Modern-day marketing has shifted from a focus on promoting products to a concentration on creating brand awareness. This means that traditional mediums such as television and radio are being replaced with social-media channels.
Social-media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest allow brands to share their stories with people and to show potential customers who they are. This type of marketing strategy allows brands to convey their personality to people in an effort to build a relationship. Below is a list of tips for using social media to express your brand’s personality.
1. Make Social Media Interactions Personal
The way in which you deal with engagement on social-media channels has a big influence on how your brand is perceived. Interacting with people in a personal manner via social media is a great way to make them feel connected with your brand.
This means responding to Facebook comments and Twitter mentions with dialogue that doesn’t sound scripted or generic. The more genuine social-media interactions are, the more connected and comfortable people will feel with your brand.
2. Beef Up the “About Us” and Bio Fields
Facebook’s “About Us” section and Twitter’s bio field present themselves as another opportunity to communicate your brand’s personality. These sections can read as a story that resonates with your target audience. Social Media Today suggests making these sections seem less generic by including photos, links to videos and a description of your company. These elements should explain your company’s purpose, describe what it offers and convey the company culture.
Also, you can include any accolades, awards or accomplishments in these descriptive sections. While it may seem like bragging, these details will give people an idea of your organization’s credentials.
3. Focus on the Brand, not the Product
Social-media content that presents your brand says a lot more about your company than product-centric content. Explaining what your brand is, who it serves and how it came about are strategies for conveying brand personality to your audience.
4. Utilize Humor
Giving your social-media channels a humorous voice and presenting funny content can be a viable way to connect with people. As long as the content is industry relevant and resonates with your target market’s sense of humor, there is no reason to avoid humor in your content marketing.
Here is an example from Mosquito Magnet, which of course involves mosquitoes:
In what seems like a rather serious industry (the eCommerce side of mosquito control) this brand has embraced the humanized approached to brand voice on Facebook. As we can see, it garnered dozens of shares and likes, and shows visitors they’re more than just a storefront.
5. Crisis Management
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of an organization’s content-marketing plan is the way in which it addresses mistakes. Mistakes are bound to happen regardless of their size or impact. Products may need to be recalled, inaccurate information can be presented and services can fall short of their guarantees. When these issues arise they should be viewed as an opportunity rather than something to sweep under the rug.
Companies that handle mistakes gracefully actually improve their brand’s image in the long run. For example, when items are incorrectly priced on your website, honor people’s orders rather than making them suffer for your mistake. When you make an effort to reach out to people and let them know that you’re handling an error, it lets them know that your brand cares. This includes responding to negative social-media feedback and releasing posts admitting your error and explaining the solution.
Being transparent with people on social media and letting them know who your brand is will help them to connect with your company on a personal level. This means making your social-media profiles a place where people can learn about your company’s background, goals and values rather than simply focusing on product promotion.