Building your brand on social media is not as hard as it seems however, the worse mistake a business owner can make is to think that they don’t need to use social media to build their brand.
Starting this week, I will begin the series Social Media Monday beginning with Build Your Brand Tips for Business Owners.
Remember, Social Media is where people go to “socialize” and not be “sold to”, therefore, make sure your content is more about your audience and less about you. Use social media to drive your audience to your website, blog or brick and mortar store.
Each social media platform serves a difference purpose and attracts a difference audience, however, the marketing concepts are similar.
Despite the numerous security breaches and algorithm changes, 98% of digital consumers are social media users and the numbers are even higher
among 55 to 64 year old. (94%).
On average digital consumers spend 2 hours and 15 minutes per day on social networks and messaging and whatever your business goal is, you should be appearing in their feeds sometime during their day.
Facebook is the social media platform most often used to drive awareness to a brand, increasing the reach and traffic to the product or service. 1 of every 5 minutes that people in the US spend time on mobile is spent on Facebook.
Developing a strong social media strategy is key for your social media marketing efforts to be effective, and here are four keys of which you should be concentrating on:
- The WHY – This is a no brainer as this is where your clients and customer are!
- The WHO – Who is it that you are trying to reach?
- The WHAT – What value can you bring to your audience?
- The HOW – How often will you be active and consistent on social media?
Let’s break each of these four keys down:
Why do you need to have an active social media presence? What is your purpose of being on social media? The answers to these questions is easy!
You need to be where your customers and clients are and they are on social media!
You can no longer be old school and and rely simply on a billboard, transit ads, newspaper or magazine advertisement, even television and radio advertising is not enough to build brand awareness and don’t even get me started with advertising in a telephone book!
Who are you trying to reach and if you say, “everyone” then you are setting yourself up for failure. You cannot be the be-all – end-all for every consumer so don’t even try. Think about it, even the major brands know that they can’t satisfy every consumer so why should you even try.
Who is your ideal audience, start by asking yourself these 10 questions:
1. What Is Your Target Demographic?
These are characteristics of your target market profile that consider areas such as age group, gender, and marital status.
2. Where Do They Live?
Determining where your target audience lives will help you with location-based marketing campaigns as well as where to target traditional marketing methods.
3. What Industry Do They Work In?
The industry your target market works in may be more relevant to some business models than others. A simple example of target market industry would be targeting human resources if your company is selling an employee evaluation tool.
4. How Much Do They Earn?
This question will help you determine the price range of your product down the line. If your target market analysis shows that your ideal customer is in the low- to mid-range salary, you need to ensure that your prices reflect that and not that of a high-range salary.
5. What Are Their Hobbies?
Your answers should include both their hobbies and how they spend their free time such as playing baseball, running marathons or spending time at home with their families.
6. How Do They Get Their Information?
A target market example for this would be online such as social media, online articles, Google etc., or traditional newspapers, magazines, or word of mouth and of course other advertising methods such as billboards, transit advertising, and handouts.
7. How Do They Communicate?
Face-to-face conversations, emails, newsletters or telephone calls. Determining this factor can help you or your customer service department in knowing what the appropriate method to contact the customer and how quickly they are likely to respond.
8. How Do They Think?
Think about their personality type, attitude, values, lifestyle, and behavior.
9. What Challenges Do They Face?
By understanding the challenges and frustrations that your target market has, it will help shift the conversation from how they can help you to how your business can help them.
10. What Are Their Biggest Objections To Using Your Service Or Product?
This answer is most important and will also help you answer the WHAT, as you have to determine what value you can bring to them. What problem can you solve, what is their pain point as this will help you determine which content to post on social media.
Finally and most importantly, HOW often will you be posting on social media and what type of content will it be. Remember, it’s not all about you so use the 80/20 rule using the 3-E’s. Content is King, but make it so good that your audience wears the Crown, or are the ones sharing it with their circles.
The content should be entertaining, educational and provide expert advice. Be consistent in your posting, at least 2-3 times weekly and don’t make it all about your business, product or service.
Your topics can include yours or other local events, business spotlights, tips and advice, or blog posts, just make sure to include visuals and images and not make it all text because you have to grab the attention of your audience as they scroll through their feeds.
The next post will cover strategies and scheduling of posts, however, if you would like a FREE checklist, please complete the form.
