When you’re first starting out and trying to spread the word about your product or service, social media is one of the most important tools you’ll have at your disposal. If used correctly, social media can help you build respect for your brand, which leads to brand recognition, and eventually those results become revenue. If you use social media incorrectly, your brand may fizzle out before it ever gets a chance.
Below, learn how to build your brand utilizing social media:
Define your target audience and market
The key to any successful startup is knowing who will benefit most from your product or service. While you may have created your business with one target audience in mind, social media tools can help you zoom in on a more specific audience, who will be more likely to want or need what you’re offering.
Starting with a wide-ranging audience provides a broad look at potential target audiences, which can be narrowed down to include only those who would not only benefit from your product or service but those who are likely to become a customer.
For example, if you’re selling a product typically used by men, you can narrow the men down further by demographics and necessity. Casting a net that is too wide can lead to overspending on marketing and promotional materials and a lower return on investment.
Focus on the human factor
Social media is crucial for building your brand, and earning respect from your clientele is key. Social media provides a way for potential new customers to see what initial customers actually think about your product or service. People can leave immediate feedback in the public sphere, which means you have to earn their respect early in order to continue receiving more positive recognition.
Right mindset and execution
When building your brand, you have an end goal in mind. Whether that goal is to eventually expand your business or remain a small, mom-and-pop shop, you started your company hoping or expecting to achieve a certain goal somewhere in the future.
Setting goals you can work toward is extremely important because it helps you refocus along the way. However, when it comes to executing your plan to build your brand on social media, make sure you don’t let your end goal become your main focus each day. It’s crucial to execute your plan using your end goal as guidance, to help you stay on the path without getting discouraged if something goes off course. Having both short- and long-term goals in place will allow you to create and execute a plan that will successfully reach your target audience.
Find your tribe
Your tribe consists of your brand’s most loyal and dedicated fans. These are the customers who will turn to your brand over anyone else, no matter what. These people are crucial to earning respect and building your brand on social media. A company’s biggest fans are also the people who are most likely to comment on a post, leave feedback on a product they’ve purchased, or share their opinion of a brand by providing a rating or sharing a review on social media.
Those ratings, comments and feedback go a long way in building your brand and earning respect from potential customers, which is key in generating revenue. Figure out who belongs in your tribe early on and let those brand advocates know they are appreciated. Keeping them happy is crucial to gaining recognition and getting results through social media.
Craft and tell your brand story
No matter what industry you’re in, every entrepreneur has a story. Why did you start your business? What influenced you to bring your brand to life? Building a personal relationship with your customers is one of the most important aspects of building your brand, and social media is a great avenue to share your story.
Craft your story, and make sure it is honest. Try not to include over-sensationalized details or exaggerated reasons for wanting to start your business. Sharing a piece of who you really are with your customers will help them feel as though they know and trust you and your brand.
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Communicate a clear and consistent message
Maintaining a clear and consistent message throughout all content you produce, including your social media messaging, is vital. No matter the topic, make sure your information is consistent across all platforms. Whatever that message is, make sure it is also easy to understand and relatable. You’ve narrowed down your target audience at this point, so it should be natural to find ways to communicate with them via social media.
Take the good with the bad
Handling good and bad attention on social media seems simple enough, but once you’ve been faced with challenging situations, you see how difficult it can really be. You may have to do some damage control when it comes to negative feedback, but ignoring an unhappy customer is never the answer. Always respond to any negative social media reviews or messages with candor, and turn the experience into a learning opportunity.
Create calls to action to generate revenue
Creating a call to action is a quick and convenient way to generate revenue, and there are countless ways to implement this. Whether it’s offering a reward for answering a quiz question correctly or getting a discount on their next purchase for sharing feedback or rating your products, getting your customers involved on social media is a great way to generate traffic directly to your website.
Enduring social media impact
Remember, your social strategy will only be as successful as your overall business strategy. The initial impression your brand makes on social media will stay with the brand for much of its lifecycle. The only way to consistently build your revenue and build a brand with staying power is to establish your company as a trusted, loyal, and quality brand.
Navigating the world of social media can be tricky. If you are knowledgeable about what you are offering and you are confident in your message, you have a great foundation on which to build. The key to building your brand on social media starts by building relationships with your early customers and turning them in to brand advocates. Putting in the work early on will pay off in the long run.
