How to build your brand on social media
Having a social media presence for your business was once viewed as an optional extra, but it’s now a requirement. Why? Because your social platforms are going to be the first points of contact between your business and many of your potential customers.
Successful social media branding isn’t something that happens accidentally. In fact, it takes consistency, commitment and consideration to get it right. So, let’s jump straight into social media branding, including what it is, how to get it right, and why it really matters so much. Hopefully, by the end of reading this, you will know what it takes to build your brand on social media.
What exactly is social media branding?
Social media branding is the process of using your social media platforms to communicate the core identity of your brand to your audience.
Some of the most important aspects of your approach to social media branding include:
1. Identity: which covers the visual elements of your brand, such as colour palettes and logos.
2. Tone of voice: which ensures that every message you convey to your audience resonates with them in a very clear and persuasive way.
3. Engagement: social media platforms thrive on conversation and engagement, so you need to know that you’re connecting with your audience meaningfully.
4. Content: your social media content needs to be consistent, and you must select content types that best convey your tone of voice and encourage meaningful engagement.
When you’re consistent with your approach to social media and particularly with the way you craft your messages, your audience will find it easier to identify things that resonate and allow them to form a connection with the very heart and purpose of your brand.
Why is social media branding so important?
Social media marketing is now an essential component of a robust marketing strategy. So, it can be helpful to view social media branding as a tactic that will help you to show up online in the best possible ways.
You have likely encountered a brand on a social media platform and spent some time scrolling through their feed before determining whether or not you want to click through to their website and/or hit the follow button. Businesses that have pitched their social media branding strategy just right will have more success building their following and driving traffic to their website than businesses that haven’t given their social media branding much thought.
So, the quality of your social media presence can really make a huge difference to the ways in which your audience views your entire business. In turn, this can impact your ability to build a sense of brand loyalty, convert and retain customers, and improve your bottom line.
But here’s the thing.
Social media is a hugely competitive space, and standing out from the crowd isn’t always easy.
Ultimately, your audience should be able to take one look at your social platforms and gain a good understanding of who you are, why you are trustworthy, and what you have to offer. So, let’s take a look at the ways in which you can achieve this. Because you absolutely can.
Top tips for building a strong brand on social media
There are many moving parts to building a robust social media presence, including.
1. Understanding your audience
If you don’t know who you are tailoring your messaging to, you’re going to struggle to build the meaningful connection that contributes to social media success. Start by diving into the demographics of your audience, including their needs, wants, desires, interests, and pain points. Then, you can use this information to craft attention-grabbing messaging that resonates with the right people.
2. Know your visual identity
The most successful brands have a very clear visual identity, which includes a memorable logo and an instantly recognisable colour palette. Importantly, your visual identity should be tailored to each social platform you want to target, which should ultimately inform the types of content you share.
3. Refine your tone
The ways in which you communicate with your audience matter. So, you need to know whether your tone is casual or formal, straight to the point or willing to tell a story, and more concerned with entertaining or informing. When you’ve settled on the right tone, it is imperative to be consistent and allow your authentic voice to be heard across each one of your platforms.
4. Be selective with your social platforms
While maintaining a presence on social media is important, you don’t need to target every single platform out there. It is best to allow your audience to inform your platform choice, as there’s no point focusing all your attention on a platform that your ideal customer doesn’t use. However, it is also critical to determine whether a platform will allow you to share the types of content that will enable you to best convey your identity, story, and tone of voice.
5. Develop a clear content strategy
Every piece of content you share on your social platforms should fully reflect your brand. While it can be tempting to focus on one type of content, experimenting with different formats is the best way to keep your social feeds feeling fresh and engage every facet of your ideal audience.
6. Don’t be scared to tweak your strategy
Keeping an eye on the analytics data from every social platform will help you to determine whether your strategy is delivering results. If you notice that certain tactics are proving to be more successful than others, don’t be scared to lean into those tactics to really drive your engagement.
Top tips for supercharging your social media branding strategy
So, we’ve covered all the essentials of social media branding. Now let’s look at some of the ways in which you can take things to the next level.
1. Take note of trends
From algorithm changes to emerging trends, keeping on top of new developments will help you to ensure you’re not left behind. I’m certainly not suggesting you need to jump on every trend, but audiences want to engage with brands that understand the wider landscape, so some trend knowledge will help you to continue to be seen by your ideal audience.
2. Engage, engage, engage
Social media isn’t about shouting into the void. Instead, it’s about having conversations with your audience and forming connections. You may also want to consider utilising user-generated content in your strategy, such as sharing user testimonials and reviews or reposting photos shared by your audience.
3. Humanise your brand
Social platforms are noisy, so it can be easy to fall into the trap of sharing sales pitch type content in a bid to secure sales. But social media users aren’t interested in that type of content. Instead, they want to form connections with brands, so it can be beneficial to focus your attention on areas such as giving your audience a glimpse at what goes on behind the scenes for your brand and contributing to hot topics of conversation.