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Establishing Yourself As An Expert On Social Media

Updated May 2024

Establishing Your Expertise with EDUTAINING Content

One of the key strategies for businesses on social media is to provide EDUTAINING—Educational, Useful, or Entertaining content. This type of content engages your audience and helps establish you and your business as an expert in your field. But why is it so important to position yourself as an expert on social media?

Why Establish Your Expertise

People trust experts because they believe experts know what they’re doing. Building this trust is crucial for growing your audience on social media. Providing content that adds value and engages your audience is the best way to create momentum and grow your business. Here are some ways to start establishing your expertise:

  • Offer Useful Tools: Share tools and resources that your audience will find beneficial.
  • Answer Questions: Engage with your audience by answering their questions.
  • Provide Solutions:Solutions to common problems your audience faces.

These actions help position you as a valuable resource.

The Importance of Providing Value

Providing value is a significant step in becoming an expert—someone your audience likes, knows, and trusts. When seen as an expert, your audience will turn to you first for information on a subject. Focusing on delivering valuable content and answering questions, rather than just promoting your business, helps your audience view you as a resource, not just a salesperson.

Tailoring Your Content

Every business is different, and your niche will help you determine what types of content will be most beneficial to your followers. To better understand what your audience values, consider surveying your clients. Ask them directly what content they want to see from you.

By consistently providing EDUTAINNG content, you engage your audience and establish your credibility and expertise, making your business the go-to resource in your field.

Examples of Expert Content

As the Regional Social Media Coordinator for BNI Hudson Valley, I develop the monthly content calendar for the organization. This calendar provides each chapter with specific types of posts to focus on and includes important themes for the month. With the holiday season approaching, we’re enlisting the help of member businesses to establish themselves as experts by providing valuable content and answering questions within their areas of expertise.

To illustrate how we can all engage with our audience, I assigned each member of my BNI Chapter a specific topic. They were tasked with creating content on that topic from November 1 to New Year's. By doing this, BNI highlights the talent within each chapter and positions itself as a valuable resource for its audience.

How This Applies to You

You might not be a BNI member, and your business might not be included in the examples, but this approach is still valuable to you. Use this as inspiration to brainstorm types of content your business can provide to its audience. Consider your services, values, and seasonal focus. Look at what people are searching for in your niche. What questions are your clients or customers asking? Create content that answers those questions and showcases your expertise.

Establishing Yourself as an Expert: Content Examples

Below are examples of content types based on the expertise of BNI members. These examples focus on the holiday season, but businesses can tailor their content to their specific focus at other times of the year. For instance, during the holidays, an accountant might write a blog post titled, “5 Things to Avoid Spending Money on This Holiday,” whereas, at other times, they might focus on “What You Need to Know About the Looming S-Corp Deadline.” It’s perfectly fine to adjust your style to reach a broader audience with educational posts, especially during certain seasons.

  • Health and Wellness Coach, Healthy Eating Options this Thanksgiving.
  • Computer Services, Avoid Falling Victim to Black Friday Scams.
  • Business Financial Services, Holiday/ End of Year Benefits for Employees.
  • Individual Financial Services, How to Not Go Broke This Holiday.
  • Social Media/Graphic Design, 5 Tips to Sleigh Your Social Media Campaigns This Holiday.
  • Cleaning and Restoration, Plan for A Cozy Holiday Instead of A Wet and Soggy One.
  • Insurance, Snow Birds and Their Insurance Policies.
  • Computer & Website Development, How to Update Your Google My Business Page for the Holidays.
  • Real Estate, How Closing on Your New Home in December Can Help Keep The Inlaws Away.
  • Booze Expert, Best Holiday Booze.
  • Financial Services, Financial Health Check-Up for the New Year 

Key for Success

You are not directly promoting your business or service when establishing yourself as an expert. You are providing your audience with useful information that is “company agnostic.” Providing this valuable information to your audience is an excellent way for them to get to know you and your area of expertise. It helps build relationships and allows you to earn their trust. Pushing your product or service takes away these benefits.