By Sophie Gil

Q: I see so many influencers posting details of their personal lives on social media and I'm wondering if I should do the same. I'm the face of my small business so should I share personal posts (kids, pets, daily life) on my business account, or keep it totally separate?

Many influencers build their businesses based on their lives, so of course, their social media accounts share everything from their latest brand collaborations to videos of their home renovations.

But for small business owners, it’s a little different. You may be the face of the company, but you’re also not the sole defining element of it. In most cases, your business accounts should likely be just that: dedicated to business.

That doesn’t mean, though, that you have to keep yourself fully out of the picture. In fact, weaving in some personal content that’s also relevant to your business can help you build a more authentic, relatable brand.

The approach to take will depend on your audience, industry, and goals. Consider the following:

• How much does my business rely on my personal image? Do I want my business to rely on my personal image?
• Does my personal brand and business brand have an overlap in audiences?
• What is my audience looking for on my business account and my personal account? Are they similar or very different?
• Is there value in sharing personal updates with my business audience?

Let’s dive into a couple of scenarios based on what you might have answered:

The Personal Brand Turned Business

• How much does my business rely on my personal image? Do I want my business to rely on my personal image? It relies on a good amount, and I’m okay with that.
• Does my personal brand and business brand have an overlap in audiences? Yes.
• What is my audience looking for on my business account and my personal account? Are they similar or very different? They’re somewhat similar.
• Is there value in sharing personal updates with my business audience? Yes.

In this case, it’s likely that your business is an extension of your personal brand. Perhaps you’re a fitness buff who started a boutique gym, or maybe you run a community for new parents, a category that you and many of your friends fall into.

Your business and personal brands, then, likely have similar audiences, and while they might look for slightly different things on different accounts, people are used to seeing you as the face of the business.

By being regularly present on your company’s social accounts, you’re helping to build trust and authenticity with your audience and adding a human element to your works. Your business isn’t just another business, it’s a product and service with a real person and story behind it.

Still, you’ll want to stick mostly to content that relates to your business in some way. Here are a few ideas for founders looking to weave their own lives into a business account:

• Show business trips or events that relate to your product or service. Vacation photos wouldn’t be right for every company to share, but a …read more

  Source:: Buffer Blog

        

  

  Author: Aaron