An actionable guide on how to convert your visitors into loyal customers.
Here we are. You’ve spent countless months (maybe years!) building your small business from the ground up. Sleepless nights and sub-optimal work-life balance…
You did it, and finally set up shop. Congrats! Welcome to the entrepreneur’s club! Now what? You start talking to your customers… and nobody hears you! Why?!
The digital world we live in is VERY noisy. You need a megaphone! And better make sure it is a targeted one, too.
This is where social media marketing comes in! Without a doubt, a strong social media presence is vital for your business in this day and age!
Social media is the free tool that any serious business owner shall make use of.
But… What exactly does it take to crush it on the various social platforms? Don’t you wish someone could just give you all the answers?
Well… Today is your lucky day! We’ll uncover some of the best kept social media branding secrets. Plus…
We’ll throw in some super inspiring success stories, and you’ll see you’re not alone in this! Most importantly, we’ll do this with simple and actionable steps, so even complete beginners can find their way to social media greatness.
1. How to Choose The Right Social Media Platforms?
What’s magical about social media is that you can broadcast your business and values to the world – totally free!
However…
That doesn’t mean you should just start blasting random pieces of content on all platforms without any sort of a game plan!
Different types of content perform better on different platforms, and mastering each platform individually will yield huge dividends in building a loyal following.
Begin with identifying the platforms where your target audience is most active.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest are the classic options to choose from. With a twist!
Your job is to pick out the channels that will work best for your business, and speak right into your audience’s ears!
Remember…
You do not have to be equally active on all platforms. Instead, try to focus on building a great presence on the most important platform(s) for you.
This step may take a bit of testing and research. But all roads to brand greatness need to be tried and tested.
Hang in there because your customers need you!
Facebook is absolutely massive and is a key platform for just about any business, regardless of your industry. Just think about this.
Two billion people use Facebook every month.
That number alone says a lot about the opportunities this platform has to offer to your business.
Nowadays, as Facebook has gone way beyond campus grounds, people come to the platform for all kinds of reasons, whether it’s to keep in touch with friends and family, keep up to date with personal interests, or even find information about your business! But you probably know all this already.
In general, Facebook is a pretty casual environment which usually requires a marketing strategy with an easy and relaxed approach. To succeed on this platform, we recommend being open, friendly and offer as much value as possible to potential consumers.
All in all, whatever strategy you design… it needs to stick in your customer’s minds!
You might be wondering… “That all sounds great, but where do I start with Facebook?”
The first thing you need to do is create a Facebook Page so that your business has a central hub for people to interact with. You’ll be prompted to choose between “business/brand” and “community/public person”, then customize it with what your story and offering are all about.
This is your opportunity to show off your best visuals, stories, and master skills!
Here your audience will be able to like and follow your brand so that they will see your posts and updates. If your content is engaging, people will share your posts with their friends, which is a great opportunity to get your business noticed!
Pro Tip! Want to pick up traction faster?
Use Facebook ads and promotional posts, target your specific audience and have your business reach more people through an ad campaign!
For more details on add tools and how to use them to level-up social media exposure…
We have a dedicated chapter inside this E-book. Meanwhile, keep reading!
Content performs better if you use a conversational voice. A great way to optimize your posts is by using the same tone that your customers are using in the comments section to describe your products.
Speak their language!
To sum it up, a consistent and honest tone of voice in combination with a beautiful graphic profile will help your business to stand out from the crowd on Facebook.
But you don’t have to worry about the visual part! Our social media tool handles this for you – consistently beautiful content is a few clicks away.
Check it out here
Let’s continue with the other platforms and how to create the best content for each!
Another huge social platform is Instagram. With over 400 million daily active users, your reach is almost limitless.
Up until this year, the key to Instagram marketing was all about user behavior and engagement from users. Your posts got more likes and attention.
But… here is what Gary Vaynerchuk tells us. Here’s what happened…
Likes limit your creativity
When you posted an image to Instagram, the app first showed it to a small number of followers. If nobody engaged (likes, comments, shares and saving to collections) with the post, Instagram’s algorithm would pull it from the popular content, and very few people would actually see the post.
