Balancing Social Media Marketing: Personal and Professional Life

To be effective at social media marketing, marketers often struggle to strike the right balance of personal and professional presence.  Often these days, people are using their personal profiles to promote their business - especially in smaller businesses.

Finding Social Media Balance

Just how much do you need everyone to know about you or your business?

If you're a small business owner, your personal image is your professional image.  Like it or not, people will judge you about what you post. 

We tell this to our teenagers. ALL. THE. TIME!  

People are watching. 

But as a technology marketing consultant, I usually have the opposite problem.  I struggle to get my Microsoft Partner marketing clients to loosen their virtual tie and relax a little bit.

What social media marketing posts will help you be “authentic and transparent” without making you look unprofessional?

Here are just a handful of ideas:

1.          Pictures of the local weather / landscape – especially when it’s dramatic
2.          Short videos of employees at work
3.          Picture of office parties (as long as they don’t get TOO wild!) J
4.          News about company trips & conferences
5.          Industry jokes & comics (who doesn’t love Dilbert?!)
6.          Favorite business books with your commentary added
7.          Holiday themed posts
8.          …and more… take some time to brainstorm!

Obviously every company culture is different, but your job in promoting your business is to show people your uniqueness – and it helps to do that in unique ways.

How about you? Do you worry that you overshare? or undershare?