It’s a truth of life—each model must be constructing a social media presence. For those who’re not in prospects’ social feeds, you’re not of their consciousness. What social media buys you is a presence in every buyer’s thoughts, whether or not they’re consciously consuming or casually searching.
There’s an ever-growing record of social media giants to think about. Suppose LinkedIn, Fb, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch and extra. Every of those networks has its personal demographic, ethos and methodology, and requires a subtly completely different method.
Making a social media presence warrants a strategic and centered method. So let’s run via some suggestions and social media methods that may assist you to create a aggressive and compelling model presence.
Let’s start with some definitions.
What’s social media presence?
Social media presence is your model character expressed within the bite-sized visuals and messages of social media. It’s the face you present to the world, reaching each dedicated prospects and first-time guests. Constructing a social media presence will increase consciousness and helps outline what makes your model distinctive.
It’s additionally the place you may inject character and humor via a fastidiously curated social media feed.
Why does social media presence matter to a model?
In 2023, it’s estimated that there are 4.89 billion social media customers worldwide. That presents an outstanding alternative to get your model observed.
Social media feeds turn out to be individually curated reflections of their customers’ likes and values. Manufacturers can reply by creating content material that resonates with their viewers’s pursuits and values.
In The Sprout Social Index™ 2023, we noticed 25% customers choose manufacturers that align with their values. What does this imply for manufacturers constructing a social media presence? In a phrase—concentrating on. Get a social media technique proper and you may obtain virality and take off. Similar to Sweet Funhouse, whose use of TikTok took the model from a small brick-and-mortar enterprise to a web-based celeb with over 3.3 million followers.
Established manufacturers can hit new heights too. British clothes retailer ASOS achieved a 24% rise in gross sales throughout the COVID-19 lockdowns as a result of its extremely responsive social media technique that leveraged micro-influencers and centered on widespread lockdown fashions in leisurewear and activewear.
A well-liked presence doesn’t occur by probability—it’s strategically deliberate. Virality gained’t maintain a model if it might’t journey that preliminary wave of curiosity with participating content material and messaging. Consistency is vital to a permanent presence.
With this in thoughts, we’ve put collectively an inventory of 16 finest practices for achievement in constructing a social media presence to develop your model
16 suggestions for constructing a social media presence
1. Set SMART objectives
This implies your goals must be:
- Particular: Give concrete targets (followers, views, shares).
- Measurable: How will you’ve succeeded?
- Achievable: Are your targets reasonable?
- Related: Do your KPIs (key efficiency indicators) measure engagement?
- Time-bound: Set a set level for assessing marketing campaign success.
Take a tip from creators and influencers. They’re usually express with their objectives and targets (i.e., “Assist me attain 100,000 followers!”). It will assist you to outline a method that’s centered on the expansion you need to obtain.
2. Determine your viewers
Social media is all about segmentation. Are you concentrating on youthful customers? Then use TikTok or Twitch. Older prospects would possibly choose Fb or Instagram, whereas B2B gross sales require a presence on LinkedIn. Determine who your typical customers are and nil in on these you need to goal.
This fashion you’ll attain a section that’s finest suited to your corporation. By utilizing instruments like Sprout Social’s viewers concentrating on you may select standards like location, age, gender, pursuits and extra to focus on your supreme prospects.
3. Be human
With each share, like, hashtag, remark or observe, social media customers are actively participating along with your content material. To maximise this, be your self. Be approachable, sincere and actual. Discuss instantly and truthfully to your prospects and so they’ll reward you with their loyalty.
For instance, Harmless Drinks makes use of a conversational tone to attach with their viewers. Their Twitter profile, specifically, persistently options their quirky humor, which has garnered them virtually 300,000 followers.
4. Search relationships, not simply followers
Social media advertising finest observe requires you to construct a two-way relationship between you and the patron.
Relationship constructing is extra than simply about promoting. It’s about actively participating in social listening, and demonstrating values your prospects admire whereas offering glorious customer support.
For instance, Crimson Bull builds relationships with followers not solely via nice content material aimed toward changing excessive sports activities followers into their followers, but additionally actively participating with them on social channels.
A have a look at their Twitter deal with reveals how they put money into responding to virtually each remark, thereby giving private consideration to each follower.
