If you’re looking to become a social media authority it’s good to see what the current authorities have been doing.
It’s not about doing exactly what they’ve been doing. You can get some success that way.
But what you’re looking to do is to see what the best of the best have been doing. Then you want to pick and choose the habits and efforts you think are best that they all do.
And from there you can innovate with your own ideas to go beyond what has been done before.
That’s how most things work in life whether it’s business, sports, music, film, art and all kinds of things. You take inspiration from the best and then look to build on that with your own style.
But to start, let’s look at the habits of the best social media authorities so you can get started.
Here are 10 of those habits.
1. Consistent Schedule
This is probably the top thing I notice with the people I follow on social media – they post on a consistent schedule.
I would say that in general they do post more often than those that maybe aren’t seen as authorities. But I think the more important thing to watch for us the consistency with which the top authorities update.
It might be 50 times a day, but they’ll be pretty consistent with those times. It can fluctuate. If there is a big industry event you’ll see them posting more often and during slow times you’ll see fewer updates, but in general they’re consistent. They don’t come and go for long stretches.
2. Good Balance Of Content
Authorities are also good with balancing the type of content they share. They might share a thought one hour. The next they might share an article with their comment. Or they could post a photo later in the evening.
People like a good balance and we’ll talk about in a later point how authorities are willing to interact. They’ll reply and re-share, but they don’t only do this. They won’t only do just one thing or two things. They’ll provide a good balance of all types of content including photos, videos, audio and more.
3. Looking To Help Others First
This is a big one. It’s hard not to think of yourself first in life. I think we’re preprogrammed to think that way about ourselves and our families. It’s gotta be a survival instinct.
But there is value in the idea that you get what you give. And you probably have to give a whole lot more if you want to get something in life.
But successful people do seem to be just fine with giving plenty more than they ever expect to get.
In a social media sense this means sharing content that others create. It means sharing tips and providing information someone could use to better their lives.
When you’re looking to help others you’ll generally find that you have a lot of people that trust you, respect you and that will help you if you ever need it.
Authorities get that.
4. Curators Of Interesting Information
This builds on the last point, but it’s worth mentioning on its own. When you share interesting information people will follow you. Share the most interesting articles, studies, graphics, videos and more on your social feeds.
Try to share 10+ each day. You can use a tool like Buffer to help manage the sharing.
Do this on top of your other social media efforts.
People have a hard time sifting through all the information in the world. If you can help them find the best of the best you’ll be a very valuable resource.
5. Willing To Test New Technology And Trends
The most successful people in life all seem to have curiosity about new things. They don’t get stuck in ruts with what they’re used to. They’re excited about new things.
In social media it makes sense that authorities would be open to new technology. Social media is pretty new in the grand scheme of things, but even in that case authorities are willing to try new things like Vine, Instagram or whatever new thing is coming along.
Sure, not every new trend or technology will catch on and that can be wasted effort, but some of them will work out and if you’re using them you could become an authority.
And others don’t have the time to try new things. They need authorities to tell them what’s worth trying.
6. Willing To Have A Laugh At Their Expense
This one is a generalization. It’s not true in all instances, but the authorities I like following are ones that have a willingness to laugh at themselves. They don’t take themselves too seriously. I think that’s a trait or habit or whatever among a lot of successful people; not just those in social media.
But if you’re looking to become someone that others want to follow you have to be willing to make fun of yourself. I think it’s bad taste to make fun of others. But you can make fun of yourself all you want.
7. Not Afraid To Share Their Opinion
This is one I struggle with because when you share your opinion you’re going to get some push back from those that don’t share it. But you’ll also get some people that share your feelings and they’ll connect with you.
Those are the people that are probably going to matter most to you as you become an authority. But you’ll have to learn to listen to others when they have good points all while ignoring those that get irrational in their opposition.
8. But Not Afraid To Admit When They’re Wrong
And if you get some feedback and feel like you need to change your mind then don’t have issue admitting your were wrong. i think it’s far more admirable to admit when you’re wrong than to be stubborn about something.
We all grow and learn more over time. Our thoughts and feelings at one point in life can easily change. It’s natural. And people understand that.
Let yourself grow. Let yourself be wrong about things and to realize it.
Like I said, it’s not something I do well. Maybe it’s not easy to do.
9. Willing To Engage (Replies, Re-shares, etc.)
Mentioned this one earlier, but it’s worth its own point. You’ll notice that most authorities, especially those that don’t have some kind of celebrity outside of social media, are willing to engage with their audience. They’ll reply directly to people that have questions. They’ll respond to those that mention certain topics. All engagement is great and it’s a reason people follow authorities – they might get to interact from that authority.
10. Looking To Associate With Other Authorities
Finally, authorities don’t get to where they are overnight. They had to start somewhere. They’re willing to take the time to do all these things to become an authority.
But one final thing they also look to do is to associate with other authorities. They usually don’t go right to the top either. They might look to work in some kind of way with someone that has more followers than them on some kind of project. Maybe a webinar or tweetup or something. Maybe a conference presentation of some kind.
And over time they’ll work with bigger and more popular authorities in their space.
When you associate with authorities, your audience grows and you’re seen as being pretty close or even at the same level as that other authority. So it’s a great strategy for growing your own personal brand or even a business brand.
Conclusion
These are 10 of the best habits of the best social media authorities. If you’re looking to become an authority or to build on your current authority status you’d be in good shape if you took inspiration from these habits…while adding in your own innovation of course.
So hopefully this has been insightful and it you have some additional habits you’ve seen and admire please share in the comments to help others!