The advent of social media has been a boon for a number of brands because it has helped them in reaching out to their target audience. Marketing is the main tool for all brands to sell their products, and since everyone is on the “Social Network”, it is no surprise that the brands are trying to capitalize on this opportunity to reach to a bigger set of potential customers. The popularity of social media has opened up new vistas of opportunities for different brands, which used this platform to catch the spotlight. There are a number of brands which have gained immensely by using the social media to their advantage. This has helped in creating a base for the brand and in gaining exposure. Using social media for marketing has been fruitful because it has helped in developing a loyal fan base, and finds the target audience.
Here are 10 ways in which social media can be leveraged to popularize your brand name.
1. Target the right audience: if you are trying to sell luxury items, you definitely not try to reach out to the lower middle class. You will have to target the affluent to buy your products. Or for that matter if you are trying to sell baby food, so you will not want to target teenagers. So different brands and products have different types of consumers, while a new mother will be interested in finding about the baby food, a teenager boy or girl will have no interest in it. Through social media, one can come across a huge number of target audiences who will be interested in buying your products and services and needless to say more customers mean more profits.
2. Contact your potential customers directly: while selling your products over the counter will not help you in knowing the customer feedback, selling your product on the social media will help in interacting with your audience. You will get to know how your product is being perceived in the market, is it good or bad, what are the improvements which you can make and how can you make your customers happier.
3. Transparency: if your company happens to have a social media connect with the customers there are more chances that the customer will be able to trust your company. Transparency may be a dreaded move for the company, but it turns out to very fruitful in the long run. Your customers will like to voices, their appreciations and problems regarding your company directly through the social networking sites. This helps in creating a stronger bond between the customer and the brand owners.
4. Responsive communication: with the growth of science, everything has sped up manifolds. People are no longer patient enough to wait for a reply, so you must be prompt in answering the various queries and grievances of your customer. If you give quick responses you are bound to have a stronger chord tying you and your customer closer. Try to address the customer’s complaints head on and make them try to understand why the problem happened in the first place. Show them your sincerity in solving problems and take responsibility; this will enhance the integrity of your brand.
5. Be creative: do not always come across as a ruthless business company trying to take over a huge audience, in fact use creative ways to lure your target audience. Apps, games, videos, contests, etc. will keep your audience engaged. For example you can come up with a quirky contest and give away some good prizes to the winners. This will definitely attract more audience, helping you in garnering a larger fan base for your business and brand.
6. Be accountable: being accountable and sincere on the social networking sites will help your brand in bringing in more target audience. The fact that you can address to issues and solve problems directly on the social networking sites will build trust between you and your customers.
7. Social responsibility: this helps in building brand equity, and shows that you care about your customers more than yourself. Make them feel that it is not just about selling your products, but to make your audience feel better by helping them acquire something which will give them pleasure and happiness. You can run promotions through social networking and get into the good books of your audience. For example, you can spread the word, that with every item purchased from your brand, you will be donating a certain percentage of it to education or for that matter even charity. This will ensure that your audience is touched by the effort of improving the society, by donating a part of your profit to an important social cause.
8. Make use of pictures: pictures have always been attractive; from nursery books to magazines all are filled with pictures to give the audience an image. So using attractive images to grab the attention of the audience is not a bad idea. Using good quality images will attract audience towards your page and products which will further help in garnering more and more audience. There are many picture sites like instagram, pinterest, etc. By creating a page on these sites, you will be able to inform people about your product even better.
9. Be wary of your competitors: now that you are on a social networking site, then it is for sure that your rival companies are also making the best use of this forum. Keep a close eye on your rival company’s pages and make sure that your page is more interactive than the others.
10. Make good use of apps: smartphones are the new in thing. Creating an app for your brand or company will make it much easier for the audience to reach out to you. With a single touch of the mobile icon, your potential customers will be able to enter the world of your brand. This will definitely be beneficial to your company. You can launch new products and services on the internet to make sure that those who are your loyalists come to know about the new collection. Also send notifications of discounts and sale to inform your customers about the offers you have put up.
