Let\u2019s dive in!<\/p>\n
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1. Share valuable content<\/h3>\n
\u201cThe most important aspect of building a social brand is providing value. That means thoughtful content that helps your target audience succeed: things like blog posts, videos, visuals and more. It can also mean curating important ideas from other leaders in your space.<\/p>\n
If you provide value, you\u2019ll get shares and more and more followers. Most importantly, those followers will be predisposed to your point of view because they like your ideas, so they\u2019ll be more valuable to you in the long run, and their shares will get you even more followers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Matthew Turner, President, Boston Turner Group<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cCutting through the noise of saturated social media channels isn\u2019t easy, but it can be done through creating laser-focused ads and engaging campaigns that have an edge.<\/p>\n You can\u2019t spark social engagement without nailing down your fundamental brand message and delivering that value to your customers accordingly. From there, when you start driving contest campaigns and asking community-related questions, your clientele will want to make the effort because they believe in your product and services.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Nina Pfister, Growth Consultant, Mooring Advisory Group<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cFirst, seek out your audience. Too many brands spread themselves thin by trying to be everywhere. Figure out where the folks you want to sell to are and focus on meeting them on their turf. Then, focus on contributing to organic discussion.<\/p>\n Answer questions, ask questions and offer original content that\u2019s not cramming whatever you\u2019re selling down their throats. Pay attention to current topics and trends! Consistently offering insight and information that\u2019s relevant in real-time will pay dividends.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Rob Boston, President, Risr Marketing & Growth Solutions<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cToo many small business owners venture into social media expecting instant results from a couple of Facebook posts. It doesn\u2019t work that way. It\u2019s incredibly important to identify your target audience; a digital persona takes a bit of time, but it helps you understand your target audience in excruciating detail.<\/p>\n Then, you\u2019ll have to come up with an editorial schedule. Building a strong brand <\/a>requires consistency \u2014 even if you aren\u2019t seeing the numbers that you expected.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll need to constantly create fresh content around your intended tone, curate existing content from similar brands, and do it consistently for a long period. In short, branding takes planning, time, creativity, and consistency.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Aaron Lin, Managing Director, Ignitive<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cSocial media is about being social. When someone comments on your post, don\u2019t let it sit there unacknowledged. When someone asks a question, don\u2019t let it sit there unanswered.<\/p>\n Social media is the best way to show the personality of your company; don\u2019t turn your accounts into link cannons that just shoot links at people in the hopes they\u2019ll click on one once in a while.<\/p>\n Ask questions of your users, ask them to share things that are worth sharing and send you photos. Give them a reason to interact with your business and they will.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Rob Swystun, Business Communications Specialist<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cGenuine interaction is the best way to attract an audience. Like, share, and reply to posts that relate to your business or cause, and provide helpful solutions to customers without pushing a hard sell.<\/p>\n For this to work, a brand should have two functions or roles related to social media. The first is social media management, which involves curating and sharing content, and moderating the accounts.<\/p>\n The second is community management, which involves going a step further to interact with the community most likely to become customers, to provide solutions, and catch complaints before they become a serious problem.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Alexis Chateau, Founder & Managing Director, Alexis Chateau PR<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cVisuals play an important part in building an effective brand on social media. Posts that include images receive much higher engagement rates than text-only posts. You also want your branding to be consistent across all channels through the use of visuals to help people instantly recognize your brand.<\/p>\n This goes far beyond just using your brand\u2019s logo. In fact, brands should be using a consistent color scheme across all social media channels to reach a point where people associate those colors with your brand without your logo design<\/a> even being present.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Jake Messier, COO, Mungo Creative Group<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cCreating evergreen content is easier said than done. A typical post on social media, especially on Twitter or Facebook, can have a very short lifespan. You may work in a boring or dry industry, but you can still find a way to make your posts stand out despite the subject matter.