Social media is a powerful tool! Small businesses that want to grow, use social media to cultivate a following and to communicate their values and story to potential clients. Showing up as the person behind the brand is just as important as showing your work or products. Here are 3 reasons WHY you should show up as the face of your brand on your social media and 3 tips for HOW to show up on social media.

1. The Know-Like-Trust factor

As the consumer, when we can see the real face behind the business, we gain a deeper connection with them. Either we feel a connection to them or we feel trust that an actual person we like, and not a corporation, is behind the messaging. 

Your face is part of your brand recognition. While some companies have brand recognition from their logos (ie Coca Cola and McDonalds), entrepreneurs are more recognizable by their faces. Your face is your logo! It’s what we connect to and remember. 

2. You’ll see higher engagement

Your people LOVE you! And they love seeing you in their scroll. If you haven’t in awhile, post a photo of you in your feed. Watch the engagement soar! As a photographer, much of my content is sharing images from sessions. But every 4-5 posts, I will put in a photo of myself and the engagement always skyrockets! 

I’m not an algorithm expert, but when Instagram sees that kind of boost in engagement, that tells the algorithm that you have a feed people like. So it is more likely to push that post to more people. 

3. You’ll elevate your brand

Trust me when I say that your industry is oversaturated, mine is too! Imagine if every photographer you followed used their logo as their profile picture and if every one of their logos had a camera in it. No one would stand out! YOU need to stand out from the crowd. 

Showing up in-person is the most powerful way to connect with your audience. Being there for your audience will elevate the client experience for them before they even spend a dime. Let them feel like they already know you before they actually know you. They will feel more confident when they decide to invest their money in your business. 

It also heightens the customer service experience. They will feel like they are buying from an actual person and that a real person will be there to address any problems should they have any. This feeling of a safety net can be the difference between spending their money with you or with someone else.

3 Tips on HOW to show up on social media

1. Get professional Brand Photos

It can be stressful trying to find or figure out how to take a good photo of yourself. And asking a friend or partner doesn’t always give you any better results. Hiring a brand photographer who will deliver amazing on-brand images will make you feel super confident about posting a picture of yourself. You will have a library of beautiful photos of yourself to share and you won’t have to stress over a decent photo, because all of them will look fabulous!

2. Post yourself often

Get in the habit of posting a photo of you at least every 4-5 posts. Think of the grid in your Instagram profile. Someone should be able to do one scroll and see a photo of you. No one scrolls more than maybe 2 scrolls. Show up often so you are always visible.

3. Be yourself

For some people, showing up feels super vulnerable and hard. This is the challenge when you’re trying to grow a business and using social media to reach potential customers. So I’m going to tell you this, BE YOURSELF! When you are authentically yourself, your ideal clients will connect with you and love you! You don’t have to share personal things, but you do want people to know who you are and what it would be like to work with you and what you can offer them to make their lives or business better.

Just show up and your clients and bank account will thank you!