Branding on social media has become more important than ever due to the increasingly competitive digital age. Brands are looking to create a strong online presence in order to keep up with the growing demand for content marketing.
Content branding has become one of the primary ways in which brands drive authentic engagement. It helps to not only build brand awareness but also enhance trust between a consumer and a company. The more memorable and original the branding, the more likely the consumer will remember the company and share positive sentiment.
Using video clips or images, brands can express their ethos and maintain a consistent theme on social media to produce high-quality branded content. For example, Domino’s Pizza used Facebook live video in order to directly communicate with customers over the phone making it easier for them to respond. They are using audience insights combined with social listening via Twitter to create more user focused content. This is just one example of how the 5 top tips below can be applied to brands.
1) Use A Consistent Theme and Tone
When branding your content, it is important that you stay true to your brand’s core message and always follow a particular theme for each piece of content you produce.
Always remember to use your tone of voice when producing branded content, for example whether you are being serious or informal. This will help consumers quickly identify your brand across social channels. By maintaining a consistent message, it will also keep users engaged and interested in what you have to say!
Another way to stay consistent with your theme is to use the same image filters. This will help to enhance the aesthetic of your content and tie in all the posts to make them feel like they are a part of the same messaging.
Influencers use filters to keep a consistent theme on their Instagram posts. Some of them even develop their own filters to ensure originality and quality. For example, Instagram fashion influencer @tezza.barton uses the same filter for all of her images. This is a form of branding used on social media to let her fans know she is using original filters developed by her, not an Instagram approved app.
2) Create Content That Is Relevant to Your Audience
Your brand can achieve high-quality branded content by staying one step ahead of the competition and creating content that resonates with your audience.
To do this you should carry out detailed market research to find out more about your target audience, what they like and dislike. What are their preferences? How old are they? Where do they live?
You can then use this research to help you produce content that they will find interesting and engaging. This will enhance the authenticity of your brand as well as increasing trust between users and consumers.
According to Amra Beganovich, founder and CEO of influencer marketing agency Amra & Elma, researching your competitors on social media and then identifying to most shared content will give you an idea of what the users are most interested in. For example, you can simply look at the engagement rate of different posts of your competitors, or you can analyze the tags that they have received from other users. You will almost always be able to find a pattern; certain types of images are likely to go viral over and over again.
3) Be A Storyteller
In order to increase engagement on social media, brands need to create a story with their content. Storytelling involves conveying a deeper meaning in order to make the brand stand out from their competitors.
For example, storytelling on social media can involve creating aspirational content that can be shared to encourage engagement between other users. IKEA has used hashtag #lovenest to tell a story and showcase their stylish IKEA products in creative bedroom settings which is highly engaging and visual. Another example is @AnnieLeibovitz using images to portray Dr. Jill Biden working in her every day setting.
4) Don’t Forget to Add Hashtags
Adding hashtags is an effective way of increasing the visibility of your branded content. By using relevant hashtags, it will allow you to connect with a wider network on social media and gain exposure for your brand.
Be sure to use both general and relevant industry hashtags in order to build more engagement! For example, @AnnieLeibovitz uses hashtags such as #worldpeaceday and #earthday which are relevant to her content, but also general hashtags that everyone can relate too.
5) Add Call to Action
The final tip is to always include some sort of call to action when producing branded content. By doing this, you are communicating with your audience and encouraging them to share their thoughts online. This will enhance the authenticity of your branded content as well as increasing brand awareness!
Call to action includes asking questions that open up dialogue between you and the consumer. For example, @HBO released a promotional image of Game of Thrones two days before the season seven premiere. They captivated fans by asking ‘which character are you?’ which encouraged users to engage with their product and ultimately boost brand awareness!
Other examples include @McDonalds using a simple ‘goodbye’ call to action in a recent Tweet which received over 12,000 retweets! Another example is @Nike using the hashtag #justdoit when asking their fans to share what they are currently doing.
6) Measure Your Results
Always be sure to track your branded content and measure the results! It is important that you know what type of content works best for your target audience. This will help you to enhance the quality of your content in order to enhance engagement rates, brand awareness and ultimately increase ROI!
For example, analyzing Twitter analytics within Hootsuite would allow you to find the most popular times of the day to post, what type of content is likely to go viral and also track how well your brand is performing.
7) Social Listening
Lastly, always be on the lookout for opportunities within social media that can be turned into a branded campaign!
For example, if McDonald’s were to hear about a certain topic trending on Twitter, they could create content around the hashtag and share it to inspire engagement. This would be beneficial as it is relevant to their target audience and also allows them to increase brand awareness by being more interactive!
By using the above top tips, you can help produce great content that really engages and resonates with users in order to help promote your brand and gain more authenticity!
Business Development Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the Media and Digital marketing sector, Passionate about innovation and bringing the future into new business solutions.
