How brands can stand out on social media

Even corporate social accounts should sound like real people communicating with customers and fans, not boardroom-approved press releases talking at people. Social is especially well suited to show the human faces of a brand — including the human narratives that drove the company’s founding, its mission, or its history — because the medium is the perfect place to establish authenticity, transparency, and trust. Spotlight straightforward brand and product updates, but also:

• Company events, especially videos.

• Charitable participation on a company or individual level.

• New package designs.

• Prominent new hires like VP roles or appointments to the board.

• Links to industry or market events.

• Employee favorites from your product or service line.

Which teams should you involve?

• Social

• Corporate

• Communications

• Marketing

• Web

• Design

• Sales

Brand awareness

REI maintains multiple #REIGifts Pinterest boards to stay top of mind with different audiences — kids, hikers, gadget lovers, etc.

Many people keep up with brand accounts to stay on top of an entire industry or product category, so make sure the content you share is truly relevant and valuable. Having trouble determining what “relevant” means to your audience? Lean on the personas and customer journeys you have developed to see if your content meets their needs. Industry-specific and topic-specific hashtags are a great way of surfacing your content to the right audience.

Share your research and other content with well-known bloggers and influencers and invite them to share insights with their readers and fans. Repurpose articles and white papers into sequential blog posts to help grow your readership over time.

You can also share:

• Proprietary white papers, best practice guides, and pertinent articles, as well as third-party materials your audience might find valuable.

• Tips or creative ideas about how to use products.

• Outside studies on industry trends and user perceptions.

• Videos with key researchers, product designers, and other subject matter experts.

• Industry-related infographics and charts.

• Tip: Strive for personalization, relevance, and anticipation with your content.

Brand awareness

Royal Caribbean’s Countless Wows campaign boosted awareness by amplifying customer photos and stories in real time.

Highlighting user-generated content is one of the best ways to grow brand awareness because it gets people engaged and encourages them to share news of your brand across their networks, increasing exposure and driving engagement.

Customer stories highlight your brand’s uniqueness, help shape your brand’s personality, and help your audience personally relate to your product. Research shows that people are more likely to believe authentic customer feedback than anything brands say themselves. Running a contest, such as a photography challenge or a retail styling challenge, can be a great way to gather UGC and get data on your customers (but always remain mindful of the FTC’s guidelines around disclosure). You might also consider inviting customers or social media influencers to write a guest post for your blog about interesting product experiences and successes.

Get your audience engaged by offering them a unique, intimate experience. Videos are particularly valuable, especially livestreaming (on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat) and immersive consumer experiences via virtual reality (VR) — embed such experiences on your homepage and include them in your posts.

After surfacing an organic tweet from Beyonce during the Superbowl, Airbnb kept up momentum by quickly retweeting with their own brand-centric wit.

The Khoros Marketing solution helps you simplify your social media marketing operations with one platform to manage all of your enterprise social accounts. Our software is built for the enterprise and we are invested in your success, with industryleading support and product coaching to increase brand awareness and accelerate sales. Request a demo today to learn more.

Key features:

• Publishing, Planning, and Labelling

• Governance and Approvals

• Analytics and Reporting

• Paid and Organic Management

• Moderation and Listening

Success story: Hagerty

By developing a strategy with the Khoros Strategic Services Team and leveraging Khoros Marketing, Hagerty was able to expand its audience to all car enthusiasts and bring in more followers on social media.

Key results:

• 43% year-over-year follower growth

• 127% increase in Instagram impressions

• 146% increase in Twitter engagement