Social Media Branding: How to Elevate Your Strategy in 11 Steps

Are you struggling to make your mark on social media? Do you feel like your brand is getting lost in the endless stream of cat videos and memes? Fear not because we’ve got your back. In this article, we’re going to give you eleven tips to help you nail your social media branding strategy and stand out from the crowd. But first, let’s explore what social media branding is because and why it’s important.

What is social media branding?

Social media branding is all about defining who you are. It’s not about reaching as many people as possible or furthering your sales goals, but instead, properly representing your brand in terms of imagery, language, and attitude or approach. If you’re just like everyone else, you’re never going to stand out. If you try to be all things to all people, you’re going to confuse everyone. 

It’s all about creating an image and identity on social media platforms that aligns with your brand’s values and objectives.

This involves creating and sharing content, visuals, and messages that resonate with your target audience. By having a clear and consistent branding strategy, businesses can establish trust and credibility with their customers, stand out from competitors, and ultimately, drive more sales.

Why is branding important on social media?

In short: it helps you stand out and get noticed. Your social media presence is a reflection of your brand, so it’s important to make sure that it’s consistent with your values, personality, and tone. By doing so, you can establish a strong online presence, connect with your target audience, and build trust and credibility with your customers.

Eleven tips to nail your social media branding strategy

1. Know your audience like the back of your hand

Before you start crafting your social media branding strategy, it’s important to know who you’re talking to. Do some research and figure out your target audience’s needs, interests, and behaviors.

What social media platforms do they use the most? What type of content do they engage with? What tone and voice do they respond to? This knowledge will help you create a social media content strategy that resonates with your audience and helps you stand out.

2. Align brand positioning and audience insights

Once you know who you’re talking to, it’s time to align your brand positioning with what you’ve learned. What makes your brand unique from other popular accounts your audience follows? How can you address your audience in ways that’s different from any competitors targeting the same audience? 

3. Choose colors, typography, and imagery that align with your brand

Consistency is key when it comes to social media branding. You should choose colors, typography, and imagery that align with your brand. If you have a brand guide already established, stick to the color palette and specifications found there. 

If you don’t, take some time to explore what colors and styles will resonate with the audience you already identified. Do they want something professional and trustworthy? Cool and innovative? Calming and comforting? 

Once you’ve established this, be consistent across all your channels. Your audience should be able to instantly recognize you on your website, Facebook profile, Instagram feed, and YouTube channel.

4. Make your social media visuals distinct

It’s okay to occasionally jump on the most recent trend or put your spin on a relatable meme. But if all you’re doing is copying competitors and other popular accounts, you’re not giving people a reason to follow you. 

Your visuals should be distinctive and stand out in a crowded social media landscape. It’s worth investing in high-quality visuals, including images, graphics, and videos. This might mean hiring a designer and supplementing with stock images. 

Consider free or paid stock image sites, and learn how to make basic edits in a tool like Canva.  

5. Choose and leverage the most appropriate social networks

You don’t need to be present on every social media platform. Instead, you should identify the ones that your target audience uses most and prioritize those. This helps you make much better use of your time and money.

Not sure how to choose? WooCommerce has a great guide to choosing social media platforms, and it’s helpful whether you run an ecommerce store or any other type of site.

6. Build and showcase a compelling brand story

Your brand story is a powerful tool that can help you differentiate your business from your competitors. Storytelling is a proven way to move beyond facts and features of what you’re selling and transition to building an emotional connection with your audience. This can not only move people further along the customer journey, but improve long-term loyalty with your existing base. 

To create an outline for your story, think about why your company was started. What problem were the founders trying to solve? What important goals did they have for improving the lives of their target audience? Then think about who has been involved along the way, the challenges they faced, where you are today, how you’re making a difference for your audience, and where you hope to be in the future. 

Learn more about creating a brand story. 

7. Establish a clearly identifiable brand voice and tone

The same way every person has a unique voice and tone, your brand should, too. Having a consistent voice and tone across all your social media profiles is crucial for building brand recognition and loyalty. Your voice should represent your company’s personality, values, and style of communication, and should align with your audience’s preferences.

When defining your voice and tone, consider your brand personality, the emotions you want to evoke, and the language and style you would like to use. For instance, if you’re a fun and playful brand, you may use a conversational and lighthearted tone, while a more professional brand may be more formal and informative.

Some companies create editorial guidelines to help them remember the kinds of phrases they want to use, words they’d prefer to avoid, and inspiration for new, creative ideas.

8. Be consistent with your messaging and content themes

Consistency is key when it comes to social media branding. Your messaging strategy should define the topics and themes you’ll cover and how you’ll present them to your audience.

To ensure consistency, you can create a social media content calendar and plan your posts in advance. This will help you stay organized and avoid any last-minute confusion. It can also help you identify topics you’ve failed to cover and if you’re over-using any one kind of media or message.

9. Leverage influencers and brand ambassadors

Influencer marketing has become a popular way for brands to increase their reach and credibility on social media. It’s like having a famous friend vouch for you. By collaborating with influencers and brand ambassadors, you can tap into their audience and leverage their recognition to promote your brand.

When choosing influencers, consider their relevance to your company and their audience’s demographics and interests. You can also use social media monitoring tools to find people who are already talking about your brand or related topics.

Influencers tend to be popular because they’re highly creative, super engaging, and incredibly relatable. And though there are a number of mega-influencers who can reach millions, there are plenty of influencers with smaller, niche audiences whose followers are just as, if not more, loyal. Plus, influencers with smaller audiences are more accessible for smaller or new brands with limited budgets. 

