Social media has for some taken over our lives. In this digital age, the majority of businesses now have some form of social engagement. As well as businesses having multiple social media platforms, from Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. It can also be quite common to find a business running multiple Twitter and Facebook accounts which span different verticals or countries.
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Branding and messaging are your tools to create a united front on social media.
One of the most important actions you can do, which is vital to a successful and engaging social strategy, is to be cohesive across all your channels.
1. Messaging
Each social channel has its own trends, audiences and personality. to accommodate, your social messaging needs to be altered to compliment the social channel, audience and country, but the overall message from the business should be one in the same. Your followers, connections or fans should always feel as though they are engaging with your brand.
“Successful companies in social media function more like entertainment companies publishers, or party planners than as traditional advertisers.” – Erik Qualman, author
Orange is the new Black television drama have several social channels, their messaging is tailored for each audience but the overall ethos of their marketing is still clear, and just like the show, their marketing is edgy and cool with the use of colour (Orange and Black!) emojis, messaging, video, animation and imagery.
OITNB use Twitter to promote real time and up to date information on the programme, interviews, Gifs, memes, polls and video to engage with fans and cast members.
Instagram is a platform which OITNB share behind the scenes imagery and messaging, giving viewers a snap shot of the cast on and off set.
Facebook, fans of the show can engage with videos (both animated and live action), there is a mix of imagery, including behind the scenes, branded and still shots from filming. OITNB have also taken advantage of Facebooks cool video header giving their fan page more depth.
2. Internal Engagement
Creating a community between your accounts, such as multiple twitter accounts, outwardly portrays your brand as a community, you are displaying cohesive behaviour and collaboration between teams. Why wouldn’t you want or share your own company information, insightful posts or collateral? Because if you aren’t engaging with each other, why should your customers bother?
“The best way to engage honestly with the marketplace via Twitter is to never use the words ‘engage,’ ‘honestly,’ or ‘marketplace.”Jeffrey Zeldman, Founder, A List Apart magazine, web entrepreneur
Starbucks are a example of a brand who are engaged with other Starbucks twitter accounts, the simple act of retweeting, favouriting or commenting shows their customers the they are a social community.
3. Imagery
A picture pants 1000 words, and getting your imagery right on social posts is win win, statistics show it encourages engagement, this can also be used as branding exercise. Imagery should cover everything from the images you share in posts to the social channel header. The header image is a free piece of real estate where you can promote your business or assets.
Forbes are a great example of using the header image across multiple twitter accounts.
4. Social Bio
As with your social messaging it’s important to ensure your social channels also have a cohesive bio. Each social channel has slightly different requirements, but overall your bio should have the same messaging, tailoring this slightly to fit your audience and social channel.
“A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.”– Scott Cook, Founder, Intuit
Retailers The White Company do this very successfully across their social channels, LinkedIn Company Page, employee LinkedIn Headers, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The bio may be slightly different, but as connections, followers and fans, we still understand the overall message.
Facebook - The White Company official Facebook page.Everything you need for stylish living - mainly in white.
Instagram - Official Instagram Everything you need for stylish living - mainly in white. Share your style using #MyWhiteCo and we'll regram our favorites, or click to shop
Twitter - Welcome to our official Twitter account. Everything you need for stylish living - mainly in white.
LinkedIn - We’ve been making impeccably stylish, beautifully designed products, principally in white, for over 22 years. Think style not fashion, quality not quantity and an attention to detail that extends through everything we do – from the hand-stitching on a luxurious high thread-count pillowcase to our second-to-none customer service...
The White Companies branding is on point and the audience still know they are within the brands social family. The old saying, keep it simple should always be at the forefront of your mind.
As with all your social and digital marketing, it should be clear to your audience where they are, who you are and what message as a business you are trying to convey.
