Social media has become so much more than just a marketing tool. Not only does it allow brands and businesses to connect with their audience, but it is often one of the first platforms that consumers turn to during the discovery phase for a new product or service, and can make (or break) a brand’s reputation virtually overnight.

What’s more, using social media as a business is no longer just about having a profile and sharing sporadic updates. Nowadays, users expect brands to be active on social media, to respond to comments and messages, and to share any and all information with their customers via these live channels.

Social media presents opportunities. But to grasp those opportunities, you need to first understand the importance of building your brand via social channels. In this blog post, we’re going to tell you how.

Defining Your Brand Identity

Until you have defined your brand identity in house, you cannot effectively communicate it to a social audience.

Defining your brand identity is about ascertaining who you are talking to and how you are talking to them. It’s about uniting the aesthetics of your brand with your values and vision, ensuring that the messages you put out make sense and are both cohesive and concise.

Once you have ironed all this out within the confines of your business and wider team, then you can start working out how to put that brand identity out across social media.

Choosing the Right Platforms

Armed with your brand identity, the first decision you need to make regarding social media is linked with platforms - that is, which platforms do you want to use and launch a profile on?

The best place to start is by aligning your chosen platforms with your target audience and your objectives. Where do your target audience tend to spend the most time online, and how do they behave and interact with social channels? While some groups lean towards Instagram for discovery, others are enraptured by TikTok. Knowing which makes the most sense for your audience will give to a clear idea of which platforms to start on!

TOP TIP: Don’t think that you can sign up to all the different platforms and make them all work with a single approach to content and creation. Each platform has its own quirks and is optimised for different content styles, meaning you will need a strategy for each in order to succeed!

Content Strategy for Engagement

Once you’ve got your brand identity and have selected the best platforms to launch your social campaign on, it’s time to think about content.

Your content should reflect your brand identity and speak directly to your audience. One of the best tips we share with all our clients, is to imagine that every piece of content you post is the very first thing that a potential customer will read about / from you. Every piece of content is an opportunity to engage a new customer, so don’t waste it!

Consistency is Key

Your content strategy should and will cover a wide range of different ideas and messages, from announcements to updates, reviews, marketing, and valuable insights and information.

But regardless of the content style and type, it’s important that your social updates are all consistent. That means posting frequently and always using the same brand messages and values at the heart of your posts.

Consider building yourself a content calendar that can help to keep your content team on track!

Engaging with the Community

Something we mentioned earlier is a user desire for active, communicative brands on social media. Social media has become many users’ go-to platform for customer service and direct communications with brands, meaning that if you want your profile to be well received you need to engage in conversation and respond to comments.

It also means that you can and should participate in social trends where you can, managing the receipt of comments and messages and taking the time to demonstrate active engagement with your community.

Utilising Paid Advertising

Social media has the power to give brands a national or even global platform organically. But when it comes to building a brand and establishing yourself as an authority figure, you might find that paid advertising is a useful resource for targeted advertising and growth.

Paid ads can be built and fine-tuned to appeal directly to your target audience, expanding reach and getting your messages in the eye-line of those who are most likely to respond.

Influencer Collaborations

Another tool used by brands and businesses looking to expand and build their profile is collaborations - whether that be with authority figures in their industry or with social influencers.

These are users with a large following, who can catapult brand names and products to new heights and to a broad audience in record time. To effectively leverage influencers to help build your brand, it’s best to work selectively with influencers that reflect your brand values and engage regularly with your target audience.

Monitoring and Adapting

Finally, as always, it’s important to use the resources available to you in order to keep improving. The more you listen to your audience and what they want / need from you, the better your online and social presence will be.

Monitoring conversion and the effectiveness of various social media strategies and campaigns is one of the best ways of ensuring you are always improving engagement and, subsequently, your sales.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the rise of social media over the years, it’s that brands who use social media effectively and creatively can surpass the competition virtually overnight. For advice on how to build your brand and establish a successful social presence, get in touch with Social Loop and book a consultation call with the team.

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