Social media is like a party that everyone’s attending! People are here primarily to be entertained. And who’s the most popular guy at the party? The guy who’s either making them laugh or sharing an enthralling story. That guy is always the crowd-puller. And that is the guy every brand should aim to be.
The objective of a brand page is not to ‘Sell Now’ but to gather a fan-following that gets converted into brand loyalists. Hence, the content shouldn’t focus on advertisment but generic, industry-related content, interesting enough to engage the audience. After all, no one’s at a party to hear boring promotions!
Thumb-Rule
The 80-20 rule of social media states that 80% of the page’s content should be generic engaging content whereas only 20% of its content should directly propagate the brand.
Strategy
Posting random, aimless content will not build goodwill and prove to be ineffective. It is essential to undertake a thorough analysis of the brand, its competitors, industry, target audience and then develop page objectives based on the insights drawn. Thereafter, a content strategy can be crafted detailing the type of posts and the tone of communication. Once the strategy is defined, posts can be created every week/month of the calendar.
Platforms
Social media is beyond Facebook. There are hundreds of platforms out there buzzing with mass and niche audiences. But that doesn’t mean you have to create an account on every platform. Select platforms based on your industry’s needs. For instance, a luxury fashion brand, where images take center-stage, should launch their social presence with Instagram. Other platforms, with lesser significance, could be launched at a later date, only when there’s provision to create unique, consistent content. Posting the same content on every platform is nonsensical.
Analytics and Monitoring
Studying the analytics of a page is one of the most crucial steps in boosting followers and engagement. Analytics gives you clarity on what to post, when to post and how often to post. Every page has a unique set of things that works and doesn’t work. And only your page statistics can give you those insights.
Ads
Buying fake followers is a complete NO-NO, since it has no impact on engagement! However, investing in ads to gain targeted followers is a must. Yes, you do gain organic followers with good content but sponsored advertising speeds-up the process incomparably.
Being Social!
While we divert full focus on creating, curating and posting content on our page, we tend to completely overlook the basic acts of being social! It is important to instantly reply to all comments and indulge in stimulating conversations. And conversations shouldn’t be restricted to one’s own page. Your brand page needs to like, comment and interact with others in the social sphere in order to build its personality.
Popularity depends upon how many people are consistently talking about you. And as a brand, you need to ensure that those numbers are on a constant incline. Because after all, no matter how many ads people see, they tend to trust what ‘a friend’ suggests. The advertising industry spends billions every year, yet word of mouth remains the most powerful marketing tool. Social media has harnessed that power by making WOM publicly accessible and trackable.
Now, that you can hear what everyone’s talking about your brand, it’s unto you to make it lucrative.