Branding is a good way to set your business apart from others and is built over a period of time. Most business owners spend a lot of time setting up their branding through different channels, but often overlook the power of social media as a brand enabling tool.
Establish Social Media Assets for your Business
Your first step should be to identify the right social media assets for your business and actually set them up. This doesn’t mean that you have to be on all social channels – just the ones relevant to the type of business you run. Here’s what you should do:
- Understand the social media assets that your competitors have and analyse what is right for you.
- Consider how the social network will bring more value to your business branding efforts.
- Hire experts to help you create relevant social media assets for your business.
Getting on to every platform can possibly set you up for failure, so it’s important to review the ones most suited to your operations. For instance, B2B-style businesses may be most suited to LinkedIn and Twitter, while retail businesses will see more value from Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. Social media allows you to tap into unreached demographics, so try to establish the right assets.
Deliver Content That Counts
Content is a key priority for any business, and that should translate into your social media assets as well. Posting content just for the sake of it is a mistake many businesses make, which can hurt their brand reputation in the long run. Consider the following:
- Look to build quality over quantity – you don’t want to lose customers by posting too often.
- Consider whether the tone of language works well for your audience.
- Keep track of how your posts are going – review the engagement and action from them.
- Analyse the posts that do better than others to help you follow a particular success formula.
Analytics will help you target your content in a way that keeps your readers more engaged. Great content is about delivering what your customers want to read, and not what you want to put out there.
Build Relationships – Don’t Just Deliver Sales Jargon
Too many businesses make the mistake of simply putting out sales-worthy content, without taking the time to actually engage with their customers. Users today can see through all promotional messages because of the sheer numbers they are fed on a daily basis. And they simply don’t buy it. Here’s what you need to do:
- Establish relationships by delivering authentic content to your customers.
- Put aside sales pitches and find more intimate ways to engage with your audience.
- Ask for opinions, and showcase that you care what people think – so people know you’re not just a business trying to grab their money.
- Listen and pay attention to opinions so you can have a real conversation of your customers.
People want to interact with businesses that aren’t always about making a sale, but about solving real-world problems. You can create better relationships and loyalty with your customers by simply taking the time to get to know them more, instead of just feeding them with one-sided information.
Control Your Communication Through Experimentation
While getting your message out to your audience is vital, it’s important to consider engaging with people in a controlled environment so you’re aware of how it’s perceived. This level of experimentation will help you better control your communication to avoid negative brand connotations in the future. Here’s what you can do to better control your communication through experimentation:
- Reach out to your employees and network of associates to discuss the kind of content they want to read in relation to your business.
- Find out what content is interesting and what is less exciting for them.
- Get opinions on how certain pieces of content will be perceived.
- Include people who are social media savvy to benefit from their enthusiasm and knowledge of the industry for the online communication needs of your business.
Asking for feedback from external parties in a controlled manner will help you create the best possible messages for your target audience, so you deliver high-impact content that resonates well with the people you want to engage with for your business.
Be Uniform with Your Messages
While every social media channel has a different way of feeding information to users, try and keep your business branding as uniform as possible. This makes it easier for users to associate a particular piece of branding or content with your business. Here’s what you need to do:
- Presenting the same business image to your readers will ensure that you are recalled more easily.
- Using similar images, fonts, colours and themes will help readers identify your business across platforms.
- Consistent language will help people better associate with the messages you’re looking to deliver.
- Pick a few topics of interest and find ways to make them interesting by sticking to a plan – sometimes less is more.
At the end of the day, you want to be looked at as a consistent and stable business, so don’t try to be too different on diverse social media platforms. When customers come across your business, it’s always best to greet them with a uniform message for the best results.
Social media is vital for exposure, especially in an Internet-savvy world with everything being driven online. Being social media smart will help you maximise the benefits of different online platforms, allowing you to reach out to more and more people. If you don’t know undertake these tactics on your own, it’s probably a good idea to hire a social media expert who can help take your business to the next level.
Passionate about writing and sharing my experiences with others. I have a keen interest in marketing and the growth of digital.
