How does your brand identify with your social media fans? Think about some of your favorite brands that you follow on social media, can you think of reasons they continue to engage you? If you are a social media manager you should consider what social media identifiers your brand is conveying or using to connect with your consumers. Below we have outlined three social media branding strategies you can use today. You can use these approaches interchangeably, and use them at multiple times:
- Associate your brand with your passions or interests
- Showcase your brands winning personality
- Be a resource for interesting or important information
If you think that one of these approaches is a stretch for your brand than you should stay away from it. Identify what your brand is best at and how your brand identifier will be relate to consumers. Check out some other brands that do the above really well for ideas.
1. Passion Identifiers
A clearly identifiable passion brand is Mountain Dew. This soft drink company’s Facebook page is 7.7 million strong and has pictures of skateboarding, biking and other extreme or youthful activities on its page. The company has even gone so far as to start the Dew Action Sports Tour which is endorsed on their Facebook page and ties the brand into associations of action sports.
2. Personality Identifiers
Southwest Airlines is one of the few carriers that set its own personality in the airline industry. The low-cost carrier has gone so far as to share ‘regular joe’ pictures of their travel destinations, pilots, and passengers of interest. There was even a post on their 3.7 million strong Facebook page on napkin tricks that enforce their operations and corporate culture as fun, quirky and idiosyncratic.
Skittles candy has become a huge Facebook success due to their ability to connect with consumers partly on behalf of their personality. Their page is 24 million strong and has funky ads with lobster claws holding Skittles and creates strong consumer interaction with funny comments like “There are a billion fish in the sea. And every one of them dreams of wearing socks.”
3. Resource Identifiers
Resource brands utilize this strategy to attract consumers who are serious about information they want but not necessarily passionate about it. MetLife combines elements of Peanuts (the cartoon) to provide information on their insurance services. One post asked “Do your summer plans involve buying a boat?” and provided a link to advice about making the purchase.
Find Your Identifier!
In your attempt to be passionate, show personality or be a resource, focus on the need to engage your consumers or provide something of value that captures their attention. Be true to the DNA of your company and determine what identifier will work best for brands like yours. Try a combination of the three to see what provides the best engagement and always remember to measure your results.
If you need help planning or managing your social media brand identifiers contact us today.
Thanks for reading,
