Here’s the thing about operating your own brand in this day and age: if it doesn’t exist on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, it doesn’t exist at all.
These are tools that every business needs to get on top of because they are not only there for you to upload pretty pictures, but also a way for you to connect to generate potential leads, speak to existing customers and also a space to perform service recovery should there be a failure anywhere along the delivery.
Whether yours is a small start up or an established corporation, here’s our guide to marketing your brand on social media. Remember one rule when it comes to social media marketing: attention is the new oil.
Set Aside Time And/Or rRsources
Managing social media platforms is a demanding one as your customers are online anytime they’re awake. If yours is a global business, that can be a 24/7 job. Hire a freelance social media manager if you have the means to, or set aside some time daily to manage it. This means if you’re on Instagram, actively liking pictures by users who use hashtags related to your business. This will get your brand noticed and interested users will tap on your profile.
Have A Content Calendar
What gets organised, gets managed and starting a simple calendar where you plan ahead of time what to post will take the pain out of constantly thinking about the content you put out. For instance, it’s January and we all know Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day will be happening next month. Take some time to plan the sort of content you would publish around those dates. A little bit goes a long way, and remember that it’s better for your followers to see something simple so your brand remains visible than to stay entirely silent.
Develop Your Voice
Once you have a content calendar going, start thinking about how you wish to communicate with your followers. Is your brand image a cheerful one? Do you cater more to a specific gender or interest group? For instance, if yours is a yoga clothing brand for women, adopting a female tone of voice and posting topics that interest other women would be the way to go. The idea is to be part of the conversation as a brand. Remember to stick to casual language as far as possible as social media is a casual space.
Monitor Your Analytics
So you’ve been running your social media platforms for a while now and posting regularly. On top of planning your content calendar, always check in on your analytics to see the sort of posts that are doing well. This will give you a rough gauge on the type of content that your followers want to see and engage with. From there, you can amplify the content that works and reduce the ones that don’t.