Anchoring your brand through Social Media

Social Media is a part of our everyday lives. The most common application people open on their phones is a Social Media Application. They are strongholds when it comes to information sharing and awareness building. Which is why , they should be utilized in the best, most efficient way to spread the word about your brand.

There are a lot of details to go over when it comes to this topic, especially talking about each Social Media platform and its uses, however, in this bog we are just scratching the surface and taking a look at the basics of how Social Media can help your brand.

Reach: Worldwide, there are over 1.86 billion monthly active Facebook users (Facebook MAUs) which is a 17 percent increase year over year. (Source: Facebook as of 02/01/17). And that is Facebook alone. This gives you a wide and varied audience group that you can alter to meet your target audience and push for organic and paid approaches to promote your brand.

Most Social Media applications will allow you to target people based on behavior patterns and even re-market to people who have engaged with your brand in the past. Some like Twitter, allow you to use other eminent personalities as influencers if they truly believe in your brand themselves.

Feedback: Social Media platforms allow for faster, if not immediate, feedback between the customer and the brand. This direct line of communication helps improve the brand and mould it to the needs of the customer better. When the customer feels like they are directly involved in the process of customizing the brand or product, it gives them a stronger, deeper connection to that product. This could ensure a longer relationship between product/brand and consumer.

It also opens up the board for using customer testimonials and other trusted content as promotion. This humanizes the brand further and helps people who are new to the brand actually connect. (An example of this was done by Maggi Noodles)

Varied platforms: Social media has many many applications that is encompasses, however, the top ranking ones are pretty well-known. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat are just the better known ones worldwide but it does differ based on geography as well. Some countries have a specific Social Media application that is a bit more commonly used there, but it will only add to the international list and not exclude any of these applications. (Ex: Naver or Kakao Talk/Story – Democratic Republic of Korea)

Conversions: Social Media helps directly drive traffic to your site. Linking your website URL to your organic or paid promotions directly increases the propensity for website traffic and potential sales. If not that, then brand awareness is a good enough by-product.

Things to be:

Be consistent – Maintain visual branding across your social media platforms. Let the images you use have a consistent theme or binding aspect.

Be on the right platform – With the varied list of Social Media platforms currently in existence, choosing the right one for your brand is of great concern. (For example, Google+ helps with SEO search to your website. Facebook is good for a general wide audience that is good for building a general base, etc)

Be available – Interactions with the customer need to be on time and relevant. Keeping them waiting doesn’t bode well for either side.

Be regular – Post on schedule and often to keep the customer base educated and informed of your news and developments.

Be relevant – Post things that appeal to your core target audience to keep them hooked and coming back for more.

Be relatable – Speak to your customers in the first person. Make yourself approachable with your language and tone to open the lines to further communication.

Be unique – Last but not least, being unique sets you apart. It gives your customers something to remember you by and keeps you fresh in their minds always.