Congratulations, you’ve made your business a shiny new social page! You’ve updated your about section, directions are clear, and your fan base has been consistently growing. Now what?

“Post content”, they said, so you get right to it. Posting different stock images, linking back to your website occasionally, and every once in a while, a picture of a cat looking confused comes up for the engagement. Obviously that seems all great, and can really get you flowing on the social scene, but what many businesses don’t realize is that the name of the page doesn’t define who you are.

Your business isn’t just on social to post sales and vibrant visuals. Your main goal should be to define who your brand is. Why is this important? Let’s take a closer look.

With any social account, the first thing you want to do is define who your brand is on the platform, and what you stand for. This is going to help you out for a number of reasons.

Here are three social media branding tips, and examples, to help you get started.

Sell a lifestyle and what you stand for.

What consumers want more than anything is to feel a connection to what they’re buying — not only for themselves, but, also as gifts for loved ones, especially during the holiday season.  Social allows you, through content and visuals, to sell a lifestyle along with your merchandise. This lets consumers become a part of a community after they’ve purchased, which will lead them to convert again. For example, look at the example from Free People below. 

free people - tweet

Free People clothing has done a great job at defining what they stand for as company, and who they want their consumers to be.As you can see, this particular tweet is not letting you know what style beanie cap she’s wearing, or how much it is. It’s delivering a message of comfort for the winter months (and a love of pets).

jeepStart a conversation with your products.

Long after your consumers have converted, not only are you going to want to keep them coming back for more, but, you’re going to also want to keep them talking. Having past customers communicating on social about your products is going to keep you relevant, and in return, score more conversions. You’ll do this by developing a community of like-minded people, as seen in step 1, and keep the conversation flowing. You can accomplish this by utilizing relevant hashtags for your brand, and even by putting some consumers in the spotlight with your product. @jeepofficial will most of the time use customers’ photos on their Instagram account. Again, the photo no where says how much a jeep is, or what it’s special features are, but it shows a real person who is a jeep driver enjoying their jeep, and the scenery it has brought them to. The comments under this photo included those such as “me in 5 years”, “goals”, and “can’t wait to pick up my jeep later”.

Define who your brand is, and the content becomes easier to find.

This is going to be a key factor in what you’re posting, and when you’re posting on social. If, from the get-go you know who you want to be on social, and who you’re targeting, then the social media manager has it made. The content will be easier to find, and once you build that community, you’ll notice how the engagement will spike. At this point, you’ll almost find that the content is being delivered to your doorstep, so to speak. Consumers will become more eager to share photos of themselves with your products and be thrilled once you share them on your page. So why not make your job easier and let the consumers build the content for you?

I know my examples are big brand names, but just because you’re a local business does not mean you can’t brand on social. Use your location and surrounding demographics to your advantage when deciding what your brand will stand for. If you’re in a small town, you can use your page as a local news source. Is your business located in a city? Try and revolve around city life. And if you need some assistance, feel free to reach out to us at PCG Companies to help you get on the right track to success!

Happy holidays, and happy branding!

About the Author

Denise Casagrande, Vice President of Marketing at PCG, is passionate about humanizing brands across social channels. She feels the connection businesses can make with their clients can be ever-lasting based off of the messages they're displaying through content. Creator of the Automotive Social Media Sales Funnel.