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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Account Executive Madison Stout grew up in small town Paris, Texas. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in strategic communications from Oklahoma State University. Learn more about Madison Stout+
Who Your Company Should Follow on Social Media
As social media continues to become a major means of communication for businesses, who your company follows – and interacts with - could have a major impact on your branding and social media presence. While there isn’t a set formula or specific list to follow, hopefully the tips below will provide some insight into who your company should be following.
DEDICATED AND RAVING FANS
These are the people who help accurately promote your brand and what you stand for. While we wouldn’t suggest following every single one of your fans, it is beneficial to follow the dedicated brand ambassadors and to make sure to interact with them on a regular basis. These fans need to have relevant content that represents your company with a strong testimonial.
YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
What better way to reach your target audience than hitting their follow button? It puts you right in their face – without a price tag (i.e. advertising)! You are wanting to reach your target audience in as many ways as possible and interacting with them regularly on social media can increase your chances of connecting with them to build a strong relationship with your brand.
INFLUENCERS
While you don’t need to go follow every person who has their Instagram account labeled as “Personal Blog,” it can be beneficial to create and maintain relationships with influencers relevant to your business. These could be specific accounts who have taken the time to review or post about your company in a positive way or influencers which you have identified through your marketing plan.
PARTNERS
You should be following and connecting socially with your community and company partners. These could be your chamber of commerce, convention and visitor’s bureau, media outlets and schools. If you are interacting with them, chances are they will start endorsing your business and reciprocally promoting you. Are there partners or donors that have helped make your business what it is today? Following those audiences and interacting with them shows you are thankful for their service and you wish them well in their business adventures, too.
WHO YOU SHOULDN’T FOLLOW
There are things to look out for when deciding who to follow or not. You don’t necessarily need to follow every account that follows you. This can become overwhelming and result in seeing a lot of content that is irrelevant for your business to interact with. Be aware of suspicious or spam accounts and always verify before following any account- you don’t want to invite spam into your social thread.
Connections and interacting on your social media platforms is important to your brand. We have an entire team ready to help you with all your social media needs. Contact us today!
DEDICATED AND RAVING FANS
These are the people who help accurately promote your brand and what you stand for. While we wouldn’t suggest following every single one of your fans, it is beneficial to follow the dedicated brand ambassadors and to make sure to interact with them on a regular basis. These fans need to have relevant content that represents your company with a strong testimonial.
YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
What better way to reach your target audience than hitting their follow button? It puts you right in their face – without a price tag (i.e. advertising)! You are wanting to reach your target audience in as many ways as possible and interacting with them regularly on social media can increase your chances of connecting with them to build a strong relationship with your brand.
INFLUENCERS
While you don’t need to go follow every person who has their Instagram account labeled as “Personal Blog,” it can be beneficial to create and maintain relationships with influencers relevant to your business. These could be specific accounts who have taken the time to review or post about your company in a positive way or influencers which you have identified through your marketing plan.
PARTNERS
You should be following and connecting socially with your community and company partners. These could be your chamber of commerce, convention and visitor’s bureau, media outlets and schools. If you are interacting with them, chances are they will start endorsing your business and reciprocally promoting you. Are there partners or donors that have helped make your business what it is today? Following those audiences and interacting with them shows you are thankful for their service and you wish them well in their business adventures, too.
WHO YOU SHOULDN’T FOLLOW
There are things to look out for when deciding who to follow or not. You don’t necessarily need to follow every account that follows you. This can become overwhelming and result in seeing a lot of content that is irrelevant for your business to interact with. Be aware of suspicious or spam accounts and always verify before following any account- you don’t want to invite spam into your social thread.
Connections and interacting on your social media platforms is important to your brand. We have an entire team ready to help you with all your social media needs. Contact us today!
Knowing the Who
What if for Christmas, we didn’t know who we were giving gifts to? All we knew was to show up to a Christmas celebration and bring our gifts. We would know nothing about the gift recipients - not their age group, their gender, their lifestyle or preferences. We would only know the things we are bringing. We could choose to gift a nice bottle of wine, a grilling utensil set or a basketball, yet we wouldn’t know anything about who would be slicing the bows and ripping the wrapping paper. This would get confusing. How would we know our gifts are appropriate?
The same is true for businesses and companies. Businesses and companies have many products and services to offer, but if they do not understand who they need to reach, they may never reach their intended audience at all.
Here are five reasons why it is important to know your target audience.
1. They buy your product.
This one is an obvious one but a good reminder. Your target audiences are those who are buying your products or services. They are the ones who can keep you in business, so get to know them. Get to know what they like or dislike about your services, what they would keep and what they might change and adapt to that.
2. Personal connections.
You want your company to be relatable and for people to make their own personal connections to it. By understanding your target audience, you will be able to close the gap between a company and the people who utilize it. This can be in the tone of voice you use on your social media pages, the language in advertisements, etc.
3. Save on advertising fees.
Without knowing who you need to reach, you could be spending too much on advertising. Narrow down the radius of who you need to reach to avoid budgeting all your earnings away to multiple large areas for only a short amount of time.
4. Easier to capture attention.
When you know your target audience and understand them, you will be able to understand how to capture their attention. Will they respond better to witty social media posts or to gentle tones? It is important to know this in order to not be another ad in the crowd for your target audience.
5. Determine the marketing tools to use.
When you know and understand your target audience, then you can determine what tactics and avenues to reach them with. Will you use social media or print ads? E-mail or text messages? How does your target audience like to be communicated with? These are the types of questions you will want to ask when determining the methods to put into place. What tool is going to help you reach your target audience in the most effective way?
