How are the best brands making use of their social media?

According to a survey on consumer insights by PWC, most customers take a look at social media before confirming the purchase of a product. UPS reports that most customers are millennials, and consider social media a very integral part of the buying experience.?

If you think you can create an account and upload random posts, you should not be upset if the results end up to zero. You need to be strategic about how you approach social media.?

Creating a strategy is tricky and knowing what others are doing can help you figure out your place too. So, let us take a look at the brands that are winning this social media game.

• GoPro

GoPro is a camera brand, the most versatile one. Having a total of about 18.7 million followers on Instagram and around 3 million on Twitter, the brand creates value and recognition, while promoting its products and interacting with the consumers. They have a popular hashtag (#GoPro) that even photographers use widely.?

While they are present on most of the social media platforms, they use each platform differently as one should. For example, they promote their brand, interact with consumers, and reach out to clients on Facebook. But, showcase their products and their qualities on Instagram, post tutorials on Youtube, and announce the launch of new products on Twitter. You can spot a pattern and thus understand the strategy.

While they serve the content differently, the design plays the game. You would follow its Instagram feed because of the beautiful photos and forget that it showcases its products through them. If you are the brand's loyal fan, you will notice a change in the designs when you check out their Facebook and Twitter. Pinterest supports vertical photos only, and Go Pro repurposes its content using a different design this time too.

• Nike

Nike invests a great deal in marketing. And as social media emerged as one of the most successful platforms, the brand was quick to jump in. Nike has around 189 million followers on Instagram, and about 60 million on Twitter, and you can easily track their strategy as you study their activities on different platforms.

Nike does not only focus on the product itself, it focuses on the athletes and sports teams. They have a message to deliver through the people. And these people make the brand. They use Facebook sparingly, just for the sake of the big campaigns.?

Facebook's algorithm is tricky, and prioritizes friendly and familiar posts on the user's feed, which does not work well when a brand wants to create a professional presence. Instagram is their leading platform, and that's where sports fans go for inspiration. With the popular hashtag and their tagline, #justdoit, Nike posts pictures of their athletes.

The strategy includes design as one of the essential aspects. The algorithms of different social media channels support different layouts. For example, they use high-quality photos and videos for Instagram. With reels taking off, the possibilities are endless, and Nike is experimenting with all of them.

• Starbucks

Starbucks knows how to interact with its followers. It has around 17.5 million followers on the platform and uses the platform to post aesthetically appealing pictures and videos of its product and people enjoying these drinks. They respond to their followers via comments, interact via stories and build relationships.?

Starbucks uses Facebook to provide information. They upload photos and colorful videos on Facebook too. Facebook has lots of information regarding its stores and job openings, making it a very interactive platform. While the other two platforms focus on aesthetics the most, Starbucks uses Twitter solely to interact with its audience.

They leverage the designs, just like the other two big names on social networking sites, according to the purpose. They use high-quality videos and images to showcase their products and infographics for big announcements. Your brand's content, design, and end goal strategy define your success. While it sounds tricky, you can always get help from the experts.