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The Business of Harnessing the Power of Social Media

February 16, 2022 No Comments

As business owners and entrepreneurs look to harness the power of social media in a shifting digital landscape, they will need to have an excellent grasp of social media fundamentals and keep up with evolving social media trends.

Social media platforms and channels continue to evolve, challenging businesses to adjust social strategies to capture the attention of target audiences, build brand visibility and generate leads. As business owners and entrepreneurs look to harness the power of social media in a shifting digital landscape, they will need to have an excellent grasp of social media fundamentals and keep up with evolving social media trends.

The sheer number of social media users makes a compelling case for businesses to increase their social media acumen. As of April 2021, social media platform users reached a global total of 4.33 billion – that equates to more than half the world’s population which stood at 7.85 billion at the start of April 2021.

On average, users spend nearly 2.5 hours on social media. Much of this time is spent on the larger social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. This captive audience provides business owners and entrepreneurs a powerful opportunity to reach and connect with key stakeholders. The most effective way for business owners and entrepreneurs to do this is by adhering to best practices when it comes to social media fundamentals and making it a priority to keep up with evolving social media trends. The following are a few of the social media fundamentals and trends every business owner should either master or be aware of.

Know your audience

Today, competition for capturing the attention of target audiences on social media platforms is fierce. And, considering that according to one oft cited study, the average human attention span is eight seconds which is less than the reported 9-second attention span of a goldfish, brands don’t have much time to attract notice.

Competition for mind share and dwindling attention spans make it critically important for brands to understand who their audience is to most effectively connect and engage with them.

The process of knowing the audience includes determining what social media platforms they most use and researching what their ‘pain points’ are, what their needs and wants are and what content will most appeal to them. Surveys, customer data and social media analytics can help companies refine social media strategies to ensure the right audience is targeted with content that is relevant and personalized to them.

Find brand voice

Brand voice is defined as the distinct personality a brand takes on in its communications. A strong social media strategy starts with companies knowing who they are and what they represent. According to a Sprout Social Index survey, brands that stood out more to consumers on social media had more memorable content (40%), had a distinct personality (33%) and told compelling stories (32%). Sprout Social noted that “in all three of these aspects, brand voice plays a significant role. You can’t have a distinct personality without a distinct brand voice.”

Developing an authentic voice aligned with company branding develops trust and recognition with audiences, allows key stakeholders to get a clear sense of company values and connects audiences more deeply to brand messaging.

Consistently post content

An intentional social media strategy that focuses on posting content consistently keeps audiences engaged, develops loyal followers and boosts brand awareness. In the social media realm, lack of consistency is a sure way to lose audience interest.

Research from Hootsuite revealed the ideal number of times a day (or week) to post for each platform:

On Instagram, post between 3-7 times per week.
On Facebook, post between 1 and 2 times a day.
On Twitter, post between 1 and 5 Tweets a day.
On LinkedIn, post between 1 and 5 times a day.

To stay on top of posting regularly, business owners can develop a social media content calendar as a tool for scheduling out social posts each month. This strategy can help businesses plan for and tie social posts to holidays, recognitions and upcoming events. Using a content calendar to develop a consistent cadence of posting also allows companies to analyse what content is working and what is not so that the content strategy can be fine-tuned across platforms to ensure that posts most effectively resonate with and engage target audiences.

Engage in social listening

Social listening allows companies to monitor and analyse digital interactions and conversations related to company, product, competitor and industry mentions across social media channels. Talkwalker notes that social media listening gives companies the view from 30,000 feet by “pulling conversations from social media and analysing the conversations in aggregate for insights.”

Social listening can help companies understand whether mentions are increasing or decreasing in a given month, whether people are engaging with content, what is trending related to a specific industry or topic and whether sentiment/feedback is positive or negative.

Now let’s take a look at some evolving social media trends.

Video

The popularity of video content on social media will continue to grow. Consider that on average, more than 100 million video hours are watched per day on Facebook and according to data from Limelight Networks, user generated content such as videos on social media significantly increased in popularity, doubling over the past year to four hours per week.

Video content is also going short form. The fact is, most social media users don’t have time to watch videos that are longer than a few minutes, making the optimum length for these shorter videos about 90 seconds or less. Audience preference for short form video content is a major reason for the surge in popularity of video-sharing app TikTok which reached 1 billion active global users in September 2021.

Stories

Immersive and interactive, stories remain one of the most popular features on social media. The personal and ephemeral nature of these 10-15 second photo or video posts make them more compelling to audiences than newsfeeds. They are typically a vehicle for brands to more casually share the inside scoop on company updates and showcase products and services.

Instagram is one of the most popular platforms for this feature, reporting 500 million daily active Stories users worldwide in 2019. Currently, 9 other social media platforms have their own version of stories available including business networking platform LinkedIn.

Live stream

Live streaming is trending on social media now. Companies are using this approach to stream behind-the-scenes content, announce new products, demonstrate products, give facility tours and host live Q&A sessions. Live streams also allow businesses to inject more personality into their social media with challenges and giveaways as well as surveys and polls.

