Balancing Authenticity and Expertise in Social Media Marketing

Just a heads-up: my perspective might challenge some conventional wisdom about social media marketing best practices.

In the early days of Facebook, when social networking was just taking off, the algorithms operated under a simple assumption: you wanted to see posts from your friends and connections. Your feed was essentially a mix of these posts as well as ads.

Fast-forward to today, and the landscape has changed dramatically, largely due to the influence of TikTok. While TikTok isn't a traditional social networking platform, both Facebook and Instagram are increasingly imitating its model. Your feed now increasingly prioritizes posts based on your interests, rather than merely who you're connected to.

This shift undermines the idea that the people viewing your posts have a personal relationship with you. It's often advised to show the “personal” you instead of the "professional” you, but are the two so easily separated?

I'm not saying you should come across as rigid, distant, or overly commercial. However, don't shy away from showcasing your expertise either. Nowadays, your posts are often the first thing people see, and they reach users who are specifically interested in what you're good at.

Yes, your followers still matter, but the landscape is changing. From my viewpoint, there's a growing divergence between social networking and content marketing. In simpler terms, some people post for friends and family, while others are curating a brand. One isn’t better, per se; just different.