How to build a successful 'online'​ brand

Yeah, right - like I know it all about building a successful online brand. My posts get roughly 1% conversion in terms of likes and shares and I don't receive enough leads for help when I need them. But my writing is experimental and like many, I try to reflect upon my experiences and then transform previous experiences to better achieve better outcomes. Here I am sharing my experiences at building a successful online brand, whether on LinkedIn or Instagram, or Facebook.

Be frequent - If you're out of sight on social media, you're definitely out of mind. There is so much happening in this space that people don't have enough brand recall if you keep disappearing every now and then. So you've got to be frequent and push your audience to remember you time and again. Also, remember that on social media people usually have the attention span of a housefly because they have so much to choose from and explore, so keep it attractive.

Be humourous - Everybody likes humor, let's face it! It helps you stand out if you add a dash of humor to your posts or base the entire post on a humourous agenda. While there may be consequences of putting up a distasteful post on professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, polished and well-dressed humor usually is appreciated. Be careful to walk the thin line though, don't overstep, and certainly, don't overdo.

Be personal - People like it when you narrate your own experiences. Just imagine, why would someone entertain unnecessary gossip on social networking sites, especially professional ones like LinkedIn. And, doesn't talk about others on social media amount to gossip? :D

Well, point is, talk about yourself and why you're here on social media. Personal anecdotes fetch extra points also if you have something to share that others ought to know. It could be a bad shopping experience online and bad customer support at an online portal, or whatever. But keep it personal.

Give real-world examples - Everybody understands better through examples. While talking about your experiences, quote real-world examples that people can relate to. Make reading a relatable event. Let people draw connections to events that you mention. As described before, people like it when they can relate to a real-world example and find their place in the situation.

Maintain continuity - If you're posting in short spells or intervals, please make sure you maintain continuity. Social media has its drawbacks. Recall and attention span are limited. And, unless your message is continuous or hard-hitting, people won't notice you. If you can't restrict your post to one large chunk of text, please consider splitting it into short bursts and refer to earlier posts by drawing meaningful connections to previous posts.

Accept feedback and work on it - Always seek feedback. That's the mantra of social media. You must draw your reader to comment on your post and then act upon it. Unless you know the vibe of the audience, you will never be able to develop that kind of rapport to eventually get habituated to their reading styles. There will be regular readers and loyal customers of your service or product who would definitely like to provide valid feedback. Accept and act upon it.

Be humble and concise - No one likes an egoistic prick on social media. There are enough of those in real life. Be humble and accept your shortcomings when you're sharing your experiences on social media.

Post pictures & memes - Pictures speak a thousand words. Yes! Absolutely true. Always accompany your posts with pictures. Memes are in-thing for new-generation social media enthusiasts. If you can create memes using online meme generators and come up with tacky headlines and smart messages, then it really creates an opportunity for your posts to get viral. Memes get viral at the drop of a hat. But be careful with sarcastic memes around celebrities and public figures, there are too many fanatics on social media and they can troll you. Also, movie and character memes draw special interest from the crowd. If you can create personalized memes using your own images, that might fetch you brownie points too. Overall, remember to spice up your posts using media-rich experiences that add to viewership.

Lastly, create an emotional pull - I have seen too many instances, including mine, where messages and posts without an emotional pull have been dismissed as boring and dull. Indians get attracted to emotional messages and they react empathetically to such messages. If you're drawing the attention of HR (yes, jobseekers!), better create an emotional connection at the time of drafting your post.