5. Create an editorial calendar
A social media content material calendar helps you handle your content material and posting schedule. Preserve monitor of content material themes and campaigns, and get a mile-high view of your posting frequency to be sure to’re assembly your viewers when and the place they’re on a social community.
Calendar instruments like Sprout’s assist you to streamline your social posts, from planning to posting, throughout channels in a single place.
Use this information to get a whole view of how one can create and leverage a social media calendar.
6. Automate the appropriate means
Use automation to arrange batches of posts, simplify your schedule and make sure you submit on the optimum time. Sprout’s social media administration platform allow you to schedule posts throughout occasions when your viewers is most engaged.
In case you have a multi-location presence, automated scheduling and posting will help you ship content material to prospects throughout completely different time zones. For instance, Fb’s world attain means a weekday 3 am slot could also be probably the greatest occasions to have interaction along with your world viewers.
Automated replies can enhance your buyer care by instantly acknowledging a remark or direct message, and even answering ceaselessly requested questions.
Equally, automate your reporting and different admin duties, so you may dig into viewers knowledge and focus your time on constructing connections along with your following.
7. Deal with serving to over promoting
The arduous promote doesn’t normally work on social media.
As an alternative, help your prospects with their inquiries and supply added worth. As an illustration, in the event you’re a clothes model, you would possibly supply styling suggestions, doubtlessly working with a preferred influencer. Or sponsor an ever-popular clothes haul, like Roxxsaurus’s for Shein.
Experiment with various kinds of content material, like brief tutorials on matters associated to your product, or launch competitions and enjoyable challenges. Deal with content material that builds engagement and your backside line.
Use social media to answer queries and buyer complaints. A well-handled criticism can increase the profile of a enterprise, utterly turning round what would possibly seem to be a adverse occasion.
By doing so, you’re making your model synonymous with helpfulness and responsiveness. Clients count on speedier, extra direct interactions with manufacturers. Our Index discovered that 35% of customers count on a reply inside two hours. After they point out your deal with of their feedback, it’s a good suggestion to reply.
8. When unsure, get visible
Visible components like picture carousels, slideshows, animation, video content material and GIFs draw the attention and create a focal point. Infographics supplier Venngage discovered that 73% of entrepreneurs take into account visible content material, whether or not pictures, movies or graphics, a prime precedence in 2022.
Take a look at this eye-catching visible from Lyft’s YouTube web page.
Whether or not it’s exquisitely styled meals pictures, startling informatics or celeb endorsements, visuals are normally extra satisfying than blocks of textual content.
9. Make your presence recognized
Make your social media presence recognized in a way that fits your model. Promote your presence throughout channels and create distinctive content material that aligns along with your model and captures your viewers’s consideration corresponding to particular reductions or unique behind-the-scenes content material. Lead along with your strongest, most dramatic content material.
Don’t overlook music. Use trending sounds or license-free music. For those who can’t get permission for it, then enlist creators to create earworms that listeners discover arduous to shake.
10. Keep lively
Keep in mind to make use of that calendar operate to keep up an everyday posting schedule. Experiment with frequency and occasions to learn the way usually to submit and when.
It’s not nearly posting. An lively presence additionally requires replying to feedback and direct messages. Permit open direct messaging (as long as you reply) and maintain a library of saved responses for FAQs.
Social listening instruments will make sure you don’t miss any traits in shopper sentiment. Use it for disaster administration by catching conversations you’re not tagged in or figuring out potential issues earlier than they blow up.
11. Piggyback on what’s trending
It’s value following traits and becoming a member of in, the place applicable.
For instance, when the Netflix present “Wednesday” was trending, we referenced the character “Factor” whereas nonetheless specializing in our messaging on this Instagram reel.
Influencers usually prepared the ground in trend-spotting and opinion shaping, so it’s value following the important thing personalities in your sector to maintain updated. If you piggyback on a development, be sure to’re honest. In different phrases, solely observe traits that align along with your values. Customers will sense insincerity and be turned off by it.
12. Don’t be afraid to pay
Whereas social media profiles can construct organically, there’s no hurt in paying for promoting or advertising to supply an early enhance.
A mixture of paid advertising and natural progress is one of the best ways to construct a social media model. Use social adverts, sponsored content material or boosted posts to enhance attain. As a rule of thumb, social media budgets have averaged round 14% to fifteen% of promoting spend since 2021.
