Every social media manager talks about how to grow your online audience, but we never seem to talk about how to nurture your online audience. I don't care how many people you have following you,  if you're not nurturing them and serving them, then your social media really isn't doing what it's supposed to do. So, today I wanted to give you three tips on how to  nurture your online audience in a way only you can.

Share your expertise

One of the things that's always on my checklist for a client’s post is “How is this post showing their expertise?” I believe that every post should show your knowledge, your authority and your expertise in a subject that only you know.  There is so much information out there and you're not the only person talking about your industry. But there is a way that you can show your individual expertise from your own experience, your own education (formal or not), or your own perspective.  Every piece of content should be showing your expertise in some way. 

No, this doesn't mean just educating things that are 100% Googleable. This means educating about topics that people want to hear about, but from your unique perspective. For example, I recently posted about brand storytelling.

Brand storytelling is a hot topic right now. A lot of people are interested in learning. Even though I was sharing a lot of information that other experts are also talking about, I added a slide specifically about how to showcase your brand values and tie that into your brand storytelling. That is a special piece of my expertise that I take a lot of pride in, and I also attract a lot of people that values matter a lot to them. That slide was easily the most shared and most saved part of that post. And it shows how important it is to share your own expertise so whatever you're trying to talk about isn't just lost to the noise of the Internet.

This is also a great time to remember a really important part about creating social media content: and that is to not be like everybody else. It sounds easy or simple, but every time that I go through my Reels, they all look the same because everyone's trying to copy each other. And, we're not about that here. We're about showing your expertise as you are individually and uniquely. 

Find ways to showcase your knowledge and your authority in what you really want to be an expert in. It could come from your education, your experience, or just your unique perspective on an important topic. Doing this helps your audience connect with you, look to you as an expert on the subject, and also make you someone that they want to come to over and over again for wisdom and advice on things that matter to them. And being in that place – a place where people trust you and look to you for expertise – is an amazing place to be if you're looking to sell a service or get them to trust you with a certain product.

 Share social proof

 I can't begin to tell you how important it is that you are showing social proof. Whether that comes in the form of reviews, testimonials, photos of DM’s or emails. Whatever it is. Sharing social proof is important to show that you are making an impact, people are loving what you're doing, and the biggest reason is – nobody's going to share it but you. Nobody's going to share all the great reviews you're getting or all the great feedback other than you. So it's super important as you look to nurture an audience to keep showing social proof. How others are enjoying what you're doing, learning from what you're doing and really getting a lot of good out of following and working with you.

Social proof is also sharing about your expertise and about yourself. Again, nobody's going to share your knowledge but you. So, create content that genuinely proves your knowledge and truly teaches your audience. This is one of the easiest ways to really nurture your audience Is to truly educate them.

Remember what social media first started and everything was about entertaining, educating or inspiring? The days before we even had content pillars. Well, I kind of want you to go back to that. And when I say education, I don't mean just educate like everyone else. Like I said, social media is not a place for everyone to act and talk the exact same way – even though people act like that's how it's supposed to be. Don't just copy and paste what other people do. Find a way that you like to educate and you like to share your expertise in a real and authentic way. People will respond to that and that will nurture your audience into the kinds of people that you want them to be. People that look to you for what you know and bring to the table. 

Share your real life

I remember when social media was just starting out and everybody felt so pressured to share everything about everything. People were sharing their latest salad, their baby’s third smile today, and anything that they could possibly think that needed to be shared with the world. Now, I don't want you to exactly be like that. But, I want you to find real and intentional ways you can show your everyday life to people.

People have all kinds of different reactions to being asked to share more of themselves on the Internet. For some people, this is super natural and they're really comfortable sitting in front of the camera, talking to an audience, and just sharing about their everyday life. But, for a lot of us, we kind of fall in the middle. We have things you want to be private about and we have things that we're comfortable sharing about. 

So, when I'm telling you to share more about your real-life, I also want you to think about what you want to keep private versus what you want to share with the world. For example, I don't feel comfortable sharing my son's face on my business Instagram. So I don't. 

However, I have gotten so much good out of sharing about my hot girl walk everyday. It's something that I knew I was going to repeat, that was already a part of my daily routine, and it helps people form a community around something that has nothing to do with my normal job. But even though my hot girl walk doesn't have anything to do with social media, it still helps people connect with me (which is what nurturing you audience is really all about.) 

One of my clients shares about her dog, and it's been fun to see where people connect with and talk about that. Another one of my clients loves gardening, so she shares her garden and updates about how her garden’s doing. And people connect with that too!

You need to harness your superpower. And what's your biggest superpower? Yourself.

What's unique about you, what you're passionate about, what you love talking about, and what's everyday for you that maybe isn't everyday for everybody else. Think about the things that happen everyday that you would love to share about. They can be the meals that you cook, your family life, a hobby or a passion of yours, or even just the daily shenanigans of your pet. Whatever it is, find something that you can share about from your everyday real life that people can connect with and form a community around. People really love the raw and real from your life, so be intentional about how you give them that. 

I hope these three tips help you form a strategy that's unique to you to nurture your audience. Growing our audience is only so powerful if we're not actively trying to nurture them. Find fun and real ways to show off your knowledge, share that social proof, and create content from your everyday life that people can connect with. With these three elements, you’re going to get started on a great nurture strategy, and of course- if you ever want a girl on that, I’m right here for you!

Don't want this to end? Let's work together HERE.

Listen to the The Space Social Podcast episode this blog was based from here.