Why Is Social Media Topic Authority Important?

Today’s marketing landscape is crowded. Every industry I can think of is full of firms that have a longer tenure, more capital and resources.

Topic authority is the best thing a small-to-mid-sized business can use to differentiate, build trust and develop new business across not only social media, but all digital channels. Let’s briefly talk about why you should build social media topic authority for your business and how simple it is to do it.

What Is Social Media Topic Authority?

Topic authority is a measure of how much trust and respect others in the online community will attribute to a person or brand. It’s all about perception. How does your audience (not you) perceive your knowledge, insights and contributions to a specific role, industry or event?

How Do I Select the Main Topic for My Social Media Content?

There are four things that would be wise and smart to consider when you choose the topic you’ll build authority around. You can expand and grow with this topic well beyond social media. Bring it to your email marketing, blog content and sales nurturing touch points, too!

Too often, we see business social media content steer and change tracks. Or be left for too long without revisiting, updating and building in the next step. How can I follow you or what you’re talking about?

This topic can change each quarter or month. It can stay the same. You can run with the same social media strategy and plan for multiple topics. You can of course make additions that make sense to showcase your people, customers and behind-the-scenes or life stories.

But the premise is this, you know who you’re talking to. Give people in your audience a chance to see the same thing in different ways and formats and enough time to remember it. To remember you. To associate you with something.

You, me, and our audiences see WAY too much information that we will never retain after a single exposure. Start with one topic, so you gain confidence that you can do it, before adding more and burning yourself out.

Are You Ready to Select Yours and Become an Authority?

Put on your thinking hat. You’re likely to find your main topic to focus your social media on for the next month or quarter somewhere in any of these places:

1. The top customer interest, change in management event or challenge that happens the most often. What most often drives your audience and best-fit customers to seek out your product or service?
2. The top-performing content on your website right now shows an opportunity for you to further own and train on this topic. Or even how people manage and use a popular platform. If you ever cover something like this on your website, it’s probably driving a ton of views that are not converting, but it could be!
3. What’s new and super important to consider for others to continue staying on top of or delivering on your topic?
4. Anything that is timely or seasonal and changing right now in your industry and customer experience, can be a topic, too.

I Have a Main Topic for My Social Media Content. Now What?

Break this big topic or thing into many small, easy steps, examples and success stories. Repurpose, repost and find new ways to say the same thing again and again. Talk about your topic as you engage with other people’s content and tag who else may be involved, too.

Being the guide on a single topic will only improve everything else you’re doing in your marketing and build stronger brand authority and identity on social media. The social media hook you write at the start and end of each post to call for connection and engagement should include this topic as well.

The more effort you require of your audience, the less attention. If it’s too hard, people won’t do it. We all crave convenience!

Did You Learn Something New About Social Media Today?

You’re taking charge or looking for ways you can improve your business’s social media. Because you believe in social media and building a community to support you and your business in the long run. Nobody said it’s going to be easy, but it’s simple. Stay around for more of our new free program, Business Social Made Simple.

If you like this topic, you may also enjoy learning about effective post formats on social media, our go-to social media creative process and a social media engagement strategy you must implement as a brand to win on social media.