How to Leverage Social Media Influence to Increase Your Brand Identity
You likely already have at least one social media account for your business. But is it doing all that it can?
If your business's social media presence is weak or nonexistent, you're missing out on a huge opportunity to build your brand and connect with your target audience.
In this article, we'll share with you some of the best ways to leverage your existing social media cred to build and strengthen your brand identity!
Converting Clicks Into Customers
Your business' social media account is more than just a place to post updates and promotions.
Don't get stuck in the cycle of only posting about your latest product or sale. Instead, focus on sharing content that is interesting, informative, and helpful to your target audience.
Your "likes" and "hearts" feel nice, sure, but they don't pay the bills. You need to focus on converting your social media followers into paying customers for the time you spend on social media to truly pay off.
Who You Are: Why Branding Matters
Before we dive into the ways you can use social media to drive traffic to your website, let's take a step back and talk about your brand identity.
Who are you as a business? What makes you different from your competitors?
Your brand identity is much more than just your logo or your company name. It's the sum of everything that your business stands for, from your mission and values to your overall style and tone.
Developing a strong brand identity is essential to building long-term relationships with your target audience. After all, people are more likely to do business with companies that they feel they know, like, and trust.
Converting all those likes into paying customers is just half the battle.
Even if you're driving tons of traffic to your website and making lots of sales, it won't matter if you can't keep your customers coming back for more. That's where brand identity slots in.
Think of it this way: if two businesses are selling the same exact product, the one with the stronger brand identity is more likely to win out in the end.
This is because a strong brand identity gives customers a reason to choose your business over your competitors. It's the emotional connection that you have with your customers that will keep them coming back to you, time and time again.
Tying It All Together
Whether you have a strong following online or just starting, there are several ways that you can use social media to build your brand and connect with your target audience.
Here are three of the best ways to leverage your social media presence and increase your brand identity:
1. Share your story
Famous companies all have one thing in common: a strong story. Windows was founded by two college dropouts who went on to change the world. Apple was started in a garage by a visionary who changed the way we think about technology.
What's your story? Why did you start your business? What compels you to keep going, even when things get tough?
Your story is what makes you human. It's what will make your customers connect with you on a deeper level and appreciate your company for more than just what you sell.
Use social media to share your story and give people a behind-the-scenes look at your business. Show them who you are, what you stand for, and why you do what you do. Even short videos of your project-planning process or your team in action can go a long way in helping people connect with your brand.
2. Be consistent
Your target audience should be able to easily recognize your content, no matter where they see it.
That means using the same colors, fonts, and overall visual style across all of your social media platforms. It also means maintaining the same tone and voice in all of your content.
If you're not sure how to be consistent with your branding, start by creating a style guide. This document should outline all of the dos and don'ts of your visual identity, from the colors you use to the types of images you share.
Once you have a style guide, it will be much easier to ensure that your content is on-brand, no matter who is creating it or where it's being shared.
3. Be judicious with your content
That means sharing high-quality content that educates, entertains, or inspires your audience. It also means being selective about the amount of content you share.
If you're constantly bombarding your followers with low-quality content, they're eventually going to tune you out.
It's one thing to say that you want to make your corporate virtual event go viral on social media. But if your event is boring, no amount of social media marketing is going to make it successful.
You want to reach out to micro-influencers in your industry, collaborate with other businesses, and generally be active on social media. But if you're not sharing anything of value, all of that activity is for nothing.
The bottom line is this: quality trumps quantity every time. When in doubt, err on the side of caution and only share content that you would want to see yourself.
Leveraging social media to build your brand identity is a smart way to differentiate your business and connect with your target audience. Use these three tips to get started: share your story, be consistent with your branding, and be judicious with the content you share.
By following these tips, you'll be on your way to building a strong, recognizable brand that your target audience will love!
