By Center of Divorce Education Account Team, Skylar Van Tilburg
In 2019, almost every individual and company has a social media presence. Social media is an excellent tool to positively promote your company, organization, non-profit and even yourself. Consistent and quality content can show your audience a different side of you or your company and help guide the story you want to show your audience. But this cannot just be any content.
The content needs to be relevant to the image and brand that you are attempting to establish for yourself or for your company. As a former social media producer for the Daily Emerald newspaper at the University of Oregon, I have learned a few things over the past year from running a professional account that has made me aware of what content should and shouldn’t be on my own account.
Here are my four tips to help improve your social media feeds and increase overall engagement:
- Keep your feed updated. Keep your social media platforms up to date with current jobs, photos, and accomplishments. This will help potential employers have the most accurate current information when looking at your profile. Did you do a cool internship over the summer? Post it! Keep your LinkedIn page up to date to provide employers with the most accurate look at who you are.
- Be true. Do not fabricate, over exaggerate or falsify content. Be transparent with your audience and followers. If you didn’t get that dream internship, that’s ok, but don’t imply you did. As a public relations professional, credibility is everything. Lying to get a job is never worth the potential risks.
- Delete old posts. Almost everyone has posted embarrassing birthday photos for their best friend in sixth grade on Facebook. It might be time to delete those. Go through your social media in detail and get rid of anything you wouldn’t want an employer to see. Many employers look at candidates’ social media platforms before making a hiring decision, so keep that in mind when retweeting something or posting on Instagram. Down the line, you might regret keeping up a photo from Halloween weekend in college as it might not reflect who you are as an employee. If you’re applying for a job, just know whatever is out there reflects on you– good or bad.
- Quality over quantity. Add quality images that resonate better with your audience. These are not only more visually appealing but also hold a more professional feel. Clients could be more reluctant to work with a company or person that posts blurry images on a personal or professional account. These pictures don’t need to be taken on a professional camera every time, but taking the time to set up and edit photos will give your feed a more put-together look overall.
Your social media is ultimately a direct representation of who you are. When you are just beginning your career, you don’t want past posts to hinder you moving forward. If there is anything that you could see as potentially problematic in the future, just keep those photos or thoughts to yourself. You’ll thank me later.