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5 Ways to Build Your Brand through Social Media
Boasting close to 3 billion active users, social media has become an ideal channel for consumers to engage with brands online.
More people are using their social networks to shop for deals, connect with their favorite brands, and search for new ones today than ever before. In fact, one-third of millennials say social media is one of their preferred methods for communicating with businesses.
Therefore, building your e-commerce brand on social media is a must if you desire to reach today’s consumer. You’ll position your business for growth as you increase brand awareness, boost followership, provide additional ways for customers to contact you, and bring incredible value to news feeds.
In this blueprint, we’ll share key steps on how to build your brand through social media to enhance your overall e-commerce marketing strategy.
1. Get Crystal-Clear on Your Audience
Having clarity of your target audience is key to creating social media content that resonates with your followers. Your quality-rich posts will speak directly to your audience, making your social media marketing engaging, effective, and attractive.
Knowing your audience also guides you in choosing the right social media platforms to market on. You want to hang out where your market spends the most time. Focusing and honing in on those channels helps you produce favorable consistent results from your social media efforts.
To discover how to choose the right social media platform for your e-commerce brand, visit our previous post here
2. Make Your Posts Attractive with Visuals and Interactive Content
Tweet from MailChimp
Adding visuals to your content significantly improves engagement. Additionally, interactive content such as slide shows, surveys and quizzes, calculators, and infographics, are also strong content pieces that draw people to your posts. The key when leveraging multiple content formats is keeping your topics consistent with your brand message to set the expectation with your audience.
Check out our previous post on where to find and create visual content for more ideas.
3. Go Live!
Did you know that people spend three times longer watching live video versus ones that have been prerecorded, according to Social Media Today? Facebook Live, Instagram Stories, and Periscope are driving a great amount of engagement on social media. They’re creating so much attention that Facebook allows live videos to appear higher in news feeds.
Use these apps to your advantage. Host live Q&A sessions that give your followers a chance to connect with you in real-time and receive prompt responses. Take viewers behind-the-scenes giving people a true glimpse of your brand culture. Or simply use the opportunity to highlight a product of the week.
The bottom line: be creative and capitalize on this easy engagement by regularly broadcasting live videos.
4. Optimize Your Social Media Profile Page
Many times, the business profile page is the first impression of your brand. Optimize your profile page by sharing insight on what gives you the slight edge in your industry. Tell your brand’s vision, how you can be reached, and the website where people can get more info.
For your link, consider including a landing page where you can capture your follower’s contact information in exchange for a free gift (discount or coupon) or content offer. Since growing your leads is the lifeline of your business, your bio page can serve as a tool towards this goal.
Finally, a good practice is to keep your visual logo the same across your various social channels for brand consistency.
5. Don’t Forget to Be Social!
Simply posting your content and hoping it creates traction is not enough to foster engagement. You may generate some responses initially, but this will quickly dwindle if you fail to be interactive with your followers. You see, people are on social media to be…well, social! They enjoy seeing likes and comments on their posts just as much as you do.
So be responsive by engaging with your audience to humanize your brand and hone relationships. The good news is, it’s pretty simple to be social. Use these easy tactics to start:
- Like, comment, and share your followers content
- Reach out to customers through direct messages. Show appreciation for a recent order, ask for their opinion on a given subject or offer help on how you can assist with their goals
- Respond to comments quickly
- Mention followers in return for using your brand hashtag in a post
Conclusion
Building your e-commerce brand through social media is an excellent way to boost brand exposure, grow your following, and promote sales. Use this guide to develop and enhance your social marketing brand strategy. With consistency, social media will prove to be a viable channel for growing your brand and increasing your bottom-line.