<\/p>\n The bottom line is this: Don\u2019t publish content with a short shelf life. Consider solving common and persistent problems in your industry. Even better, try to post something educational and funny. Humor, shock, or awe are great emotions to target with evergreen content.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Bradley Shaw, Digital Marketing Consultant<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cSeek out users using relevant hashtags and interact with their posts authentically. Generic comments won\u2019t get you very far. And use hashtags effectively \u2014 simply saturating your posts with any trending hashtag is unlikely to achieve results.<\/p>\n Instead, study your target audience carefully to see what hashtags can get you in front of them, and incorporate those tags only when your post aligns with the content usually shared with those tags. Your best shot of securing a following with this method is to focus on top-ranking hashtags, and share content that will stand out among the crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Laura Ure, Owner, Keenability<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cMy biggest tip is not to make it all about you. There\u2019s a great temptation to use social media to market your brand, products, or services, but social media is more about connecting to your audience.<\/p>\n The best way to do that is to make the majority of your posts \u2014 at least 80% but ideally up to 90% \u2014 third-party content of interest to your target audience. This will help you grow your audience and build a higher level of engagement, and it\u2019s the continuing engagement that increases your brand equity.<\/p>\n The best way to find engaging content to fill your feed is either to set up Google news alerts for topics of interest to your prospects and potential customers or to leverage a social media publishing platform that sources relevant third-party content for you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Bryan B. Bridges, Director of Digital Strategy, Lumentus \u201cSure, you have competitors that do essentially the same thing as you do. But they\u2019re not YOU, and that\u2019s your superpower on social media.<\/p>\n Tell your followers about the solution your business provides, but also be real with them. Show them the personality behind what you do. Then, your ideal customer can get to know, like, and trust you enough to choose you when the time comes to invest in your product or service. Facebook Live and Instagram Stories are an ideal way to bring your ideal customer \u201cbehind the scenes\u201d and get them to genuinely like you and your team.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Britney Kolodziej, Owner\/CEO, JAM Marketing Group<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI like to do the majority of my social media outreach on social forums like Quora. Sites like Quora are a marketer\u2019s dream because they offer the opportunity to be genuinely helpful to the client base without being too self-serving.<\/p>\n Most companies handle their social media outreach from the perspective of their own company only. They\u2019re focused on promotion, while they should be focused on engagement and community building. People flock to the expert. Use social media to show that you\u2019re the expert. If you\u2019re that good, people will want to learn more about you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Augustin Kennady, Media\u00a0Relations Director, ShipMonk<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cSocial media is a fantastic source to start building your brand because you can develop the standard branding features \u2014 colors, logos, and fonts \u2014 but you can also begin to develop the other things.<\/p>\n As a small or new business, you have the freedom to experiment. You have the freedom to fail without the world knowing or watching. Don\u2019t be afraid to put up a post or try a campaign. If it doesn\u2019t work, take it down.<\/p>\n Finally, remember, it\u2019s better to do one thing really well than five things poorly. Don\u2019t feel like you have to be on all of the networks on day one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Mitchell Brudy, Head of Marketing and Communications, Freiwald Law<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n2. Nail your message<\/h3>\n
\n3. Share, don\u2019t sell<\/h3>\n
\n4. Play the long game<\/h3>\n
\n5. Be a social butterfly<\/h3>\n
![\"camera](\"https:\/\/cdn.logojoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/13112156\/social-media-business-camera.png\")
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\n6. Take a two-function approach<\/h3>\n
\n7. Get visual<\/h3>\n
![\"looka](\"https:\/\/cdn.logojoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/13112843\/social-media-business-looka.png\")
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\n8. Think evergreen (a.k.a. timeless)<\/h3>\n
\n9. Be a hashtag hustler<\/h3>\n
![\"hashtag](\"https:\/\/cdn.logojoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/13112324\/social-media-business-hashtag.png\")
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\n10. Do it for your audience<\/h3>\n
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\n11. Show followers who you really are<\/h3>\n
\n12. Be an expert<\/h3>\n
\n13. Try new things<\/h3>\n