Building your brand on social media

In a market where most products are very similar in form and function, brands need to rethink their marketing strategies. Simply extolling function or quality is unlikely to have much of an impact, and should we opt to try and compete on price alone we all too often find that there'll be someone, somewhere, who is able to manufacture a given product even cheaper than ourselves.

In order to differentiate ourselves in such a market, our goal must be to enhance brand interest in other ways than by the classical value-for-money route, and in my view the best way we can do that is to build up a good vibe around the brand/the product. In other words we want to consolidate the users of the product into a little subculture of their own, and to make it attractive to be part of that subculture. This is where social media comes into play.

The hierarchy of content

When using social media for promotion we need to be aware of a few simple rules. One of them pertains to what we could call the hierarchy of content (this is my own term, I'm sure it has been called a number of other things too). In my hierarchy, video content is king. Nothing gets liked and shared more than relevant video content. I'd love to be able to say that no video content is better than bad video content - but I'd be lying. All video content is better than no video content... This does not mean we shouldn't strive to produce stunning vids with professional-looking everything, but especially if you're a small operator on a limited budget I believe that it is safe to say that as long as your attempts are earnest and your message is important/valuable to your target group, then it is OK to be learning by doing. Just make sure your vid #10 is visibly better than vid #1, and you'll be fine.

Next in line in the great hierarchy of content is images - stunning images, preferably, and if they are there to illustrate a point, make sure the point is easily visible either through captions or text elements in the images, or that the images are self-explanatory even for noobs at whatever you're trying to get across.

And lastly, text is good... But video and images are better... "BUT" I hear you cry, "this post is purely text yet at the same time trying to tell us all to use video and images!" and you're right, and yes, LinkedIn is social media too - but there is a small difference; if you're reading this article then chances are you have opened it specifically to read it - whereas on Facebook and elsewhere you're just browsing, and if I want to interact with you there I have to catch your eye first. Meaning I can almost justify my written article here, but it wouldn't stand a chance on Facebook...

Next step

Your next step is to consider if there's something you know that your community would benefit from knowing, then work out how you can present that knowledge, alongside your logos and brands, so that the community will appreciate your effort. As we have learned above, your first efforts don't have to be full-on professional jobbies (unless you're trying to market a multinational brand, in which case I don't think you're reading here), but they should convey enthusiasm and joy at sharing. Once you're photographing or filming, make sure the brands are featured along the way - in videos this would be at the beginning and in the titles at the end, plus if you're showing something cool in your vid make sure that the brand is part of it. Remember to use royalty-free music with your video; getting blocked because you nicked someone else's labour isn't cool, and will do the opposite of what we're trying to accomplish here.

Some final words

Beware that a single post/video/image gallery isn't going to do it. Be disciplined about your social media work, and set up a reminder in your electronic calendar to make sure you publish something every other week or so. Write all new ideas down as soon as you get them or you'll soon run out of material to publish. Finally, have fun doing it or people will call your bluff, subconsciously or consciously, and then you're wasting your time. Sharing should be FUN!