What To Do If Your Social Media Branding Strategy Is Falling Apart And How To Fix It

According to research commissioned by CMO, advertising budgets dedicated to social media will increase by a factor of two in the next years. Although research shows they are using social media, it also shows that they are not prepared to deal with the many issues that arise from using it. Because of the rapid pace at which new social media tools and platforms are being developed, it’s easy for organisations to make the mistake of seeing social media management as a series of tactical rather than strategic tasks.

1. Narrow in on what you want to focus on

In many cases, businesses’ social media efforts are disorganised and poorly targeted. A common mistake that businesses do is to let the platform dictate the content strategy rather than actively selecting platforms that would have a positive impact on the company’s brand. Many businesses act in this way because they believe it is essential to have a profile on each major social media network.

2. Take into consideration feedback from your intended demographic

For your social media branding efforts to pay off, they need to be centred on engaging your target demographic with timely and relevant content that provides real value. Improving your listening skills will help you communicate more effectively.

“Social listening” refers to the practise of monitoring social media for comments from a target demographic. According to Hootsuite, it means:

Monitoring online discussion about your company, its goods, and its rivals. Having collected this data, the next stage is to analyse it for insights that may be put into practise. This might be anything from actively pursuing repeat business with a satisfied client to rethinking your brand’s whole positioning.

The gist of it is that you need to know the bigger picture of what’s being said about your business and company on social media. But, it’s obviously difficult to read and evaluate every single communication. An improved strategy is to analyse data collected from social media posts to spot patterns and problems.

3. Determine who you’re talking to.

Communication with your target demographic is essential for understanding their needs. You can learn more about them as people, the problems they face, and the support they expect from you.

After you have a firm grasp on what it is that people hold dear, you can begin to consider how your brand may best serve them.

Common beliefs can be taken as read rather regularly. Consider the importance of principles like equality and environmental responsibility. But, here is where in-depth inquiry and prudence are required.

Attaching your company’s message to a trending topic might backfire. Think about how Pepsi tried to appeal to the public’s sense of fairness and equality in its ads. Its protest-themed commercial turned off the very people with whom it hoped to establish a relationship.

4. Develop a strategy that everyone in the company can take pride in

Social media marketing tactics like spamming advertising or posting more frequently at random are ineffective. In the best case, they’ll see results that gradually decrease. Lack of company-wide support is a major factor in the failure of social media efforts.

When everyone in an organisation is working towards the same goals, whether that’s one person or several thousand, the results and engagement on social media can be phenomenal.

5. Outline Your Goals

Determining which goals to pursue on social media will have the greatest impact on your organisation is crucial. Companies often make the mistake of thinking that social media marketing exists in a vacuum. For some companies, spending much on social media marketing in the hopes of having a post go viral is a panacea for all their ills. Unfortunately, that seldom occurs.

The goals of any social media branding and marketing campaign should be deliberate and well-thought-out. If they aren’t, it means you’re just using social media to use social media.

One of the greatest advantages of social media is the opportunity it provides to build a fan base among your present clientele and potential new clients simply by providing them with useful information and encouraging them to spread the word. In order to avoid wasting time and effort, clearly identify your social media goals.

6. Sixth, use appropriate measures for success.

Several businesses set social media goals without specifying any measurable KPIs to achieve those goals. Nevertheless, with clearly articulated measurements, companies can defend their efforts, monitor their progress, and fine-tune their strategies for sustained success. It might be daunting to choose the correct statistics and metrics to reveal the full impact of your brand’s social media activities when so many platforms provide their own.

7. Do something worthwhile for your readers.

Even if a product is excellent, it won’t guarantee continued social media interest. Customers claim a brand’s social media updates influence their purchasing choice around 80% of the time.

8. Prove your humanity.

Do you want to increase your post engagement and establish genuine connections with your audience? If that’s the case, it’s impossible to stress the importance of being genuine and connecting with others. Sixty-three percent of people say they would rather buy from a brand that is honest about who they are than one that tries to disguise who they really are.