As competitors strengthen their online profiles, the need to differentiate your brand’s identity on social media grows.
Social media has become one of the most influential marketing tools used today. Companies market their brands with videos, photos and other creative content to drive a consumer market.
Building a recognizable brand known for its positive qualities will help gain and retain followers. Successfully executing branding strategies can help win customers, too.
But developing a powerful, branded social media presence is a challenge you can’t quickly overcome.
Implement these 5 actionable strategies for social media branding tips to build a consistent social media presence and discover what your followers want to see from your brand.

1. Build a Consistent Brand Image

Aside from your brand name, your brand’s visual identity (logo and colors) is another powerful way to build brand recognition, and increase your presence more broadly. Human beings are extremely visual, and we recall and recognize things through visual associations. This is due to ‘pictorial superiority effect which relates to the brain’s ability to retain visual information much easier than text:
Given this, your brand’s visual identity should be consistent across all your social media profiles, tying into that cognitive response. Consider visual consistency across:
– Profile pictures
– Header images of your channels and event pages
– Your social media graphics
– Your ads

2. Fully Update Your Social Media Accounts

Decide which social media account(s) you are going to focus on, and delete any old accounts that you are no longer using. For the networks, you will be using, make sure all of your information is complete and accurate. This will help you to build traffic to the networks you want to showcase your work. It can also remove any potential “questionable” content from years past that doesn’t have a positive effect on your professional image.

3. Post Regularly

Since social media branding centers on influencing your audience to easily recognize and remember you, irregular posting damages your efforts by keeping you off user newsfeeds. Posting frequency depends on audience activity and how audience members engage.
For example, you may realize that tweeting in the morning earns more replies than doing so in the evening. You could also earn more engagement by posting twice a week instead of five times to a given platform. This will take some experimentation to determine. However, an optimal posting schedule helps keep user attention while potentially earning more followers.

4. Engage With Your Followers

Engaging with your followers helps you figure out what the audience wants and creates a sense of community. Take the time to respond to your followers whenever they repost, tweet or comment on your post. Show them you are listening by answering any questions they may have.
Also, know what to say when you receive a negative comment or a concern. Saying “I’m sorry to hear that” is not as effective as “We are sorry to hear that. What can we do to help?” Another way to engage with your audience is by letting them join in on the fun. Create trendy hashtags that they can repost on their social media. Being interactive with your followers shows how much you value them and their needs.

5. Measure Your Efforts

Measuring social statistics such as reach and engagement can help refine aspects of your branding strategy. Assume that using specific hashtags is a key part of promoting your initiatives and products. However, you discover that few users search for — and view posts containing — these hashtags.
Likewise, checking ad performance statistics may reveal they’re not reaching target audiences. Word of your brand may not be spreading quickly enough as a result. By measuring these social tactics either manually or with a tool, you can determine if it’s worthwhile to alter your strategies to build brand recognition among prospects more effectively.

Conclusion

Overall, the culture you create has a big influence on how your followers will react to you. It all comes down to your culture, community and conversation. Investing in yourself and your followers is the most effective social media branding strategy tool.
Understanding who you are as a brand and what you want to provide to others will help your business grow. Once you have developed this, you will be able to understand how to reach your customers successfully.
Think long-term and remember to take note of what’s working and not working and adjust as necessary.