Marketing and branding in 2018 is vastly different than it was even a decade ago. Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram are everyday household words today that didn’t exist fifteen years ago. As the traditional marketing methods become less effective, non-traditional social media, or inbound marketing is the new norm. Because of this, companies need new ways to get in front of their target audience and gain attention.
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This need calls for strong brand consistency in your company’s visual identity. To attract attention to their brand and website, companies use their collection of branded images. As companies post regularly on different platforms, new and different needs arise related to each of the platforms.
Social Media Branding Companies
As a result, new social media branding companies surface responding to these marketing needs.
- HubSpot is a customer relations management (CRM) software meant to help companies manage their contacts and inbound marketing*. At the same time, it gives insights that help grow a business, and helps schedule social media.
- Sprout Social is a social media management software that helps companies analyze the effectiveness of their engagement across multiple platforms
- Later is a company and website that helps with Instagram scheduling
Each one of these companies aims at helping implement a social media brand strategy. Each social media platform your company is on has a unique inbound marketing method to increase engagement on that platform. While you do not need a website to set up social media accounts, in 2018 and beyond, it is almost definitely needed after. Posting quality, branded images regularly with SEO optimized content gets potential customers engaged and ready to interact with your brand.
Popular Platforms
Some of the most popular social media platforms include:
- Pinterest: an especially effective platform for reaching women
- Facebook: currently (in 2018) the best platform for promoting brand awareness because such a large number of people use it
- Instagram: the best platform for visual brands such as retailers or clothing companies
- Twitter: great for forming connections and building relationships; it is especially effective for the 18-34 year-old age bracket1
- LinkedIn: very effective for building business-to-business relationships
Each social media platform is different, and the ways to interact on each are just as diverse. But keep in mind that “diving in to engage in the social media sphere without ever having given thought to how your brand should be viewed is dangerous” according to Social Media Engagement for Dummies*. Take the time to flesh out the message you want to convey and the audience you want to reach and present that in a visually compelling way. Entrepreneur.com makes an excellent point when they say, “There are literally hundreds of social networks out there, but most of them aren’t worth investing your time and energy.” They go on to advise that you use the platforms that best support your brand.
The lessons and strategies listed in Social Splash* by Nesha Woolery work for every service-based business who wants to use social media to find clients. This book explains how to use several of these platforms effectively and how to make clients not only come to you, but stick around as well.
Take the time to flesh out the message you want to convey and the audience you want to reach.
One thing that must be remembered when establishing branding across multiple platforms is that consistency is key. It builds trust and credibility with your prospects.
What do you think? What do you use social media for? Have you found it helpful in growing your businesses or finding new businesses? How so? Please let me know your thoughts below and subscribe for more updates.
