Key Strategies to Build your Social Media Brand

Almost everyone has a social media account, but is it used correctly? With 3.5 billion social media users and counting, the use of social platforms continues to grow. Sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube are staples in every marketing toolkit. It can be intimidating to start the journey to build your social media brand. However, if used correctly, you can reach potential customers and grow your audience and engagement.

 

Learn your Social Media Audience

 

First and foremost, you need to know who you are talking to on social media. Knowing your audience is key, because if you can’t give your audience what they want, they won’t give you what you want: their business. 

 

You should rely on data to determine your target audience. Look at your customers who are already buying from you. What is their age, where are they located, how much money do they have to spend, what are their interests? 

 

Once you understand the characteristics of your audience, you can craft your messaging to fit the mold of your customers. If you’re still having trouble defining your audience, check out this blog by Hootsuite.

 

Define your Social Media Brand’s Voice and Tone

 

Once you know your audience, it is important to define your voice and tone. What does that mean? Your voice should stay constant. Define how you communicate with people. Your tone however will change. Your tone could be happy, like you’re out to dinner with friends, or serious, like you’re in a meeting with your boss. Once you know your tone, it is ok to be funny, or have an informal tone, but don’t go out of your way to do so. 

 

Know your reader’s state of mind. If you know why your reader visits your page, or reads your post, you will know what type of tone to use. If educating your audience is your goal, keep your tone more formal and less humorous. Knowing your customers’ emotional state can help you adjust your tone accordingly. 

 

Set Social Media Goals and Have a Strategy to Build Your Brand

 

You have your target audience, you know your voice, now set goals and have a strategy for posting. Set goals by using the SMART method. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Bound. If your goals meet all of these requirements, then you are good to go. 

 

Then define your strategy. A strategy will help you save time and give you a direction when you start crafting posts. What works on one platform, might not work on another platform. This means you’ll have to prepare specific content for each platform. Instagram is great for sharing images and videos, while Facebook is great for sharing text, links, images and videos. 

 

Lastly, use a calendar to help organize your material. Content schedulers like CoSchedule or Sprout Social will help save you time and organize your content. You can link these resources directly to your social platforms and schedule your posts for the future so you don’t have to do it manually.  

 

Respond Quickly and be Active with your Social Media Audience

 

Once your audience views your content, stay active within your community. Know what people are saying about your brand. Monitor your channels and capture the mentions. 

 

Celebrate the happy customers and respond to the negative ones. According to a survey done by Sprout Social, by being responsive you can prompt the consumer to make a decision to buy from you. Listen to your audience and learn from them to help build your social media brand.