic manner and actively seeking out feedback and input from your audience.

5. Don't post only when it feels right– forced content is the worst!

6. Don't overshare your emotions. It is okay to show up on stories with real emotion but don't force it or overdo it. Also, be sure it makes sense—right place, right time.

Quality Over Quantity

Quality over quantity is essential for keeping your social media presence accurate by focusing on quality posts over just posting for the sake of it. You will not get quality engagement from just checking a box. Below are more ways that you can stay original on social media.

1. Constantly brainstorm and experiment with new content ideas

2. Ask for customer feedback and suggestions

3. Don't underestimate or undervalue the element of surprise.

4. Evaluate your strategy (ongoing)

5. Compare, adapt, compare