Self awareness is both a highly under-valued characteristic and something that can be very difficult to understand. Ironically, the person that we spend the most time with can be one of the most confusing.

But, learning to understand ourselves, and what makes us tick can be absolutely critical to a great social media presence. You might be worried that I am getting all esoteric on you, but hang with me. I think you will be glad that you did.

The Staples of Social Media

There are really two staples when it comes to great social media, and fortunately they are both relatively simple.

1. Social media rewards helpful and consistent content.
2. Social media is the best tool ever made for connecting niche groups of people.

We have all heard the expression that content is king, and it’s more true online than it ever has been. When you think about it, the Internet is a city built on content. Internet users are constantly generating new content using blogging platforms like WordPress and sharing sites like YouTube and Flickr. In turn, they use social networks like Facebook and Twitter to share this content with their friends.

If you spend any amount of time on Twitter, you will quickly realize that it is one of the best resources ever created for sharing helpful and interesting links. In the end, this all works because someone took the time to create useful content that others would find helpful and/or interesting.

Here are two big reasons that helpful content will always be THE driving force online.

1. It has never been easier to hit publish. – Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have made it easier than ever to share our thoughts and our ideas. At their core, these are all communication devices that allow us to create and share content. True to form, content is now delivered by communication. This is the foundation of today’s online marketing world. Believe in it, or perish.
2. Content knits people together. – When we share our ideas and thoughts with a global audience, we are very likely to find someone who agrees, or is just like us. In this way, content becomes the fabric that creates online connections and global communication. Good content is the central foundation of community and congregation.

What You Know Best

Social media provides all of us the opportunity to establish ourselves as experts in our field – also commonly referred to as becoming a subject matter expert. Now, we aren’t saying that you have to be THE expert, but you can certainly be an expert.

When your willingness and desire to set yourself up as the expert meets helpful content, and a niche audience, your social media program is guaranteed to win.

The key to all of this is understanding what your expertise is, and how everything fits together. So, ask yourself…

What do you know more about that just about anyone else?
What could you walk me through in your sleep?
What are you super passionate about?

Obviously, we want to keep these things within the orbit of your business, but as we will discuss in later lessons, it is ok to go a bit outside of your sphere of work. Sometimes the best expertise talks around your product rather than about it.

The best blogs and social media campaigns focus on what you can talk about the easiest. The reason is pretty simple – passion, and knowledge. The challenge we all have is finding the connection between what you are good at talking about and what your audience needs. There is a chance that you need to modify your product for your audience, or perhaps modify your audience to better fit your product.

We have talked before about giving your clients value-based content on a regular basis. Your true expertise is where it will all come from. We just need to take an introspective look at what we know best, and how we can use it to help our customers and motivate them to share what we are all about with their friends.