How to Build Your Brand Name Through Social Media: A Primer

By MATEI GAVRIL
President and CEO of PrMediaOnline.com
Your brand’s reputation online is more important
than ever. The 2014 Edelman Trust Barometer
revealed that 65 percent of online users rely on web
search to find information on people and companies.
One of the tools that helps businesses with this
purpose is social media. Scratch that; it’s currently
THE tool for businesses
Around 92 percent of the marketers surveyed for the
2015 Social Media Marketing Industry Report called
this tool vital for their businesses. Moreover, 90
percent revealed that social media increases their
exposure, whereas 69 percent praised it for its ability
to develop loyal fans.
So, clearly, if you haven't already done so, you should
begin branding yourself through social media. Here
are four tips to get you started.
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1. Carefully select the social media
platform you’ll use.
There are many social media platforms for you to
pick from to begin your branding journey. However,
you need to carefully choose the right one to prevent
yourself from being spread too thin. Opting for
multiple platforms at one time will negatively impact
your brand since you won’t be able to reach your
potential audience. To help you decide on a platform,
here’s a quick look at three big ones:
Facebook. Facebook is the biggest social network in
terms of name recognition and number of users.
Through this platform, you have access to more than
1.55 billion users as well as a range of tools that
could boost your business. If you’re new to branding
via social media, this is where to start. Not only can
you share photos, videos and updates without
worrying about limitations, but Facebook also allows
you to advertise your business with a well-made
platform.
Twitter. Despite the 140-character limitation, Twitter
is a great platform for posting updates, videos,
images, polls and much more. Though trickier, it’s
one of the best social networks for interacting with
other users, and has more than 320 million active
users worldwide. As a result, it’s the best choice for
marketing brands as well as for handling their
customer service.
Pinterest. You may have expected to see LinkedIn in
third place, but the truth is, Pinterest has risen to the
top of social networking tools for branding. The
platform offers digital bulletin boards that you can
use to organize collections of pictures featuring your
offerings, your work space and the people behind the
company. However, Pinterest is more of a niche
network, as a majority of its users are women and
the most popular categories there are related to
fashion, food, beauty and exercise.
2. Keep imagery consistent throughout
your social media accounts
Branding is all about imagery. From your logo to
your brand name, and all the way to your profile
picture, everything should be instantly recognizable.
You should also create a unique identity through
your design. For instance, you can use the color
palette and style of your logo to design your pages
and establish your brand. For inspiration, check what
the leaders of your industry are doing, and take a
page from their books.
Related: Social-Media Marketing Is Not Dead: 10
Companies That Are Still Rocking It
3. Create valuable and shareable content.
Most businesses make the mistake of producing
content only they’d want to read, or else they simply
meet the deadlines marked on their publishing
calendars. What you should be focusing on is how to
create useful content that your readers won’t think
twice about sharing. You can find out what engages
your audience by asking its members directly or by
checking out what your competitors are doing.
However, don’t share blindly or plagiarize, as these
moves will affect your branding efforts. Instead,
consider the following expert tips:
Make sure that the content you share
supports your brand image . One factor you
should definitely try adding to your posts is
humor. However, make sure that it goes down
well with your audience.
Take care that the tone and content you
post is relevant to the brand. You cannot
post a blog just because the topic is trending or
you have personal interest in it. Everything you
post should be relevant to your website.
Consider: How would your visitors feel if you
wrote about ghosts on a website dedicated to
finance? Any post discussing an irrelevant topic
will be met with criticism, no matter how well it
is written. Even if your visitors have interest in
knowing about ghosts, they would still consider
the post irrelevant and spammy and might also
decide your website to be unreliable.
Find out which content will gain the most
visibility on your social networks. Use
analytics to figure out whether your audience
prefers blogs to images for instance.
Don’t shy from using visual content. Images
guarantee up to 94 percent more views. Even
Twitter content with images receives twice as
many views as text-only posts.
4. Take part in the discussion.
One of the important ways of generating a fan base
and building your audience is to socialize your
content. So, first, you’ll need to get in touch with the
social influencers in your field as they’ve already
established their brand. Then you can mention their
names in your posts, inspiring them to connect with
you and, ultimately, share your content with their
followers. You should also take part in the
discussions to show off your expertise even as you
create a bridge between you and your audience.
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Related: How to Save at Least 2 Hours Per Week
on Social-Media Marketing
So, take heed and follow these tips. Because if you
ignore social media marketing, your brand may well
begin vanishing in no time. Get busy. Get your brand
name out there.