Do you need help knowing how to stand out on social media? In such a saturated market it can feel almost impossible to stand out or be unique. You might feel like it’s a waste of time, a losing battle. 

IE 230: How to Stand Out on Social Media with Julie Ciardi

It’s not! We are going to dive into the best ways to stand out on social media and give you the top three components of making sure your content is hot and ready for your person.

Julie Ciardi is going to walk us through what social media platforms to use, how to be proactive on your platforms, and share about her book: The Standout Breakout Formula.

Taking the Leap Into Entrepreneurship

As a former Vice President of marketing, Julie Ciardi worked in the corporate world for 18 years, but leaping into entrepreneurship is one of the best things that she has ever done. 

Over the last three years, she has become a business coach focused on helping women trying to make that leap from corporate positions into running their businesses. 

Julie gets to work with these incredible women, cutting through some of the complexity of running a business and allowing them to be able to enjoy it with more simplicity. 

Julie is also the host of the Ignite Hustle podcast.

How to Know Which Social Media Platform To Use 

There are more and more content creators coming onto the scene, especially in the last year. There are also many platforms, and so you need to know where you will get the most engagement for your time. 

It is important to go all-in on one platform that will generate leads for you. Over time you can expand to other platforms. Find your primary platform that is expanding your network and growing your email list and focus on that. 

You definitely have to know where your person is. 

If you are targeting women in the corporate sphere, it is likely that they will be on LinkedIn more than on Instagram. If you are focused on fitness coaches, they are more likely to be on Instagram. 

There isn’t a one size fits all plan as to what platform you should spend your time on. You have to know two things: 

• Where is your person hanging out? 
• What do you enjoy as far as content creation? 

You are more likely to be consistent in your content creation if you enjoy the place you are posting your content. 

Increasing Engagement on Social Media 

You have to be proactive on your social media platform. Organic growth/engagement is not as easy as it used to be. 

Once you decide on your social media platform, put in the work to leverage that platform. Set up time blocks to engage your person. 

If you are not ready to dive into paid ads, which is fine, you have to take the time to be following, liking, and commenting on profiles that are your ideal person. 

If you don’t engage with them, you can’t expect them to be engaging with you. 

3 Components for Standing Out on Social Media

The market feels supersaturated. As content creators, it can feel like other people are doing exactly what we are doing and that makes it difficult to stand out. 

The thing is: no one is YOU. 

There are three foundational components to standing out in a crowded marketplace: 

• You

• Who you are trying to reach 
• What you are offering

These three components are like a snowflake. They are unique because no one will have the exact same components as you. Why? Because no one else is you. 

Narrow Down Your Audience 

When you think about your ideal person, you need to know how that person thinks and feels. You need to know where they are and where they want to be. Knowing that is what helps you solve the problem that your person has. 

You will know that you have this down when your audience says things like, “How did you get inside my head?” 

When Julie first started on her entrepreneurial journey, she was trying to speak to too many audiences, and because of this, her growth was slow. The moment she started focusing on her ideal person, and only that person, everything changed. 

Knowing your person and what you have to offer them is the most important thing you can nail down. 

You will not connect with everybody and that is okay. Knowing your three components is what will help you stand out to the right people for you and your business. 

How to Find Your Uniqueness

Back in episode 228, Brittany talked to us about utilizing her background in performance in her Instagram Reels. This has allowed her to stand out and also do something she loves as she creates her content. Add link to episode once it publishes. 

A lot of us struggle with what makes us unique. You might think, “Well, there’s nothing unique about me. I’m just another mom.” 

We are often overthinking it. We want to have a crazy, amazing skill that no one else has. We want to know things that no one else knows. 

The truth is that those are not the things that make us unique. What makes us unique is our story and our experiences. 

The best thing you can do is a brain dump. Think about when you were a teenager, and when you were in your 20’s and 30’s, and as you think about those years, write down the stories from those years that really stand out to you. 

After you’ve written down those stories, decide how you can use them for your audience; either to glean inspiration, utilize them as a teaching tool, or even just as a way to get to know you better. 

Being yourself is the absolute best, and only, way to attract your people, and repel those who are not your people. 

How to Create Hot Social Media Content

One of the worst things you can do when you are trying to stand out on social media is to put out lukewarm content. 

When you think of lukewarm content, you can also think of it as being generic. It is not specific to your person and what problem they need solved. 

The way to make your content hot is to build on your three components. 

If you are not focused on your person, you will not only not be targeting them, but you will run the risk of not actually reaching anyone. 

How to Get Your Audience’s Attention

It is important to talk to your person in your captions, videos, and whatever other avenues you use on your social media. Instead of using “I” and “me” in your captions, start them off with “you.” This grabs the attention of your person. 

Imagine that you are looking at your person while sharing IG stories. This is how you make sure your content is hot. 

Making content in this way is what grabs their attention and then you can bring it back to what you have to offer in order to solve the problem that they have. 

The Standout Breakout Formula

Julie has a book, “The Standout Breakout Formula,” that details opening a brick-and-mortar boutique and scaling it to 6-figures in revenue in just four months using online marketing strategies; building a successful network marketing business; and now a 6-figure coaching business. 

She used the same formula for all three of these businesses. The book is about how she did it. 

It all comes back to the three foundational components. No matter what your business is, you have to know yourself and what makes you unique, first and foremost. And then you have to know your person and what they need from you. 

There is a downloadable workbook that comes along with the book that will help you narrow down these components and help you build your content messaging strategy. 

If you want to connect with Julie you can find her on Instagram and you can check out her podcast for more knowledge about standing out on social media. Julie also has a free Facebook group where she teaches every single Tuesday. 

Action Steps:

• If you liked this episode of Influencer Entrepreneurs,  please subscribe and leave a fabulous review!
• Join the conversation on Instagram by tagging Jenny when you’re listening to the podcast.  She’ll send you a personal message whenever you tag her.