Tips for Creating a Coherent Social Experience.

James is the expert when it comes to businesses creating a coherent and engaging social media experience for their followers and clients, but for me it's still important to take that knowledge and adapt it for the single blogger. Today I'm sharing my tips for creating a decent and cohesive social presence when you're not representing a major business. 

1// Personality is the key.

Regardless of which site(s) you choose to use, your personality should always be the overriding element. This is different from when a business is using social media as they will generally have a  generic brand tone of voice to convey. For the everyday user, it's more important to appear human. Readers always want to know that they're engaging with a real person as apposed to just another 'brand', work to make sure what you present online is a good representation of your personality and carry that same voice across all social platforms.

2// Pick some rules, and stick to them.

Ok when I mean rules, I don't mean restricting yourself and losing any type of individuality. What I mean is, tailor the sides of your personality you want to present online and create some rules around that. For instance,  a lot of bloggers choose not to swear on their blogs at all in order to make them as universally appealing as possible. Others choose to strictly not talk about their families, personal lives or their work. It helps to create an edited 'online' version of yourself. I'm not talking about a total character re-invention here, I mean creating an essence of yourself that you present online.

3// Roll out your rules consistently. 

Once you've figured out how you want to represent yourself online, you should roll this out consistently across all of the social platforms that you choose to use. I know I'm making this sound kind of heartless, but I don't mean it like that. Your readers shouldn't feel like they're talking to a totally different person every time they decide to look you up. I find it so strange when I find a blog that I love, only to take a look at their Twitter/Facebook and it's like meeting someone new. It freaks me out and makes me think that the blog is totally contrived. It can absolutely work against you to have an overly curated and pulled together blog with a mis-matched social experience to go with it. Readers will sniff out the fakeness very quickly and will be less likely to trust what you're saying in future. By all means, talk about what you're passionate about, but make sure it's consistent across the board. 

4// Have fun, and don't take it too seriously.

Above all, remember that you're not a business bound by a brand identity, you're allowed to get out their and explore your personality online. It's important that the real you comes out and feels approachable to your readers. So stick to your rules but have fun within them. This way, you're comfortable with the amount of information being shared online but your readers are getting to know the real you too. 

5// P.S. All of this applies to imagery too. 

If you're big on photography, I'd consider getting some type of house style involved. Not sure what I mean? Take a look at Pink Ronnie's photography over on her blog. She is very consistent with her photographic style, it has developed over time, but it has a very strong identity to it. This is definitely something to consider if photography is really important to you and how to represent yourself.

Thanks for reading guys, hope these tips help!

Svea xo