As a tool for real-time engagement, live streaming is a great way to increase brand awareness, improve and enhance communication with target audiences and gain a deeper understanding of audience interests.

By Juda Honickman

Entrepreneur Leadership Network Contributor

Juda Honickman loves growth, strategy and being creative with disruptive brands. Currently serving as CMO for Slinger Bag Inc., an innovative sports brand focused on game improvement, Honickman previously held senior marketing positions in global consumer and tech companies.

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

In News

Developing Your Brand Voice: Guidelines for Businesses

November 29, 2021 No Comments

By Peter Roesler

Your brand voice can impact the customers you attract, if they convert, and your profits

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By Peter Roesler

Sourced from Inc.

In News

3 Ways To Build A Consistent, Polished And Engaging Brand Voice

December 7, 2020 No Comments

By Rhett Power

Excuse the clichéd thinking, but a brand’s voice is the cover of its book. Any turn of phrase you’ve heard about first impressions applies to brand voice because it’s a consumer’s initial interaction with you. Voice is the hallmark of the brand-buyer relationship—as with any connection, it needs to be consistent.

The slogans used, the tone evoked, and the sentiment left with customers must be similar across the board. Consumers find it comforting to interact with their preferred brands on any channel—in stores or online—and know that the messaging won’t change. A consistent brand presentation is so valuable and appreciated by customers that it can spark a 33% uptick in revenue, according to a Lucidpress study.

A clear and focused brand message positions companies to rise above their competitors and appeal to potential investors, customers, and employees. Entrepreneurs who want to craft a cohesive and consistent brand voice from the outset can follow these three steps:

1. Look to your audience. Modern customers aren’t shy about sharing their opinions. They’ll tell you what works, they’ll certainly share what doesn’t work, and they’ll offer those insights in comments sections, on social platforms, or via product reviews.

Feedback loops are now continuous, so why not apply that to every facet of your brand identity, including voice? If you have different products or verticals, for instance, look at what messaging resonates with each segment.

It’s a tactic Tara Fusco, chief marketing officer of Kepler & Wilde, supports wholeheartedly.

“When building or adjusting brand voice, look to your audience for communication cues,” Fusco said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re in SaaS or some other kind of service; tailor your voice to what you’re offering, to the base you’re trying to engage, and to the kind of experience you’re trying to provide.”

A consistent voice is best when it aligns with current customer trends and needs. Look to your audience for cues on how to modify your tone and continue to engage your target base.

2. Keep stakeholders and employees n the know. If voice is the first interaction customers have with your brand, employees are the carriers. By that logic, it’s vital that everyone in the company—from top to bottom—buys into the brand’s messaging and conveys it correctly.

Yes, the brand’s messaging should ring true in all marketing material and every piece of product packaging. Still, it also needs to bleed into how employees and leaders speak about the company. Apply that tone to how the company reaches out internally to personnel and externally to customers or even potential employees.

For example, FedEx makes each of its employees take “The Purple Promise,” an oath that guarantees a top-flight experience for customers and frontline employees. In the words of FedEx CEO Fred Smith, the promise prepares everyone to “sell trust,” something that resonates with customers who want to see their private information protected and their precious belongings delivered safely.

Getting buy-in from stakeholders to attach this voice to their professional correspondence can further entrench the brand voice. Then, it becomes a more defined trademark of the brand’s overall presentation.

3. Humanize that voice via social. The reach of social media makes brands available to their customers at a moment’s notice. While that might seem daunting and overwhelming, it presents companies with an excellent opportunity to use social media as an approachable and relatable marketing arm.

On a Twitter or Instagram feed, brand voice can permeate every interaction, every hashtag, and every back-and-forth touchpoint with customers. Social almost serves as another kind of call center where brands can hear customer feedback and present the brand in a helpful and friendly light. Just look at Wendy’s. The fast-food eatery regularly uses its uniquely crafted social platform and voice to engage customers, playfully trade barbs with rival brands, and promote its menu.

Apply the same brand voice guidelines you use for website copy and in-person interactions to your social strategy. See these touchpoints as another way to establish customer rapport and emphasize with your audience that what they see is what they’ll get from your brand—no matter where you connect.

First impressions are hard to break. Apply this thinking to your brand voice crafting and emit a positive and consistent brand tone at every customer interaction. Get that buy-in from the start, and customers will reward your company with trust, repeat business, and continued viability.

By Rhett Power

I co-founded Wild Creations in 2007 and quickly built the startup toy company into one of the fastest-growing companies in the US. I have been a finalist for EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year twice and recognized with over 40 awards for innovative products. Recently, I was named one of the world’s top 100 business bloggers, and I am a regular contributor on entrepreneurship, management, and leadership to top business publications. I’m now the Head Coach at Power Coaching and Consulting, a rapidly growing global executive coaching and training firm in Washington, D.C. My second bestselling book, The Entrepreneurship Book of Actions, was published by McGraw-Hill and is in bookstores now.