A digital agency helps to develop a powerful, branded social media presence, which is a challenging one cannot easily overcome. It involves not just knowing the social media platforms and how to use them but also, the type of content and visual which can be most effective to develop brand strategies.
Having said that, these tips can help develop your social media branding strategy:
Persona marketing:
Ever wondered how you seem to recall a product or a brand just because the logo looks familiar? In a similar manner, every brand needs to have a strong yet memorable logo which must be uploaded on the profile picture section of every social media platform an agency wishes its presence to be on.
This should be followed up with ‘community engagement’. Algorithms on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram changes constantly but one thing remains consistent. It is all about engagement with fellow users and agencies which can harness this is widely successful in improving their brand strategy. A simple RT with a comment on Twitter to tagging a user handle when sharing their post on either Facebook or Instagram is some of the popular ways to harness brand visibility.
Understanding what social media users are looking for on various platforms and using it to your advantage is the challenge faced by every digital agency.
Consistent Posting:
Consistency is key to every build-up of success, a cornerstone. If your social media profiles are consistent across different platforms with positivity and insightful response, then your visitors will form positive associations. This will ensure brand uniqueness and help build consistent followers to your digital account.
Branding is the most significant selling point. The emphasis is always on visual content as human brain retains what they see. Prioritizing custom images for clients, editing videos best suited for the clients, keeping in mind what the current demand is can be ensured via social media analytics.
The visual strategy includes the content of a few go-to elements:
- Custom images
- Emoji
- Gifs
- Videos
- Memes
Every social network has certain native functionalities. You can post the same content across every social channel, but that comes off as a lazy solution and does not help your cause. However, you can engage audiences by sharing original and third-party party content that ties into brand messages, or running contests and social events related to them.
For instance, when you create content for Snapchat, it’s expected to have a raw, behind-the-scenes vibe with colourful filters and vibrant colours. The users on the platform especially like seeing vertical videos of people on the move (shot through mobile phones). Similarly, Instagram users prefer beautiful photos with/without filters. And, on Twitter, users expect your message to end within 280 characters, which can be challenging to keep it crisp and short! As a result, social media platforms can turn out to be tricky if you do not know exactly what to do where.
Continuous engagement:
If the client requirements demand different kinds of people across social networks than you’ll need to create multiple brand personas. And, your social media updates need to appeal to every section of your target audience. Social media agency helps to be the bridge between the client and the audience by understanding what the audience demands and empowering the audience about what to expect in the future from the brand. You can always have a sorted social media strategy in place, excel at consistency and authenticity, and empower your target audience–and then get derailed with criticism.
Mishandling criticism can often lead to a backlash, and can destroy your brand image and your media marketing efforts, placing you in an uncomfortable situation which I am sure one would not be exactly fond of! Determining this ahead of time will allow you to work with your team to choose the wisest path.
Ongoing analysis:
ROI of branding and social media service- Social media service, with its real-time connection, tends to lend itself to an expectation of quick results. However, this can’t always be the case (and rarely is), which is why a long-term social media strategy and a consistent brand on social media are so key for a successful social media agency.
As with any marketing activity, you must regularly analyze your social media branding efforts to ensure your tactics are working, using social media analytics. Otherwise, you lack insight into your performance, positive or negative. Any digital agency can spend countless hours and a sizeable chunk of budget to creating brand awareness strategies. But without data and analytics, these strategies will often fail as you are taking into account the audience’s timing, and interests. Data can show which type of posts garnered more engagement and reach and creating similar posts will yield better results. Ongoing analysis is crucial to successful branding on social media and enacting a social media monitoring strategy ensures you don’t miss opportunities to build brand identity.
For example, consumers may forget to tag you or misspell your handle. You can monitor company-related keywords and hashtags to pick up on their posts and strike up a conversation and build a brand persona. Tracking industry keywords can also uncover engagement opportunities and openings to discuss your business.
It is apt to conclude that it is of major importance for digital marketers to ensure their activities — ranging from social media campaigns to active social media monitoring — help establish a clear brand identity and thus, help you build a following.
This, in essence, means you shouldn’t post for the sole intention of getting shares and winning followers. Instead, think about how your actions can support brand goals and perception and help empower the society with the thoughts of the brand.
