What started out as a way of connecting with friends and family has grown into a powerful tool for brand management. Social media has transformed the world into a tiny village and those looking to popularize their brands can leverage its effectiveness for this. Social media knows no borders and content posted in one part of the world can be accessed in real time several continents away. Traditionally, the only way people and institutions would advertise their product and service offering and expect to reach a wide audience was through print and electronic media. But that is not the case anymore. These methods are restrictive in nature since they are only effective if your audience has access to the media your advert is posted. This includes newspapers, magazines, televisions and stereo systems. Considering that not everyone has access to these platforms, advertising on these channels is somewhat ineffective. Firms would also have to pay high premiums to get their adverts posted during prime time and this further eats into their finances. Enter social media.
Social Media as an Effective Tool for Brand Awareness.
Social media includes platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. These are just but the major players with others such as WhatsApp and Google+ proving efficient tools for social engagements and communication. Unlike print and electronic media that require physical and sometimes expensive equipment for effective communication, that entire social media requires for effective communication is a stable internet connection. With your Smartphone or personal PC, you can log into your favorite social media platform to see what’s going on elsewhere in the world. The fact that you can access many of these platforms from any mobile device increases the scope and reach of social media. Brands looking to increase their popularity can, therefore, rely on social media to do that. Surprisingly enough, you don’t have to pay a cent for this. All you have to do is to open an account in any of the social media platforms and post relevant content there. Let’s now take a look at how you can use social media to effectively popularize your brand.
1. Choose the Right Social Media Platform For Your Brand.
The social media platform you choose for your brand management has an effect on the effectiveness of your marketing campaign. These social media platforms are populated by different groups of people and it is up to you as a brand to pick the platform that best serves your interests. Picking the wrong platform limits your visibility and this goes against the principles of sales and marketing. Here is a breakdown of the different platforms and how effective they are for brand promotion and marketing.
Facebook.
Of all the social media platforms that you can use for your brand awareness campaign, the best that you can use is Facebook. Facebook is used by a lot of people and this makes it a great avenue to promote your brand. It is as popular in America as it is in other parts of the world. It is popular among the youth just as it is among the elderly members of society. This heterogeneous nature makes it ideal for promoting almost any brand. Local firms can use it to popularize their brands in their locale just as global multinationals can use it to increase their footprint across the world.
LinkedIn.
LinkedIn has a profession and business look to it and this makes it ideal for promoting cooperate content. Professionals can use the platform to advertise their skills and competencies. Legal experts, sales executives, and other professionals can use it to popularize their brands. LinkedIn, however, is great for businesses that offer services as opposed to those that that deal with physical goods. This includes businesses such as law firms, professional engineering firms as well as professional cleaners and marketing professionals. The population in LinkedIn is composed mainly of old and working class individuals and this makes it less ideal for advertising items meant for the youth. This includes items such as trendy clothes, shoes, and fashion items.
Instagram.
Built as a platform for sharing images, Instagram is ideal for brands that rely on images to share the offerings. This includes retailers and firms that sell fashion items and accessories. The largest constituent of Instagram users is the youth and this makes it great for promoting content and items for the youth.
2. Generate Great Content.
Social media marketing relies heavily on shares and this makes developing great content very important. Social media users are very choosy when it comes to content. They ignore any poor and sub-standard content posted on the platforms and share those they consider great. As a brand, you give yourself a great marketing boost when you post valuable content since your followers may share your posts on their timelines and this increases your brand’s visibility. Your posts should not be boring and they should contain images so as to make them appealing. Avoid getting too sales when posting on social media since most users find posts of this nature boring. Have fun when posting and rather than uploading a long post on why your products are the best in the market, a meme or a gif would do. They are fun and light-hearted and they could be what you need to get people excited about your brand.
3. Use Social Media Influencers To Promote Your Content.
Sometimes great content is not enough to give you the visibility that you need on social media. Building a reputation on social media takes time and it may be long before you can have a sizeable following on these platforms. You may post great content but that may have no impact if it is only viewed by a handful of people. It is particularly tough for small businesses with very few followers to promote their brands and that is where social media influencers come in. Social media influencers are social media users with huge followings. Their posts are visible to a huge audience and this makes working with them a great way to get your content out there. You may have to pay them to promote your content but this is a small price to pay for the added visibility and brand awareness.
4. Hire A Social Media Manager.
The significance of social media in the growth of businesses makes hiring a social media manager very important. This manager will be tasked with posting content on the different platforms as well as recruiting influencers and followers. This provides you with enough time to do other activities without worrying about your social media engagements. Social media is interactive in nature and you should expect comments and reactions with your posts and uploads. The social media manager will be tasked with responding to the comments in line with the brand’s objective and purpose. Responding to the concerns raised by your followers is very important if you want to portray an image of consciousness and approachability.
5. Link Your Social Media Accounts To Your E-Commerce Site.
If you are running an e-commerce site, then you should make sure that your followers on social media can easily get to your site to access your offerings. Social media provides you with a great avenue to market products but if your followers cannot transit to your site to make a purchase, then your marketing efforts may be futile. Social media users are somehow lazy and if it happens that they have to open another tab to access your e-commerce platform, most would opt not to. Social media is flooded with brands similar to yours and all that someone has to do to find similar products is to scroll down their timelines. To make the transition seamless, you can incorporate social media plugins that will take your followers on social media to your e-commerce site in one click. Work with a reputable digital company so as ensure that these two platforms are linked effectively.
6. Implement Great Social Media Campaigns.
This is another way of enhancing your brand awareness efforts on social media. It also makes your brand interactive and this greatly improves your online visibility and presence. The key to great social media campaigns is to incentivize them. Offer your followers incentives when they successfully participate in your campaigns. A great example could be to offer vouchers or price discounts to the participants who share or retweet your brand’s content. You can ask a question and anyone who gives the correct answer gets a specific prize. This will make your brand interactive and help you create a powerful online presence. The buzz created by the campaign could make your brand trend and this is great from a marketing point of view.
Conclusion.
Social media is a powerful tool that can be used for marketing. The fact that a huge portion of the world population has social media accounts makes it a great tool for promoting brands online. When used in the right way, social media will help you communicate your brand’s objectives and to attract more clients.