The values we’re discussing in this article might be a little different than what you think.

I’m talking about aligning your values with why you’re on social media. Before you even commit to marketing yourself or building your brand on social media, understand what you’re there to do. Have those goals to connect, or grow, or expand.

You have two options when it comes to sharing your values and morals on social media.

What are you there for? Is this a platform you want your values to be heard on?

If so, great, let that be apart of how you brand yourself.

This is your first option.

If that’s the case, there will be people who connect to those values and support you because of them. But the same goes vice versa. People may really love what you have to offer but they see something that doesn’t align with their own beliefs and they move on. You’ll have to be ok with connecting to only the people who stand behind you.

Here’s your second option.

If you don’t want your values to define your business or company, remember that when you’re cultivating your online presence. Don’t tie in your personal values and project that onto your business as a whole.

If your goal is to connect to a wider audience, don’t stifle yourself by sharing your deeply personal views. You want people to take interest in your products or your services and less of who you are as a person. They may come to know you slowly through whatever life content you choose to share, and they may even connect to that. That’s perfectly fine, too.

But the overall goal isn’t to create a conversation about your shared beliefs with your audience. You’re sparking curiosity for your business and keeping the conversation focused on what you do/offer.

We choose the second option.

At Alimond studio, our team is made up of entirely different people. At the core, we all share the same morals of how we treat one another and our clients. We share a belief in hard work and we’re innovative in how we find solutions.

But we all have different values. We’re different people. We have separate goals in business from our day to day lives.

If you go online and look at Aldi, the grocery store, you can see that they value reasonably priced foods and have a “Twice As Nice” guarantee. As a company, that’s important to them.

The previous CEO is Marc Heußinger. He might want to save the planet, solve homelessness, or anything else, but whatever that value is – it doesn’t cross over into the brand. His beliefs are separate from his company values.

This isn’t to say that your personal values won’t reflect at all through your business. How you treat your team members is a reflection of how you care for people. How you show up to the office early every day with excitement tells your clients that you are truly invested in what you do and you’re passionate about it. Whoever you are as a person, that will always show through everything you do, not just in your business.

What if you want to share your opinion?

If you’re an extremely opinionated person, this might sound completely opposite to what you do on social. You have a platform and a voice, you want to use it. That’s ok, too.

But remember that not everyone will like what you have to say, not everyone will agree or support it. So if you’re online and using social media for your business, keep in mind that some people may steer clear of your business just because they know your personal values.

You can’t control how people react to what you say obviously. But you can eliminate the option of them knowing everything you hold close morally. If that’s not something that bothers you, then show that in your branding. Own it.

If you’re going to be vulnerable online with something as important as your values, don’t let what others say discourage you from getting the work done.