How to Build Your Corporate
Brand Story on Social Media
According to a survey shared by Geoff Desreumaux, social media is an integral part of any business strategy because consumers expect most brands to be active on social media. Nine out of ten customers stated that they buy from brands they follow on social media. In addition, they’re usually more likely to spend on products or services from that brand than other consumers. But aside from enhancing marketing strategies, social media is essential in helping businesses build their corporate brand story online.
An article by LHH discusses how a unique brand story allows businesses to differentiate themselves from competitors online. This is because sharing your narratives lets consumers discover your brand’s purpose and values, which may lead to customers choosing your offerings over others due to shared values and beliefs. So apart from telling your customers what your business can provide them on social media, it’s also important to share stories about your company’s success and the employees that make your brand what it is today.
Here are four ways you can use social media to establish your brand’s story:
Understand Your Audience
It’s impossible to create a brand story online without understanding who and what type of content your target audience will resonate with. Before developing your corporate brand story, it helps to analyze your customer’s preferences and lifestyles. Numerous online tools can help you discern what your audience prefers. For instance, Facebook has an audience insights page that allows you to collate and understand the existing audience of your Facebook page. Some information Facebook provides are user age, gender, page likes, and data on countries and cities where your brand is viewed or visited frequently. By researching and understanding your customers, it will be easier to determine what kind of story will speak to them, which can encourage them to follow your brand’s story online.
Create Content That Fits Each Platform
Once you know what your audience is interested in, create content suitable for the social media platform you will be using. This is because each social media platform has different guidelines that make them distinct. On Twitter, it’s best to post bite-sized content since they have lower character limits. But for platforms like LinkedIn, you can share longer think-pieces that will showcase your brand’s story. For example, you can publish long-form content that narrates how your organization creatively solved a problem for a client. You can also share thought leadership posts exhibiting your authority and expertise in your field. If you know which type of content to create for each social media platform, you’ll be able to develop better and more engaging brand story content.
Make Your Posts Shareable
After making your content, don’t forget to make them shareable and enable comments to allow your posts to reach a wider audience. You’re posting on social media to generate word-of-mouth buzz and increase your brand awareness. If users cannot share your content on social media, you’ll miss out on the conversations and engagements you can gain by being on the internet. In addition, enabling the share feature on Facebook lets users spread the posts from the source instead of reposting them on their own. This will help potential customers effortlessly find and visit your Facebook page. So, making your posts shareable is necessary to disseminate your brand’s story to more people online effectively.
Share User-Generated Content
It’s also advantageous to share user-generated content (UGC) posted by customers on social media. Our previous article on ‘How Brands Can Build Trust with Their Consumers Without Influencers’ revealed that 85% of consumers reported they would prefer to see brands share content from actual customers, and 84% of consumers would be more likely to trust the brand with UGC. You can encourage your customers to share stories or photos of your products on social media like Instagram by providing an incentive for your audience, like a giveaway entry or a shoutout. This strategy is used by popular companies, like GoPro, where the brand features submissions from their #GoPro on their Instagram account daily. Ultimately, using UGC can increase trust and engagement, helping you solidify the brand story you want to create.
