What is a brand? Colors and shapes? Fonts and formats? Your brand is what you stand for. It’s who you stand for. It’s the culture created around your product. Basically, your brand is you.

So, what do you want people to know about you? Certainly not everything. People will only give you their attention for a limited amount of time on social media. You compete every day  with everything else your audience deems important, so you have to make that short presentation of yourself count.

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty on how to tell the story of your brand.

Who is your Audience?

Before you write anything, you need to know who you are writing to. If your brand is focused at young people, you don’t want to sound like a teacher. They get enough of that at school and will tune you out. Speak how your audience would speak, use their jargon, appeal to their humor, and most importantly, don’t deviate from your brand, or the consumers you are trying to reach will notice and  lose their trust. Make sure that you also don’t overdo it. Trying too hard to reach your clientele using their lingo and humor can come across as inauthentic, and that can be just as bad as not trying at all. Try to relate to them, but still be sincere and relay your message.

Who is your Business?

You may think your business is you, but you should think again. Without customers, there is no business. You can work to develop your brand for months, but ultimately, your buyers will determine the outcome. The same is true for spreading the word. Describing your business is best done by your customer. People want to hear from other people.  There is something about hearing a testimonial from an “average joe” that sells your product better than any picture, video, or blog post ever could.

Having a following that helps sell your product and culture for you is essential. Gather input from surveys and landing page questions to see what people are saying about you. Hopefully, you will see some common themes, and they’ll support the brand you’ve created. Post quotes from the surveys! They can help translate your business to prospective consumers. Using images of ordinary people and your product in action is also a great way to tell a lot about yourself in the short time you have interacting with your audience.

What are you Describing?

Remember how I said you need to keep it short? That means youneed specificity to  target the right groups. Social media groups have even analyzed what you need to post about your brand to keep the attention of your audience. It’s called the 5:3:2 Rule. Here’s how it works.

For every 10 posts you make,

  • 5 should be relevant to you, exposing your personality, but focusing on an outside subject. If you are a book store, this could be sharing a funny book meme or congratulating an author. This is an excellent way to grab the attention of those who may not be specifically looking for your business. Featuring their favorite author or sharing a hilarious meme can earn you  a second look from a prospective consumer.
  • 3 posts should be created by you, so your audience can see that you are active. Post something brief about your work. Showing the day-to-day operations of your business or letting your followers see new company ideas helps your business become more real to them. Seeing is believing. If they see you working hard and creating new product, they will believe it is so. Show pictures of people using your product. This creates a connection between your brand, your customer base, and prospective customers. The image can show the kind of people who use your product, creating a manifestation of the culture around your product, which can draw in customers who connect with that culture.
  • 2 posts should be fun, to keep your audience interested and show you’re not all business. You can have fun too. Make a poll about something going on in the world today with your thoughts included. Interact with your audience. Building relationships between clients and your business will make consumers feel special and valued. You are no longer a faceless, emotionless brand. You care about your customers and truly strive to create good, quality products for them. This can help create brand loyalty, and they will also be more inclined to recommend you to other people as well.

Where Do You Go?

The age-old question is: Do you need a presence on all social media sites? Probably not. You just need to be where your audience is. Study the demographics for various platforms, compare those to your target audience, and then you’ll know right where to be. Whichever sites you choose, make sure you keep them updated. If most of your target audience is on Instagram, get to know that site, and post often. You may not need a LinkedIn or Pinterest account. But if you have one, visit and post enough to let people know you are still alive.Social media can be a marketer’s best friend. Learn to find your audience and keep it simple, and your brand will be creating itself in no time.  

These tips all take time to accomplish and if you are too busy doing what you do best (running your business) to tackle this large but necessitous task, then let us help you. Little Red Writing translates your business and its vision to the consumers that you’re hoping to reach and we work hard to put your company and its products in the best light. Give us a call and watch as we help you take your business to the next level.