Aligning your brand with the right partner can provide an instant boost in credibility and — because influencers have such distinctive, creative voices — significantly help you in establishing your brand identity. Learn more about influencer marketing.

10. Engage and communicate as your brand

It’s not enough to simply post content and wait for the likes to roll in. You need to actively engage with your followers and communicate with them. Respond to comments, messages, and mentions promptly and professionally.

Participate in relevant conversations and add value to your audience’s social media experience. By engaging with your audience, you can build stronger relationships and increase your brand’s visibility and credibility.

Brands’ comments on competitors’ posts have become incredibly funny and memorable in recent years and audiences tend to respond quite strongly. 

11. Find opportunities for humor and authenticity

Finally, to truly elevate your social media branding, look for opportunities to inject humor and authenticity into your content. People are more likely to engage with content that’s funny, relatable, and genuine.

Finding the right balance between professionalism and authenticity can be tricky, but it’s worth the effort. Look for ways to humanize your brand and connect with your audience on a more personal level. This could involve sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses of your team, highlighting your company culture, or even sharing a funny meme or GIF.

How to measure and evaluate your social media branding strategy

After implementing your social media branding strategy, it’s important to measure its effectiveness and make necessary changes. Here are some steps you can take to measure and evaluate your social media branding strategy:

1. Set goals and KPIs

Before you start measuring, define what you want to achieve with your branding strategy. Do you want to increase brand awareness, engagement, or conversions? Set measurable, time-bound goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) to track your progress.

2. Monitor your social media analytics

Social media platforms provide valuable insights into your performance. Track your engagement rates, follower growth, click-through rates, and other relevant metrics. Analyze which types of content and posts perform the best and use this information to refine your strategy.

3. Monitor your brand mentions

Track what people are saying about your brand on social media. Monitor mentions and relevant keywords and analyze the sentiment and tone of each.

4. Conduct surveys and polls

Ask your audience for feedback and insights. Conduct surveys and polls to gather information about your brand perception, audience preferences, and opinions.

5. Compare yourself to competitors

Monitor your competitors’ social media performance and compare it with your own. Analyze what they’re doing differently and see if you can incorporate any of their successful tactics into your own strategy.

6. Review your content strategy

Analyze the performance of your content and see which types of posts are resonating with your audience. Review your content calendar and see if it’s aligned with your brand positioning and messaging strategy.

7. Measure ROI

Calculate the return on investment (ROI) of your social media branding efforts. Compare the cost of your social media marketing activities with the revenue or leads generated from it.

By following these steps, you can measure and evaluate your social media branding strategy and make necessary changes to improve its effectiveness.

Frequently asked questions

How can social media branding help you stand out from your competitors?

Let’s face it: the competition is fierce out there. That’s where social media branding comes in. By showcasing your brand’s personality, values, and mission, you can set yourself apart from the competition and attract loyal customers.

What are some common mistakes to avoid when creating a social media branding strategy?

One of the biggest mistakes is not knowing your target audience well enough. Imagine trying to throw a party without knowing who’s coming — it’s bound to be a disaster. So take the time to get to know your audience and what makes them tick.

Another mistake is not establishing a consistent voice and tone across all social media channels. This can be confusing and undermine trust with loyal followers.

How can you use customer feedback to improve your social media branding strategy?

By monitoring feedback on social media channels and through customer service channels, you can gain valuable insights into what your followers like and dislike about your brand. Customer feedback is a direct and crucial line to the pulse of your audience. Use this information to refine your branding strategy and make adjustments to better align with your audience’s expectations.

How can you utilize user-generated content to strengthen your social media branding?

By encouraging your followers to create and share content featuring your brand, you can increase brand awareness and engagement. You can build an entire community that’s excited to spread the word about your company!

User-generated content also allows you to showcase your brand’s personality and values through the eyes of your customers, making it a powerful tool for building trust and authenticity

How can you ensure that your branding message is consistent across all social media channels?

Consistency is the name of the game when it comes to social media branding. To ensure that your branding message is consistent across all social media channels, you need to establish clear guidelines, including your voice and tone, visual identity, and messaging.

The result will be a playbook that everyone on your team can follow. You should also create a social media content calendar to plan and schedule your posts in advance.

And don’t forget to use a social media management tool like Jetpack Social to help you maintain consistency by automating your posts.

Jetpack Social: Elevate your brand with automated social media posts

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the thought of implementing your social media branding strategy, fear not!

Jetpack Social is here to save the day. With this powerful social media sharing plugin for WordPress, you can automatically post your website content to social media. 

One of the best features of Jetpack Social is its social media auto-posting capability. You can easily share your website content on all of your social media platforms with just one click, freeing up time for you to focus on creating more amazing content. And if you prefer to have more control over your social media presence, you can always schedule your posts in advance, choosing the best time to share your content with your audience.

But that’s not all. With Jetpack Social, you have the power to customize your posts for each social media platform you choose to share on. This means that you can tailor your message and image to fit the unique voice and tone of your brand.

So, what are you waiting on? Elevate your brand’s social media game with Jetpack Social, and let it do all the heavy lifting for you. With this superhero on your side, you’ll be able to take your brand to new heights and make your voice heard in the noisy world of social media.

Try Jetpack Social now and see the difference it can make for your brand: https://jetpack.com/social/

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