A Concise Analysis of How Brands Work On Social Media

The world is moving online, and so are brands. Some are catching on to the idea of getting on social media sooner than others. However, slowly but steadily most of them are moving online. Additionally, some brands are making the right kind of online noises and increasing the following, while others are still trying to get their minds around the right social media strategy to adapt. Before we discuss strategy though, it is important to see why a brand must try and stay online first.

Social Media for Business is inevitable in these times. Here are 8 reasons why a brand, therefore, must make a robust and effective presence on social media.

Why brands are Using Social Media

1. Customers are online: Every brand is coming to terms with the fact that whether they like it or not, most of their customers are online. The customer is looking to social media for recommendations and information on products and services. Brands will have to be online to be seen and stay relevant.
2. Customers listen better: Customers are more receptive to information on Social Media. This is because they come on social media for fun and with a relaxed mind, usually not to meet deadlines. They are looking for casual information, happy to explore new things, learn about what is latest and more. A Social Media Expert will tell you that you are better served to be online and talking to customers through social media.
3. Recognition and traffic increase: Being online increases a brand’s visibility. As the social media presence increases the brand recall is better. When customers increasingly see brands online, the chances of the traffic on the brand’s website, and the credibility of the brand also increase.
4. Target specific audiences: Social media allows brands to filter down to the last potential customer while targeting specific audiences. Brands can use specific techniques to captivate clients on social media. Targeting and retargeting specific potential customers will increase audiences and conversion rates.
5. Better search engine ranking: When a brand’s presence on social media increases and the brand is active online its search engine ranking automatically increases. Social media marketing is one of the best strategies to increase ranking. A better ranking means potential customers will have higher chances of seeing your brands in their search results.
6. Gain customer insight: Customers do not just come to social media these days for reviews and recommendations on products or services, they also come to provide feedback. A Social Media Strategist will tell you to listen to your customers and read what potential customers are reading and fix it both in the product or service and communication.
7. Increased Brand Loyalty: An online brand tends to have better brand loyalty. For 80% of social marketers’ increasing brand awareness is the biggest goals they plan to achieve. Many studies also suggest brands that interact with their customers tend to have longer, deeper, and more meaningful relationships with their customers. The interactions and exchanges help customers believe that the brand cares for them and therefore takes more interest in the brand’s success.
8. Competition is online: Despite whether you like it or not, your competitors are adapting to social media and finding new market spaces online. If a brand is online, they are getting a piece of the market, if they are not, they are clearly losing out of that market share. Coming online and being relevant helps potential customers know that you are a viable option and an alternative to the competitive narrative.

These are just some of the reasons why as a brand one would choose to be on social media and online. However, it is also true that most social media campaigns, if not strategized properly, may fall flat. Therefore, strategizing a social media campaign is as important as being on social media, if not more. Here are some of the thumb rules that brands follow to ensure that their brands flourish on social media.

A Concise Analysis of How brands work on Social media

The following are 8 things that brands follow to ensure that their communication on social media platforms works. These help brands reach the intended goals of social media marketing:

1. Ensure Consistent Messaging: Brands that have a good impact on social media are usually those who are consistent with their messaging across social media platforms. Brand building is not something that takes place instantly, it takes a long time, constant engagement with customers, ensuring product or service consistency over some time.  Therefore, it is important that messaging across different platforms remains consistent. This provides better recall. A good Social Media Strategist knows that and plans accordingly.
2. Visuals and Voice: The logo, color selection, icons used, all of these are important aspects of visual branding. Additionally, the voice of the different campaigns, the conversations surrounding a product or service, the tone used are all vital aspects for a brand. A great brand’s social media will have everything in-line with all the communication going out of the brand. Nike is one of those brands that have a successful social media presence. They have the same messaging and voice and focus on sports across social media platforms.
3. Human-like interaction: Nobody likes to talk to a machine or a bot. Therefore, ensure that your interaction with your audiences is person to person. When running a social media campaign for businesses, make sure the information is quirky and interesting. Stay away from the robotic voice or the corporate talk down. Instead do have human-like interactions. Many brands keep conversations personal. The brands that make their interaction witty tend to do better on social media.
4. Follow Marketing Personas: For each of the different networks, you will have to create your own space and voice and persona. For instance, if you are engaging with a TikTok audience you will have to create a young interactive voice, alternatively content for Facebook will not be as young. So, ensure that you understand the persona you want to showcase in the different social media platforms. Though the messaging should be the same, how you talk to each of your audiences must be targeted to the specific audience.
5. Have conversations: Any social media expert will tell you that you have to stop trying to sell things to your customers. Instead, you have to try and get them to engage with you. Plugging your content will throw people off. With personalization being offered across the board, the brands that interact the most typically tend to have a larger loyal base. When a brand tries to talk to people and responds to even the bad reviews, it gains the customer’s trust.
6. Storytelling: Everyone likes a good story. A brand that is a success on social media is a brand that is not afraid to tell its story. A good story touches people’s hearts and gets customers to buy into, trust, and be invested in the product or service. Social media for businesses can certainly be a success if the brand tells interesting stories and includes the customers to engage in it as well. It not only makes them stay interested it also makes them feel like they are a part of the team.
7. Create Different Accounts: If a brand is large enough and paced across the world, a brand that knows it’s social media and customer reach knows that it can create different accounts to cater to different audiences. Creating an account based on different locations helps brands focus on certain kinds of campaigns for certain locations. It enables you to hyper-focus on specific audiences.
8. Be transparent: Say it as you see it. If something is going on, be honest with your customers. Good or bad, transparency is important for every relationship. That is true even with the brand and customer relationship. Being transparent makes you more trustworthy, and gives customers a feeling that they are getting an inside scene of the product or service that personalizes it for them and makes them feel more loyal.

These are only some of the reasons brands work, there are clearly a lot more reasons why a brand works when it comes to social media. However, despite everything else, a brand that prioritizes its customers is more likely to succeed when compared to brands that do social media for the sake of doing it. Social media and the time brands spend on it is an important determinant for the success of the brand. Customers are understanding of mistakes and slip-ups, but what they are not forgiving of is a brand’s indifference. So, don’t wait, get online and start chatting.