by Klyn Elsbury www.missklyn.com
Social media is a fantastic tool to enhance your company’s online presence. According to Statista, there are 2.77 billion users across social media platforms, and they spend an average of 136 minutes on social media each day. Approximately 90% of U.S. businesses are online with social media business accounts.
These facts are motivating more companies to improve their branding techniques to stand out from all the clutter. It is becoming more challenging to keep customers interested and engaged for as long as possible. The following tips will help companies brand themselves more effectively on social media.
Ensure consistency across different platforms.
There are so many platforms for companies to choose from, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn and so on. No matter how many platforms your company uses, it is important to have consistency throughout them all. It takes a lot of time for companies to build a brand on social media, and using a style guide helps you send a unified message through all content.
If a company posts inspirational quotes on Wednesdays, they need to stick to that every single week so that customers know what to expect. Even the colors, tone and graphics should stay unified across all platforms. If you are using a logo as your profile photo on Facebook, use the same logo on other platforms, too. That will help customers recognize that all the pages belong to you.
Create visual content.
This is essential for brands that want to use Instagram or YouTube. Customers get bored with posts that have a lot of text to read. Photos and videos are more engaging and there is a higher chance that your customers will share them with their friends. You can even incorporate humor into your visual posts by using memes and gifs. Or, use colorful and informative infographics. This is to get as many “Likes” and “Shares” as possible because social network algorithms will be more favorable and help you rank higher in the feed.
Speak like a human being and build a brand personality.
A lot of companies tend to forget that social media is a community and not just an advertising platform. It is always better to talk to people in a friendly manner, rather than sounding like a corporate entity. If a user asks a question in the comments section, respond to them using their first name. Use humor to build a social media personality. I’ve found that people share entertaining content the most, and if your company can achieve that, your posts can have the potential to go viral.
For example, Taco Bell successfully uses witty one-liners and clever photos to engage with its audience. A lot of its posts are retweeted just because they make people laugh. Sometimes, the brand banters with its competitors, who then join in on the fun and compete through more amusing and authentic tweets.
Advertise less and converse more.
Some companies use their social media pages to keep posting information about their products or services. This does not appeal to social media users because they want engaging content and not a catalog of products. It is perfectly normal for companies to advertise what they are selling. But there is a subtle way to do that, and a lot of creativity needs to be involved. Use storytelling and then mention the benefits of your products.
Some posts shouldn’t even be about the product at all and just focus on fun, such as #MondayMotivation photos on Instagram. A lot of brands use this hashtag to post something that motivates people to start their week — this could be an inspirational quote, a Garfield joke about Mondays, etc. Pick a topic that is trending and create a post around that to engage with customers without advertising your product directly.
Norwegian Airlines broke the internet by going viral during Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s divorce. It posted visual content with the marketing slogan saying, “Brad is single,” while offering discounted flights to Los Angeles.
There is a lot of competition online. Customers are bombarded with so many brands creating quality content to engage with them. To gain brand loyalty, brand yourself more creatively to increase your social media presence. After all, social media is a community and not a billboard. Customers enjoy seeing companies show a unique side to themselves with a consistent personality to which they can also relate.
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