15/08/2012
By Alexia Leachman, Personal Branding Coach At Blossoming Brands
Whenever I talk about social media in my personal branding workshops, I always get this protest when I discourage people from cross-posting - “But all my connections on all my networks are the same! Cross posting saves me time.” Let’s park the time issue for now as it clouds the issue somewhat. But, when it comes to all your connections being the same, then I’m afraid I have to disagree, as this is highly unlikely. My reasons? Well, you can’t choose your Twitter followers. And, it’s unlikely that you’ll accept Facebook connections from people you don’t know in the way that you might in LinkedIn.
But, if you’re sure that all your connections are the same, then take some time to consider what people’s expectations are for each network. Facebook is considered to be a non-work space and more personal – for personal interests and personal connections. Yes, there are business pages there but they are more likely to be for business-to-consumer (B2C) propositions, business-to-business (B2B) communications are typically reserved for LinkedIn because they get more traction in that space. And there’s a reason for that.
To try and understand this better, it can be useful to see how the traditional press do things. Let’s take Karen Brady as an example. If the FT or The Economist were to run an article on her, then it would more than likely focus on her business interests and experience. If The Sun or The Mail were to run an article it might talk about her appearance on The Apprentice, whereas an article in a women’s glossy magazine would probably talk about her looks, her relationships and her personal life. We have many facets and different people are interested in different facets. In fact the same people will be interested in different facets, but probably at different times. That’s why they go to different publications or social networks.
Personally, I tend not to use LinkedIn at the weekend as I try to keep weekends feel non-worky, but I’ll happily check Facebook. But if when I do I see a load of professional updates, it annoys me because I don’t want to be reminded about work at that time. As the lines become more blurred across various parts of our life, people have their own little ways of trying to manage this relentless noise effectively so to ignore the context of where you post an update means your efforts might be backfiring.
When you respect the context of the space in which you share, you’re more likely to create a better quality of engagement. As people see that you use each of the spaces appropriately, they are more likely to seek you out and continue to follow and engage with you. This means that you stay ON their radar, which ultimately increases your chances of being remembered, referred or recommended.
Alexia Leachman is a Personal Brand Coach and Head Trash Liberator at Blossoming Brands. She helps entrepreneurs find their mojo by helping them to clear their head trash, tell their story, raise their profile, build their digital presence and manage their reputation. She is also the contributor of a chapter on Online Reputation for an up and coming book on Internet Marketing due out in November 2012. You can find out more at www.blossomingbrands.com, www.headtrash.co.uk And you can follow her on Twitter at @AlexiaL and @BBrands
