Distinguishing Yourself on Social Media
Staying relevant on social media is a task that users have been increasingly trying to keep up with. It can be difficult to even start up your business’s social media pages, never mind keeping the momentum going to increase your follower base and keep engagement up. Since there are so many profiles of similar businesses that offer the same products and services, it can be a challenge to stand out from the rest to gain that follow. There are several strategies to build your online presence, but the execution must be very thought out. Creating your presence on social media, which is unique to your own brand, will differentiate your business from the rest. Finding that niche audience in the market will have your business and engagement booming.
What is Branding?
It all starts with branding. A brand is one of the most valuable and significant assets a company can have. Branding is not just a logo. It is how a business will be perceived in the market based off of its objectives and goals. Marketing teams create brand boards to help shape how the company will be recognized and identified by consumers. Slogans, colors, themes, and logos all contribute to a company’s overall brand.
Content, Content, Content
The type of content posted is important and must reflect what the business is as a whole. Staying authentic to your brand’s values is essential and it is how you are going to come off as personable and different. Creating a personable atmosphere on your social media platforms will make you relatable and likeable. Show the behind the scenes of your team, explain your company culture, give advice, do a Q&A with your audience- have fun! However, do not copy the competition. The only way to have authentic growth is to come up with content that is specific to your brand. It is hard to try to overlook what others are doing, especially if their ideas are successful. However, your content needs to be unique to you.
Keeping it Clean
A messy, unorganized profile will certainly not be in your favor. Social media users enjoy clean and concise graphics and pictures. The profile must flow and be visually pleasing with consistent color schemes and filters. Keep it simple. It must be clear what your company is and how your products/ services will overall benefit the consumer. Posts must relate to what your business offers and give the viewer the feeling of “I need this right now”.
Consistency is Key
Now that you have your branding and content down, the key is to keep it consistent. Potential buyers, returning customers, and professionals will be using social media channels to keep themselves updated and connected. The more a customer sees your business and its posts, the more likely they are to remember it. Having your posts be scheduled strategically and consistently will maximize your follower growth. However, finding a balance in your posting schedule is essential. Posting too much could feel extremely repetitive which could ultimately lead to negative feelings towards your business’s profile. Posting too little, on the other hand, could have your brand go unnoticed or even forgotten. Finding that happy medium is what will give your profile that organic reach.
How to Keep it all Organized
It can be overwhelming when you have one hundred fantastic ideas of what to post. Creating content calendars is a perfect way to stay organized and visually see what type of content will be posted. These will allow you to organize the upcoming content and outline what you post and when. They are a perfect way to inspire your team to work together and brainstorm ideas. It will spark a creativity surge that will motivate everyone to think outside the box. Once the calendar is created and agreed upon, your team will completely be on the same page with what is to come. There will not be confusion on who is doing what and people from every position will be able utilize it to keep themselves on track.
Now that every post is planned and outlined, it is now easier to see which posts resulted in better feedback and interaction from your audience. Your content calendar can aide in identifying successful posts and measure their effectiveness. Once you identify the turnout of each individual post, you can alter the ones that were not as popular. You can choose to either reinvent that type of content to be more intriguing to your audience or can throw the idea out and come up with something completely different. Social media is a trial-and-error process. Once you figure out what your viewers enjoy seeing, you must alter your content to something that appeals most to them.
Engagement
Social media is not just about having the most followers. It is about having followers that feel as if they have a connection to your brand and remain loyal to your business. Social media engagement can be defined as how effectively a company interacts with its followers. This can be measured through likes, comments, reposts, mentions and more. Take social media platforms to your advantage by recognizing your followers. Make your customers feel as if they are being seen and take down the invisible divider that separates you from them. Make them feel special. If someone posts a picture and tags your business, repost it and give them a personal DM thanking them. This will create a snowball effect. That customer will feel appreciated and form a positive relation to your company. Followers viewing your repost will see the recognition someone else got, and will want the same for themselves. Thus, potentially posting and tagging you as well. This results in the spreading of your name to their followers and expanding your reach to other potential followers and customers.
Staying relevant on social media without going stale is a goal for must users. Keeping consistency, having unique branding, creating fresh content, and keeping engagement up are just a few necessities to accomplish your social media goals. Being relatable and personable will help in distinguishing your profile from another. All it takes is a little organization and some creative minds to get things started.
Happy marketing! Have any questions? Let us know down below so we can help!