Most business owners know the importance of building a unique ‘brand’ for their business. Many know that using social media (SM) to brand their business can play an integral part in their branding efforts, but that’s where they often begin to encounter problems.

Social media marketing can be quite intimidating for the average person. Especially if you’re not one of the millions who spends two and a half hours every day scrolling, flipping and swiping through various SM sites.

One of the most common mistakes business owners make is believing they need to be omnipresent. They think in order to be successful using social media to brand their business, they must have a presence on every social media platform available.

There are currently more than 20 SM platforms around the globe, and that number will likely continue to grow. Staying consistently active on all of them would not only be unrealistic, it would require nearly full-time attention, leaving you little to no time to actually run your business.

Tips to Help You Make the Most of Using Social Media to Brand Your Business

  1. Conduct research to determine how much time your target audience spends on social media sites, and which ones they spend the most time on.
  2. Choose to focus only on the top one or two platforms preferred by your audience.
  3. Keep your images, colors and messages consistent across the platforms. This allows potential new customers to begin recognizing your brand.
  4. Foster engagement by posting content on a regular schedule, at least several times a week and, depending on the industry, multiple posts throughout the day can be even more optimal.
  5. Your brand needs its own personality and a voice to make it stand out, not only in your customers’ minds, but to differentiate your business from those of your competitors.
  6. Use a variety of post types – text, images, videos, and infographics. Only about half your posts (or even a bit less) need to be promotional, the rest can be used to inform, educate or entertain.
  7. Be sure you or someone from your business respond to comments, both good and bad.

Most importantly, recognize branding is a marathon, not a sprint. It doesn’t happen overnight. With SM marketing, it takes time as well as consistent effort to see maximum results. Branding your business can, and probably should, include social media marketing, but keep in mind it’s just one tool in your branding toolbox.

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