This Is What You Need To Know About Social Media and Branding

Are you contemplating using social media to engage your customers? Do you know how to best utilize social media to build trust and connect consumers with your brand? Which social media platform is best for your product or service?

Do you have a well-thought-out strategy for social media marketing? These are questions all businesses and brands should be asking themselves.

The infographic below, Boost Your Branding with Social Media Engagement, presents some telling statistics and facts about overall social media use, specific media platforms, and the relationship between social media use and brand engagement. It is designed to help companies customize their marketing and advertising campaigns to their specific audience so they can improve brand awareness, increase revenue and profitability, and, ultimately, grow their business.

Great small business tool

Why is this important? Social media is one of the best ways to reach customers, especially for small businesses. Even if your company could afford to advertise on network TV, the viewing audience is so fragmented today — with young people choosing online streaming over cable TV — that marketing through social media may be the most effective strategy to reach your audience.

Unlike TV and radio ads, social media marketing allows you to do so much more than simply announce sales! Social media platforms are ideal for posting messages that can strengthen customer relationships and increase brand awareness and loyalty.

You can post product content, images, games, videos, links, testimonials, stories … and even ask questions! Social media allows you to interact directly with consumers, something that is not possible with television, radio or print ads — consumers value this two-way communication and often reward the company with purchases and recommendations.

Which social media platform is best for you?

The infographic offers facts about the number and generation of users for various platforms. Further, the infographic tells you why consumers follow and unfollow brands on social media, and it lists the types of posts that people like and share. All this should help you come up with a targeted and effective social media branding plan.

Creating your ideal strategy requires a deep analysis of your unique brand identity, your target audience, the type of content that is most relevant for your brand, consistent “voice of the brand” messaging, and your brand design.

Even after you assemble all the pieces into a coherent whole, remember that social media marketing is forever changing. Your brand must stay active on social media by posting engaging new content regularly, responding to customers who reach out to you, and continually assessing the results so you can update your strategy as needed.

Read on to start — or improve — your social media branding today!

Rebecca Purrington is a Promotional Products Expert with Crestline Custom Promotional Products. She has more than five years of consultative sales experience in the industry and holds degrees in both Social/Behavioral Sciences and Business Management.

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