Social media can be one of the most useful tools to build a brand if used correctly. There are some things to keep in mind when building a branding strategy that makes it much easier to understand and execute.
You may be asking yourself, why should I look into branding in the first place? The answer is simple, the most successful companies have top-notch branding. Companies like Coca-Cola and Apple use branding to connect to their audience and create a solid image; most of that branding is done via social media.
Find Your Voice
Having a consistent voice online allows customers to connect with your business on a deeper level. It provides them with a greater understanding of what your company is about. Imagine if a car company wrote as if they were talking to children or a children’s clothing company speaking to car people. It seems strange right?
Your online voice should be reflective of your brand’s message. That voice should remain consistent throughout the life of your company unless you decide to pivot away from your original message.
Begin by finding a voice that isn’t distant or cold, but instead one that will engage your audience. To find your perfect voice start to compile describing words that you want to be associated with your business. For example: warm, spontaneous, polished or humorous. Once you have a list created, think about how those can apply to written posts, this will lead you to word choices that fit perfectly with your brand image.
Be Consistent
One big mistake companies make in the early stages of branding is forgetting about consistency. If your goal is to create a recognizable brand that stands out from the competition, you need to be consistent and cohesive. Things as small as font types and color palettes should be the same across the board.
Having a consistent voice and style allows the audience to recognize your brand on social media without even having to see your name or logo. Being a recognizable brand means you’ve infiltrated the customer’s mind.
It is also imperative to have consistency in usernames and social media handles. Each of your social media platforms should have the same name and username in order to make it easier for your audience to find you. Consistency’s purpose is to prevent any confusion in relation to your brand. When each of your social media platforms has the same username engagement is more likely to increase because your social media pages are more likely to show up in a search.
Seek Outside Help
So maybe branding isn’t your specialty, but there are people whose specialty it is. Cobalt’s marketing team is a one-stop source of professional advice with social media and branding. Cobalt specializes in building long-lasting brands that stand out from the crowd. We are able to produce consistent brand images and tones across all platforms for our clients by providing specialized graphic, photography, and social media content.
The best companies are the ones that take the time to understand your brand beyond the surface level.
It’s helpful to set goals for branding your business so professionals can work with you to achieve them. Having goals creates a clear path to what your brand should be in order to achieve sustainable growth.
Scope Out the Competition
Social media is a window into the competitive world, use it to your advantage when branding. Monitor what your competition does in respect to branding to see what is working for them and what isn’t. Apply that knowledge back into your branding. The competition is your friend, don’t be afraid to collaborate over social media if it provides both brands mutual gain.
When branding via social media you can never stop learning. Pay close attention to what is trending in your market and follow, but don’t get too comfortable! Trends within your market and competition are ever-changing making it extremely important to avoid complacency.
How to Post
You need to post often, but not too often. Posting not enough means people won’t see your brand, posting too much will saturate the feed and social media platforms will stop showing your content as much. There are ways to track when the optimal times to post are for your brand so you will get as much engagement as possible, engines like Google Analytics and Google Ads can provide that information.
There’s a balance that should be kept when posting online, make sure your content is informative, but also engaging and quick to consume. In order to engage your audience, you should focus on visuals to tell your story rather than long, drawn-out explanations.
According to an article by Ayat Shukairy of invesp, the optimal length of a video ad should fall between 1-30 seconds, past the 30-second mark users begin to click away.
Catch the user’s eye, give them the most important information, and provide them with a call-to-action that will allow them to learn and engage more.
Be Smart
PLAN, PLAN, PLAN, PLAN! Know what you want to post when to post it and what you want to say. Eliminate any confusion that may occur when posting last minute. To reiterate the past section, pay attention to the most popular times to post and the most popular days will up your brand recognition.
Take advantage of social media features such as paid promotions and hashtags. Paid promotions are advertisements that can reach a wide range of people at a low cost. Hashtags are an important way to identify specific topics, using hashtags puts your posts in a collection of similar posts. Those looking through said hashtag will now be introduced to your business.
Focus your efforts on the right social media platforms for your brand. Time is often wasted by creating and posting content on platforms that won’t provide results! Think about who would be more likely to engage with your brand and where they would turn for online interactions.
Clean up your past and pay attention to your future. Any past posts on your social media channels that no longer relate to your brand’s messages or may not be the same quality as the content you post now, have to go. Remove anything you wouldn’t want to be connected back to your current brand image. The same goes for future posts, plan out everything so you are staying on brand.
Marketing is moving towards social media at a rapid rate which can be difficult to follow but provides definite results when done correctly. If you are looking for further guidance on social media branding contact Cobalt’s marketing team to get you started!