Plus, accomplice with influencers to faucet into their engaged followings and create distinctive content material that positions your model alongside trusted personalities.
Real first-person endorsements rely for lots on social media. It’s not about promoting a selected services or products and even imprinting a model identification on viewers. It’s about creating a direct relationship with prospects.
From a 9.7 billion USD market worth in 2020, influencer advertising grew to 16.4 billion USD in 2022. Even with out express endorsement, a model sponsor can insinuate itself into the consciousness of viewers with the proper of social media placement.
Influencers and creators are available all sizes and styles, leverage an influencer platform to seek out the appropriate one which aligns along with your model and target market.
13. Monitor your engagement and technique
Usually assess your metrics and discover out what content material and which platforms are delivering one of the best outcomes. Are GIFs widespread along with your prospects or do they like video content material? Are you getting engagement out of your target market, and are you hitting your SMART goals?
Most social media platforms supply built-in analytics to observe your submit efficiency and social media campaigns. These embrace impressions, clicks, shares, likes and feedback, all of which may additionally present viewers insights.
Sprout’s social analytics instruments allow you to dig deeper into the engagement knowledge out of your profiles, together with post-performance, and competitor and sentiment evaluation. Acquire insights into traits and patterns that may inform future technique and well timed optimizations. Plus, collect knowledge that helps show your social technique’s ROI.
14. Create content material folks need to see
By taking a look at what folks like, share and touch upon, you will discover out what resonates along with your prospects. After all, this may alter, and also you’ll have to vary route with it. What memes are they sharing? Are short-form movies beating longer content material? Is informatic content material trending?
Align your messaging with what entertains, educates, strikes and stimulates. This fashion you meet your prospects’ preferences whereas infusing your model values into the content material.
15. Don’t be afraid to experiment
Daring, courageous approaches can generally obtain breakthroughs. Embrace and experiment with every platform’s content material sorts whereas utilizing your viewers’s style and your model values as information rails for experimentation.
For instance, Pringles’ #playwithpringles marketing campaign leaned into TikTok’s hashtag problem tradition to create participating and interactive content material that leverages the platform’s strengths and their Gen-Z viewers’s content material preferences.
The snack big elevated model consciousness throughout a spread of territories by encouraging customers to movie enjoyable TikTok movies utilizing the enduring Pringles tube. The technique labored, producing over 4.6 billion views. Extra importantly, it revitalized the model voice for a brand new viewers of customers.
For some extra standout social media campaigns, take a look at this text.
Corporations with one of the best social media presence
Want extra inspiration? Listed below are three extra firms with one of the best social media presence.
Sephora
Boasting over 21 million followers, the sweetness model’s Instagram web page showcases merchandise and affords useful make-up suggestions. Longer tutorials can be found on their YouTube channel (1.36 million subscribers).
They’ve expanded on this content material with “tales of belonging,” which characteristic the inspiring tales of LGBTQI+ and BIPOC influencers. Seamlessly connecting their merchandise with their’s and prospects’ values, this method positions the model as inclusive whereas constructing consciousness and welcoming everybody in.
Little Moons
Japanese sweets, like ice-cream-filled mochi, grew to become a giant deal on TikTok in 2022. Little Moons achieved a 2000% enhance in gross sales within the UK inside a couple of weeks as a result of their superlative use of social media. Their movies pair the daring colours and tastes of their merchandise with widespread sounds and stickers to make their model part of the dialog.
Spotify
Because the model expands its podcast providing and marshals a recruitment drive, its presence on LinkedIn has grown.
Spotify’s common brief posts hyperlink to its podcast, job alternatives and charitable outreach, however facilities their messaging round socially acutely aware work from the model. This brings to the forefront their mission and dedication to their values, which has earned them over 3.28 million followers on LinkedIn.
Social media presence brings you nearer to your prospects
Constructing a social media presence isn’t simply one thing companies do to maintain up with the competitors. It’s a advertising technique that helps you construct connections along with your customers.
Greater than that, social media allows you to faucet into area of interest audiences and develop your model at scale. It additionally offers invaluable insights into how customers view your product that may present a aggressive edge.
To realize all that, after all, you have to be systematic. You want a plan.
Take a look at this 30-day social media plan we’ve created to assist manufacturers take into account, design and implement an efficient social media presence in only one month.