Are you a social media expert?
Before you answer the question, what defines a social media expert? Is it based on your number of followers? Or how much time you spend online? Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Learning how to market your brand on social media is no longer a mere skill. This is now a necessity. Therefore, here’s five tips to help market your brand on social media.
1. Solve a problem
Always look for unique ways to identify and solve a problem.
Before we dive into the whole idea of networking and posting, it’s important to understand why are you offering a particular service. Hence, enter the problem and its solution. Want to grow your business online? Look for Neil Patel and his advanced SEO webinar. Need a ride? Order a Grab or Uber. Want to know the best events of a city? Look it up on Time Out. All these business, be it an entire organization or a single person, offer a solution. This then brings us to the next part, your bio.
Skip the jargon. Forget about the flowery words and titles. Once you have identified your service, optimize it in the simplest form in your online bio. There is a reason why ‘Just Do It’ is incredibly powerful. The slogan goes well with Nike’s overall appeal to athletes all over the world. It’s hard to imagine Nike being successful with a tagline like ‘Premier company with vast shoe making experience’. If you’re wondering where we got that from, spend a minute in on LinkedIn.
2. Understand your visual branding
The red and white colors scream Coca-Cola at you.
Once you’ve figured out the type of service you provide and how you’re going to brand it, it’s time to work on your visual appeal. Take us for an example. We’re a stock content company. We help people to design their story. This in then captured in our logo itself. The outline of a camera represents the big picture of us as your resource for photos, vectors, audio and footage. Next, the inner icon of a person represents you. Our users. We’re here to help you tell your own stories. This visual banding is then massively distributed to resonate with the rest of the world. Every image, social media profile and post, carry our brand.
Additionally, the iconic black and yellow colors are also strongly shown in our company profile. Coca-Cola is another example of a company that has mastered the use of colors to boost their visual profile. The moment the red and white pops up via an ad or a post online, your brain is seamlessly programmed to identify it with Coca-Cola. Therefore, making this an essential aspect of marketing their brand on social media.
3. Find the right network
Don’t dump all your eggs in one basket when it comes to choosing the right network for your brand.
With the first two aspects nailed, you’ve set yourself a solid starting base. Now it’s time to find the right network. This is a key element to ensure you gain the right traffic to your site when your content starts to roll out. Here, you need to ensure your network aligns to your brand’s image and strategy. If you’re a travel photographer, you’d want to be in touch with the editors and readers of Nat Geo Traveller or Conde Nast Traveller.
The concept of network also applies to type of social media platforms. For individual photographers and designers, Instagram and Snapchat are your best friends. However, if you’re running an entire creative agency, then LinkedIn and Facebook are a must. Therefore, understanding and using the different platforms helps creatives to better market their brand on social media.
4. Develop your voice
A unique brand voice will set you apart from the competition.
Before you can engage with the audience, you will first have to develop your voice. A great way to identify this would be to understand your brand’s personality. Once you have that nailed, then you can work towards your tone. This identity must be represented in your social media posts, captions and engagements. Companies like Nike who stand for excellence in sports, demonstrate their voice via inspiring ads of pushing the human body in search of excellence. Their admirable stance on the Colin Kaepernick news showed their goal to stand by athletes and their beliefs.
Meanwhile, Axe’s ‘Is It Ok for Guys’ campaign tackles the case of toxic masculinity and how young men are affected by this. Thus, they successfully addressed their target market while also reinforcing their voice. For smaller creatives agencies or individuals, you don’t have to launch a grand advert to boost your brand. However, take inspiration on how these companies reach out and stand out in an increasingly homogeneous media.
5. Engage in conversations
If you don’t engage with the community, your content will always be invisible to them.
One of the most important ways to build your brand on social media is via interaction with your audiences. If you’re only using social media to promote your posts, then you’re living like an outcast. It’s extremely lonely. Nobody likes talking to only themselves. Therefore, to drive engagements, consider being a part of the community. Start interacting with your users.
The easiest way to do so, is by replying to their tweets and comments. Additionally, if your company brands itself as being funny and approachable, then try having some fun with your competitors too. A bit of banter can go a long way. It makes for great entertainment for both sets of fans, which surely works for you.
Remember, in the age of social media, it’s easy to be buried under the concept of likes and followers. However, we said it above, that does not define your brand. In the end, it’s all about understanding what strategy works best for you and your users. Only then, will you be able to get better results to boost your online presence.