Where Did Your Social Branding Go?
You are busy – I know. But during the many changes within your business, did you happen to notice in the midst of it all that maybe you missed updating your social media branding?
Social + Branding = Consistency
If you have found that your social media marketing is not helping to build your brand effectively and grow your following, this might be due to not having the right building blocks in place.
Working with clients to improve their online marketing and conversion, I see this all the time. There is consumer confusion when your Facebook page header is different colors, tag lines, etc than your Twitter page, or your LinkedIn page. There is an old marketing saying that says, “The confused mind says no.” It’s true – you must be consistent, not confusing.
Having a consistent design is a good beginning, then the next step is it’s time to turn the keys in your ignition to ON and get things moving on the road to marketing success.
Social media has evolved to become a necessary component to brand building as these two elements work hand-in-hand. In other words, you can’t have one without the other. Your goal as a business owner is to be seen by as many people in your target market as possible. Each post that is made in your social networks is a direct reflection of your brand’s personality, and you will want to make a great impression that attracts an audience.
A day-by-day, consistent strategy of posting fresh content for your target market that invokes a conversation or share will take your business to the next level. Decide ahead of time a schedule that works for you to eliminate any gaps in your marketing. Servicess like Hootsuite, Rignite, Buffer, and SocialOomph can all help manage and schedule social media content.
A great way to create visibility quickly for your business is to do a design audit of all of your social networks and determine whether these have a similar image and message across the board for our audience to recognize. Here is an example of how I have set up Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, which all reflect my current website design:
In what other areas can your business create a consistent and effective social media strategy?
Let’s take a look at a few other things to focus on:
● Your marketing ‘voice.’ What are the needs of your target market and what type of content do your followers expect? Depending on what type of business you have, sticking to this style of communication across all of your social networks creates a consistent and easily recognized brand that people can relate to.
● Staying on a regular schedule. When your business takes into account the specific demographics of the audience it is easier to make set times for optimal posting. This is a trial and error process that takes some time, but you will notice more activity and response at certain times of the day and week. Twitter and Facebook especially offer wonderful analytics tools to help you track your activity. Here is an example of what this looks like on the Twitter Analytics page, which you can apply for on Twitter for your account:
● Your username should be easy to follow – When a business creates several different user names for each social network this can become very confusing for their followers. A simple, clear, and consistent name is important, and should tie in directly with your website. It’s always good practice to grab your username on the major social networks before the branding process begins.
It is worth the extra time to perform a social branding audit of your networks and find out how your business’s image is being presented and communicated to your target market. Once these simple elements are in the place you should find that is it much easier to remain focused in your marketing and soon you will find your brand attracting more followers and leads.
An added productivity tip: Don’t allow your business to be glued to social media conversations all of the time. Instead, check in a few times throughout the day. This shows your followers that you are still actively engaging with them while you are getting your actual business underway.
Susan Gilbert
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