Know the who so you may reach the who. Is your business reaching its target audience effectively? We have an entire team ready to help define your target audience, streamline your tactics and messaging and save your hard-earned money. Contact us today!
The same is true for businesses and companies. Businesses and companies have many products and services to offer, but if they do not understand who they need to reach, they may never reach their intended audience at all.
Here are five reasons why it is important to know your target audience.
1. They buy your product.
This one is an obvious one but a good reminder. Your target audiences are those who are buying your products or services. They are the ones who can keep you in business, so get to know them. Get to know what they like or dislike about your services, what they would keep and what they might change and adapt to that.
2. Personal connections.
You want your company to be relatable and for people to make their own personal connections to it. By understanding your target audience, you will be able to close the gap between a company and the people who utilize it. This can be in the tone of voice you use on your social media pages, the language in advertisements, etc.
3. Save on advertising fees.
Without knowing who you need to reach, you could be spending too much on advertising. Narrow down the radius of who you need to reach to avoid budgeting all your earnings away to multiple large areas for only a short amount of time.
4. Easier to capture attention.
When you know your target audience and understand them, you will be able to understand how to capture their attention. Will they respond better to witty social media posts or to gentle tones? It is important to know this in order to not be another ad in the crowd for your target audience.
5. Determine the marketing tools to use.
When you know and understand your target audience, then you can determine what tactics and avenues to reach them with. Will you use social media or print ads? E-mail or text messages? How does your target audience like to be communicated with? These are the types of questions you will want to ask when determining the methods to put into place. What tool is going to help you reach your target audience in the most effective way?
Know the who so you may reach the who. Is your business reaching its target audience effectively? We have an entire team ready to help define your target audience, streamline your tactics and messaging and save your hard-earned money. Contact us today!
K.B.S.S. (Keep Branding Simple, Silly)
Multiple color schemes. Fonts for every occasion. Back drops in color and black and white. Changing logos. Long taglines. It may look and sound fancy, but too much intricacy in your brand could actually do more harm to your business than good.
According to the Siegel+Gale Global Brand Simplicity Index, simplicity strengthens a brand in several measurable ways:
A few major examples of simple brands include Apple, Target, Google and Coke-a-Cola. I’m sure you pictured each brand as you read them; each of them is easily identifiable. At least one thing each of these has in common with the others is the simplicity of the branding.
Branding should be clear and concise and send a strong message of the services or products provided. It should also be memorable. Consumers should remember your company by the brand. We remember Apple by the actual apple logomark, Target by the red bullseye logo, Google by the simple words with primary colors and Coke by the bright red can and unique font.
Now that you know how to keep branding simple, here are some tips on how:
1. Be intentional.
It is important to do your research. Understand what you want your brand to communicate to the public. Know what each color communicates, what shapes are more appealing and focus on how to make your branding as timeless as possible. Be intentional when making decisions on fonts, wording, tone of voice and even the colors used. For example, Apple generally uses the color white in their branding. White typically communicates clean, fresh and new.
2. Be direct.
This might sound like an obvious one, but directly communicate to your audience what you are providing. It will be more impactful and impressionable to be clear and direct with your branding. If you are providing a service, make that service clear. If you provide products, what kind do you provide? Can your audience clearly understand it without having to take time to guess?
3. Stay consistent.
If your logo changes constantly, how will people remember it? If you don’t establish and maintain a voice on your social media channels, how will people relate on a personal level with your brand? Staying consistent provides opportunities for your brand to be remembered, relatable and relevant.
While this is not an extensive list, it is a place to start. Branding is what pulls the gap of companies and consumers. Branding answers the question of what you are and who you are. It will set your company apart from the rest when you are clear and strategic with your branding. Keep it simple.
Need more help with keeping your branding simple and on track? Contact us today and we can assist with any of your branding needs!
According to the Siegel+Gale Global Brand Simplicity Index, simplicity strengthens a brand in several measurable ways:
- 63% of consumers are willing to pay more for a simpler experience.
- 69% are more likely to refer a brand that provides a simpler experience.
- The top 10 brands of the Index have beaten the average global stock index by 214% between 2009 to 2014.
A few major examples of simple brands include Apple, Target, Google and Coke-a-Cola. I’m sure you pictured each brand as you read them; each of them is easily identifiable. At least one thing each of these has in common with the others is the simplicity of the branding.
Branding should be clear and concise and send a strong message of the services or products provided. It should also be memorable. Consumers should remember your company by the brand. We remember Apple by the actual apple logomark, Target by the red bullseye logo, Google by the simple words with primary colors and Coke by the bright red can and unique font.
Now that you know how to keep branding simple, here are some tips on how:
1. Be intentional.
It is important to do your research. Understand what you want your brand to communicate to the public. Know what each color communicates, what shapes are more appealing and focus on how to make your branding as timeless as possible. Be intentional when making decisions on fonts, wording, tone of voice and even the colors used. For example, Apple generally uses the color white in their branding. White typically communicates clean, fresh and new.
2. Be direct.
This might sound like an obvious one, but directly communicate to your audience what you are providing. It will be more impactful and impressionable to be clear and direct with your branding. If you are providing a service, make that service clear. If you provide products, what kind do you provide? Can your audience clearly understand it without having to take time to guess?
3. Stay consistent.
If your logo changes constantly, how will people remember it? If you don’t establish and maintain a voice on your social media channels, how will people relate on a personal level with your brand? Staying consistent provides opportunities for your brand to be remembered, relatable and relevant.
While this is not an extensive list, it is a place to start. Branding is what pulls the gap of companies and consumers. Branding answers the question of what you are and who you are. It will set your company apart from the rest when you are clear and strategic with your branding. Keep it simple.
Need more help with keeping your branding simple and on track? Contact us today and we can assist with any of your branding needs!