Social Media Best Practices to Increase Brand Awareness

 

Social media is an outlet that increases brand visibility, awareness and recognition, but how can you ensure that you promote your brand in the most successful way possible? This blog post highlights six social media best practices to increase brand awareness and serves as a guide to the success of your brand’s social media presence.

Set goals that align with the purpose of your personal brand or business.

Before posting content on any social media platform, you must first set goals that make sense for your personal brand or business. Social media strategy starts with goals and you want to ensure that your platforms are engaging and are consistently attracting users to learn about your brand. Your goals will define your content strategy, which will determine your brand’s tone, voice, and overall identity. You must be smart in selecting which platforms to utilize and engage with, as some of them may not be necessary in elevating your brand in the way you fit. Oftentimes, it is better to focus on a few platforms and receive high and consistent engagement than to focus on too many and receive low and inconsistent engagement.

Research your target audience.

It is important to take the time to research your target audience and identify their interests. Demographic data and social media analytics tools such as Sprout Social, Falcon, or Hootsuite can provide audience statistics and help ensure that you consistently post engaging and relevant content. In order to keep your audience engaged, you must post a variety of content from photos to gifs and videos. No audience wants to see the same content everyday, so it is imperative to switch up your content in order to increase engagement. Three ways to increase engagement are the following: ask a question, launch a giveaway, or go live.

It is critical to remember that different platforms attract different audiences.

• Facebook and YouTube are prime places for ads, partly due to their high-earning user bases.
• The majority of Instagram and TikTok user base is Millennials or Gen Z, providing dynamic, bold and eye-popping content.
• LinkedIn’s users are well-educated professionals, making it a hub for industry-specific content.

 Identify your most important metrics and KPIs.

No matter what your brand is, your social media strategy should be data-driven. This data should align directly with the goals that align with your brand. Not all metrics may be relevant, but it is important to track your targeted data frequently. Tracking your data on a regular basis allows you to see your progression overtime and make note of what can be improved in the future. These metrics can include the following: reach, clicks, engagement, hashtag performance, likes, and sentiment.

Create engaging content.

This should not be a surprise. Your social media strategy is focused on content. As with your metrics and KPIs, your content should align with your brand. Many brands rely on the same content types, which can help you become more consistent and focus on a specific content strategy. The two types of content that your brand should implement are stories/ time-sensitive content and video. These content types receive higher engagement than a static content post and can enhance your brand further.

 Post as frequently as possible.

To enhance your engagement, you must post frequently in order for your audience to engage. By utilizing a social media analytics tool, you are able to identify the best and worst times to post depending on your audience’s engagement. In addition to posting frequently, you must also respond to your followers in a timely manner. Through social media, you gain respect as a brand just by being present and talking to your audience. If you are not responsive to your audience, your engagement will drop. In order to prevent this from happening, it is critical to respond to comments throughout the week.

Assess your progress.

Lastly, identify what is working, what is not working, and how to keep improving. It is imperative that you are able to adapt your strategy as you progress overtime. Without continuously analyzing your efforts, you will be unaware if you are successfully engaging your audience or not. Keeping a close eye on your platform’s activity puts things into perspective and explains why your highest performing content is at the top and your lowest performing content is at the bottom. Social media is a matter of trial-and-error and finding out what works and does not work, so do not be afraid to try new things!

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About the Author

Alyse-Noël Hicks is a graduate student at Georgetown University pursuing her Master’s in Public Relations and Corporate Communications. She received her Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications from the University of West Georgia with a public relations concentration, a marketing minor and an advertising certificate. Alyse-Noël currently serves as the Communications Assistant for the Georgetown University Association of Retired Faculty and Staff (GUARFS) and has previously interned at Aflac and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. Alyse-Noel has also interned for nonprofits and small businesses in Georgia, focusing on public relations, communications and marketing.

During her senior year of college, she was awarded the Excellence Award for Public Relations, the highest student honor within Mass Communications that is awarded to one senior within each concentration. As a junior, Alyse-Noël became a published author, publicizing her research on International Social Media Companies and Platforms. After she receives her graduate degree, she hopes to work for an international company within their communications, public relations, or marketing department and later receive her Ph.D. in communications. Alyse-Noël’s overall goal is to establish her own public relations firm and branding and marketing company and expand them overseas. She is passionate about helping individuals, companies and organizations enhance their brand through content creation and social media.