The Internet and digital marketing is continuing to explode and continues to be a leader when it comes to generating and analyzing marketing ROI. It comes as little surprise then that most businesses need to make it a major priority to own social media channels for their business. Still, with thousands of businesses and startups creating social profiles every day, how can you stand out from the competition and create a consistent presence for years to come? There are a few key factors for maximizing your potential, creating consistency, and long term growth from your social campaigns.

Brand Voice

How do you want or think your company is perceived? Are you witty and funny? Are you reserved and thoughtful? Will you respond using we or I? Not every company is the same and that’s what makes your brand unique and stand out amongst the rest. Convey a brand voice on your social media channels that reflects who you are as business and helps your audience form an emotional connection with your business while keeping it consistent throughout the channels you choose. Remember, there’s no right or wrong way, as long as it’s consistent.

Consistency

While we’re on the topic of consistency, its essential that you remember to be consistent with everything you do on social media in order to clearly define your brand identity across all channels. Own a color or certain look and feel, and be sure it’s present across all of your social media platforms. How your audience feels about you and your brand should be the same feeling that is portrayed on your profiles. For instance, we can all associate red with the Target brand – and they totally own it through the imagery they feature on their accounts!

This is true for B2Cs like Target, but also for B2Bs like our digital agency! The CEO & Founder of Blue Fountain Media had a vision that our branding and overall legacy was to create a feeling of calming water and azure scenery. As a result, we work hard to keep this type of branding prominent across our social media channels; it’s how we want people to remember us!

Tagline

That’s your tagline and you’re sticking to it!

Do you have a phrase or tagline? Think: “Redbull gives you wings” or “I’m Lovin’ It!” If you do, those should be on ALL of your social profiles as well.

Response

When responding to the feedback or comments of your followers make sure to keep your responses similar across channels. Everyone has his or her preferred social channel, and regardless of which one they are active on, the voice should almost appear as if it is one person saying it. Whether they follow you on Facebook or Twitter or both, if you reply, keep your tone the same.

Educate

Educate your audience and always remind them why they follow you in the first place. Is it because you’re the first to know about a niche topic? Do you offer top-notch career advice? Do you always have sales and promotions for followers? Whatever it may be, provide audiences with lots of valuable content that keeps them up-to-date on everything they need to know.

Your audience will never forget or “unfollow” the brand that keeps them in the know. And no, not just about what YOU can offer, but also for the knowledge you spread to users on topics in which they are truly interested. Your ultimate focus should always be to provide users with a real value.

Pretty Things

We’ve all seen a million articles about the importance of color and how aesthetically appealing imagery can work wonders on the human brain, how it can make us feel, and how it can boost memory. Yes, even brands that cater to the more serious types of audiences can portray information in a pleasing manner. Make sure your visuals are top notch and watch the engagement and reach of your posts consistently achieve impressive results.

Cross Reference

Let users know that your brand is on other social channels, and why they should be following you on those platforms too! Although your message and branding is the same across channels, maybe you update your employment opportunities on LinkedIn, or hold contests on twitter. Let them know!

On that note, run the same campaign on multiple different channels! Don’t worry about it being “too much” because remember, not every person is on every channel at all times. People have their preferences, so don’t miss out on reaching users with your newest and greatest campaign because you didn’t want to run it on all social media channels.

Don’t Neglect

And last, but most importantly, don’t neglect your social media profiles. We know you’re busy, everyone’s busy, but you need to actively update your social channels with new content whenever possible. No, not everything has to be brand spanking new. Remember to repurpose that amazing content that you have, not everyone saw that insightful article you wrote in the beginning of the year, so reuse it!