A brand is defined as a name, symbol, or feature that differentiates one seller’s product from those of others. Branding is about creating a unique and specialized image or message that will resonate with the consumer and set them apart from everyone else. In today’s market, if a company’s brand has no online presence, especially if they lack a defining social media presence, their voice will be drowned out by competitors.
Successful branding in the social media marketplace requires a combination of social intelligence, advertising and marketing expertise, and tech savvy. One must be in touch with both the brand or company’s message as well as the interests of its target demographic. Essentially, it is condensing the brand’s vision to concise, engaging content that can be easily absorbed by the consumer.
Part of successfully using social media to help promote a brand is knowing what avenues will best support your brand’s image. In other words, knowing which social media network is the best for you. The only way to make a masterpiece is to use the right medium; branding on social media is no different. While platforms like Facebook basically give you free reign over the amount of copy written or the number of pictures added for a certain post, they don’t allow for the same interactivity that the likes of Twitter and Instagram support. Certain platforms are more popular with one gender than the other, so depending on the demographic a brand seeks to engage, it would behoove them to use the platforms that resonate with their followers. Using social media for branding, or any other aspect of marketing really, is about knowing where your audience is and being present there at all times.
Staying relevant in the social media game means developing and implementing a content strategy that will engage the audience and draw future followers in. Reputations in social media are built through content. Sharing quality content that is specifically designed for your followers will ensure not only more interactivity between the company and its consumers, but also more traffic directed to the brand. It is crucial that any content going up on a brand’s social media page is something that appeals to the target demographic’s interest and is something that they will in turn share on their own pages. Any post, regardless of the platform, must be able to hook in social media users visually before the audience can be reached intellectually or emotionally.
As important as content and understanding the target demographic is, perhaps the most important part of branding on social media is staying consistent with the voice of the brand and with the expectation of the brand’s followers. Building integrity through congruity between your actions and your arguments is absolutely necessary in order to foster loyalty from the audience. If what is being published on a brand’s social media page does not line up with the message of the brand, the brand loses credibility. It is pivotal to, as Socrates said, “be in reality what we appear to be”. A brand cannot succeed in social media if they contradict their image with irrelevant content.
Social media has become a staple in every business or marketing plan because it provides an efficient and practical platform to sell a company’s vision. In today’s economy, the consumers live on the web, through various profiles on countless social networks. It is pertinent to the success of a brand to use this to their advantage to increase their consumer base and their influence.