Let’s imagine what Instagram would look like. This insightful article by The Business Insider helps us do just that!
Instagram’s Adam Moserri made it clear that the platform would begin experimenting with removing the “Like” feature. This short video shared by Wired magazine tells it all:
With that being said, engaging and visually appealing content is extremely important on this platform!
In comparison to Facebook, businesses that have a presence on Instagram have much greater overall engagement from their followers.
According to Brand Watch (look for their article “47 Incredible Instagram Statistics” here) the engagement with brands on Instagram is 10 times higher than Facebook.
Because Instagram mainly deals with images and videos, users are more sensitive to a beautiful aesthetic.
Having a professional logo flawlessly added on branded merchandise that can be photographed within a lifestyle aesthetic, can truly make our business stand out!
We recommend you to have a strategy regarding the visuals of your posts and the style of your feed
And while we’re on the topic of feed.
Having a stunning feed is a great way to convert new visitors into followers on Instagram. In addition, a well thought out feed helps your brand look professional and serious.
Stay consistent in your imagery and communication so that followers and potential customers come to know what to expect from your business!
Here’s an article detailing many of the great themes that excel on Instagram to make your feed look amazing.
There are hundreds of great third-party apps out there (one of our favorites is Preview) where you can upload posts beforehand within the third party app and preview what your feed will look like before even beginning to post your images to Instagram.
This can help you assemble your posts in a well-crafted way and ensure that your official feed on Instagram always stays…
… AMAZING!
Getting engagement on Instagram can get so complicated that entire companies like Instasize are devoted to breaking it down.
When you run into questions like…
- What color looks good in what filter with my product
- What angle will get me the most likes?
- Or what overall visual theme do I use for my feed?
… the details go down an almost endless spiral.
And when companies develop a package solution for a low cost that expedites this process, use it to avoid having to become a Photoshop wizard…
(Another science that never ends!)
… or getting stuck analyzing every aspect of your photo and its likes and comments! Check out the two feeds below.
Both are extremely large car companies. One has 13M followers and the other only has 167k. Which feed looks more visually consistent and appealing? Who would you rather follow?
A dialog is the most common form of content on Twitter and often times people may tweet at you directly with questions or comments.
As with any platform, it’s important to engage with the people who engage with you so be sure to answer people’s tweets and questions when they’ve taken the time to write to you.
By interacting as much as you can you will increase both
- your following rate
- your relationship with your audience!
Because tweeters mostly use dialog, tweets with pictures have the potential to stand out and gain more attention.
They’re different!
If your tweets have pictures that contain your logo it can help give your brand additional exposure.
Here’s an example of a tweet from Coca Cola which uses a visual rather than just text.
When popular topics in your field of business are trending write interesting tweets and if applicable use pictures with your logo to speak for your brand.
Here’s a link to learn more about writing tweets that get engagement on Twitter.
For business-related discussions, people tend to come to LinkedIn. The marketing strategy here is a bit different from other more casual platforms.
Because there are a lot of professionals on LinkedIn, it may be better for your content to be a bit more polished than what you would typically post on Facebook or Twitter.
LinkedIn is also great for creating a tribe feeling among employees and for posting job openings.
In groups on LinkedIn, you can share content with people who have an interest in your business and your business’s status.
Here’s an example of the NFL posting about a potential job opening.
Create trust and let people know that you have a good presence in your industry by answering questions and giving your opinions in discussions
LinkedIn has a great feature with recommendations where you can ask customers, clients, or partners to write about the experience of doing business with you.
Keep in mind that your logo and graphic appearance can influence the way people see your company so you’ll want your visual profile to be on point.
This helps ensure that your brand comes across as strong and professional.
Here you can read about more ways to build your brand on LinkedIn.
Over 90 percent of all pinners say that they use the platform for researching their next buy.
That is a very promising number for your business don’t you think? Let take a look over the following document and get a better understanding on why and how can we use Pinterest.
