4 Effective Ways to Build Your Brand on Social Media

Social media can seem overwhelming to businesses.  Where do you start? What do you say? How do you remain relevant?

All very valid questions.  Social media is not a quick fix, it takes effort and an investment of time.  The main thing to understand is that if you are only going to do it half-way, don't do it at all. It's better to not be present than it is to be half in and half out.

We know that social media is changing the way consumers purchase, the way they seek customer service and they way they just generally engage with others.

Just consider the following statistics from 2014:

• Pinterest is now more popular than Twitter among internet users.


• Facebook is aging and shifting. 45% of internet users age 65+ use Facebook.


• 71% of users access social media from a mobile device.

So, now that you understand the value of social media you may be wondering how you should get started.

Social media has become a vital aspect of online marketing, particularly because people (i.e. your future customers) spend a significant amount of time on social networking sites. So if you’re not active on social media, then you’re missing out on a massive amount of potential business.

Whether you’re running a mom and pop business, or a multimillion dollar corporation, it’s imperative that you leverage social media in order to increase your brand’s visibility. Not sure where to start? Don’t worry, we’ll guide you through the basics. Here are four ways you can use social media to build your brand.

1. Utilize Every Site Available

It’s important that you create a company profile on every major social media site such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, just to name a few. Many large companies, like Instant Checkmate, have even ventured into platforms like Pinterest and Slideshare to increase their social reach. The more profiles you maintain, the more people you’ll be able to reach on a daily basis.

2. Stay Active

If you neglect your social media profiles, your fans and followers will think that you’ve gotten lazy, or that your brand doesn’t have anything new to share with the world. So, you have to maintain your profiles, and make sure that you’re updating every single one every single day. It can be time-consuming and rather tedious, but the consequences of not staying active are much worse than taking an hour or two to maintain your social presence.

Being out of the office is no excuse either, because there are several great tools you can use to schedule your posts ahead of time. I personally like HootSuite because its simple and easy-to-navigate dashboard helps you plan out your social media activity (on all your pages) weeks or even months in advance.

3. Aim To Create Viral Posts

The ultimate goal of every post is to make it go viral, and the only way to achieve this goal is to share content that is both interesting and relevant to your brand. Posts that are timely and funny are also known to do very well on social media. The key here is to put yourself in your customers’ shoes, and ask yourself “Is this something I’d want to share?” If the answer is yes, then you’re good to go. If not, then you may want to revise your post in order to appeal to a larger group of people, which will increase the likelihood of your content being shared on a massive scale.

4. Craft (And Maintain) Your Brand Voice

When you’re posting content from a company profile, the last thing you want is to sound like a robot because this is the quickest way to delegitimize your brand in the eyes of your followers. To avoid this, you have to craft a unique voice for your brand, and you need to make sure that voice remains consistent in all of your posts.

Taco Bell is a great example of a brand with a distinctive and identifiable voice, which you can see just by visiting any one of their social profiles. They’re posts are funny, sarcastic, and sometimes even a little risque, but it works because they own it and they make no apologies for their non-corporate tone on social media.

If you’re unsure about how you want to portray your brand’s voice on social media, it helps to take some time to research established companies who’ve become famous for their social strategy. A little research can go a long way, and you never know where you’ll find the inspiration you need. Just make sure that, whatever you choose, you keep it consistent.

Do you have any additional tips companies can use to build their brand on social media? Share your thoughts in the comments below.