Women are the main users of Pinterest, so if your demographic is female, you should definitely think about being active here. According to this article women far-out pin men on Pinterest
The key to reaching out to and gaining pinners for your Pinterest profile is to:
- always have your target audience in consideration,
- create boards that will be useful to them.
Aesthetically your pins should be inspiring and match with your brand profile. Pin colorful pins to your boards if you are a more playful brand and vice versa.
Want to know more?
Check out this in depth guide on how to market your business on Pinterest. Also, a few extra 24 tips & tricks from people who directly use the platform can’t hurt, right?
2. Your Visual Identity On Social Media
The Profile Picture
Use the same profile picture across all your social media platforms for maximum recognizability
The Profile Picture
Your cover photo is a great way to spice up your profile with a bit of creative freedom. Attention, being creative and having a bit of freedom does not mean that you can just throw some random image or graphics up there and hope for the best.
Do you want to look professional? Make sure you will have a professional picture for your cover
Keep in mind that you’ll want a professional image for your cover photo as this is oftentimes one of the first things potential new clients will see when they reach your page!
Some great options for cover photos include:
- using your logo again with your name and slogan,
- using an image that helps illustrate your brand’s story,
- even a combination of an image with your logo over the top!
Gucci displays an interesting scene from the ‘Garden of Eden’ as their Facebook cover photo which helps portray their brand in a certain way and tells their story.
Do you want “free for commercial use” great professional photos for your business? Keep reading and we’ll tell you where you can find them!
If you want beautiful high-resolution photos contributed by professional photographers, NewGlue is the way to go. There you can create stunning social media visuals without having to crop or make complicated design tricks. The tools they have will allow you to get your content in the right size and with great quality.
With over a million aesthetically pleasing photos to choose from, you can’t go wrong. And you don’t need to worry about dimensions! You can create the perfect sizes for all your platforms after purchasing a logo with us.
At NewGlue, we work on being able to bring all the branding tools you will possibly need in order to have an entirely customizable brand right at your fingertips…
… evolving you into a brand whiz! Stay tuned for more details!
3. Type of files
PNGs
JPEGs
GIFs
EPSs
4. Your Logo In Action
In this example, we’re create a fictional restaurant owner called, Adam Smith, who always dreamed of opening his own restaurant in Brooklyn, New York.
He envisioned a rustic vibe where people can hang out, eat delicious food, and drink quality beer. Adam’s mission is to connect people through food and conversation. The name “Wheat & Greet” seems like the perfect choice.
For more ideas on how to name your business, click here
- ’Wheat’ represents his favorite kind of beer (wheat beer),
- ’Greet’ emphasizes the socializing aspect that he hopes to offer.
5. A one-stop-shop social media solution
You’ve come to the right place.
NewGlue gives you all the tools you need to succeed on all social channels. Kickstart your business like Adam branded his new restaurant.
When you purchase a professional logo with NewGlue you will get different sizes of your logo to perfectly fit a number of online spaces, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and more.
You can also easily create custom sizes, no problem.
NewGlue also makes it easy to create social media covers, for example, profile header images for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn that can be customized with your logo.
Key Takeaways
By now you should be able to have enough information on how to weaponise the social platforms with awesome branded content and increase your business numbers big time. Here are the main things you shall always look at:
- Have a professionally designed logo to help your business stand out
- Your logo plays a huge role in your visual branding on social media
- Social media is an extremely good way to reach clients and build up a loyal following
- Choose your social media platforms wisely, targeting those platforms where your potential customers are hanging out
- Keep your branding consistent both visually and in your tone of voice across all social media platforms
- Adapt your marketing strategy so that it is optimized for each platform individually
- When dealing with logo files, stick to PNGs because of their ability to be resized and manipulated
- Test to ensure your logos and visuals look good on multiple platforms and devices
- Be sure that your brand tells a story so that you’ll be instantly recognizable
Check out how your business could look with our stunning, professionally designed logos.
Each logo was handcrafted by a professional graphic designer and you can browse between thousands of different styles to find the logo that is just right for your business!
