There is no doubt that social media is an extremely prevalent platform in modern society. Numbers have shown that there are 1.96 billion global social media users, and this is expected to grow to 2.5 billion by 2018 ¹. Due to these staggering statistics, it’s clear that utilizing social media could allow businesses to reach a broader range of consumers and thus increase exposure towards their brand positioning, reputation, and brand tone.
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Regarding this topic on using social media platforms to increase brand presence, I have found an excellent blog discussing this very topic: http://articles.bplans.com/how-to-choose-which-social-media-platforms-are-right-for-your-business/. To begin, a notion which was brought up in the blog that I believe is significant is that a brand should establish its tone and “personality” within it’s preferred social media platform. For example, firms like Apple or Tesla whose products exude an air of elegance, sleekness and technological prowess, it would make sense that their posts on social media should be extremely professional, aesthetically pleasing, and organized. A good example of excellent potential Instagram photos for Tesla or Apple would be the following photos, due to their sleek and luxurious aesthetic:
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Another concept which was brought up in the BPlans blog was: take into account the age of the firm’s targeted demographic. The blog discusses how various demographics mean you should use specific social media platforms catering to those demographics, but I also believe that the company’s posts should also reflect the age range of their user-base. For example, if a company such as Palace, which sells skateboarding clothes mainly to teens, a great platform for them would be Instagram or Twitter, because a huge majority of users on those apps are young adults. Furthermore, I believe a good way to appeal to the young adult age demographic would be for Palace to post images of fellow teenagers wearing their clothes or even popular celebrities wearing their clothing. This would increase Palace’s sense of relevancy which in turn would result in young adults running to buy their clothes. The following images are examples of great social media-worthy images for Palace to use:
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Finally, a last point which wasn’t on the blog but I wanted to propose, is interaction and communication. The whole purpose of social media is to interact with one another, so why should it be different for companies? Interaction with a firm’s user-base can take form in a variety of ways, such as asking questions in their posts (e.g. Comment below which color of the new iPhone model you liked the most), or just simply replying to people’s comments and questions. This would definitely increase their popularity and reputation with fan-bases, as they would become more accessible and relatable.
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Works Cited:
1: https://www.statista.com/statistics/273476/percentage-of-us-population-with-a-social-network-profile/
2: https://www.iconfinder.com/social-media-icons?order_by=popularity
3: http://www.cultofmac.com/396743/fullscreen-iphone-7-concept-runs-ios-10/
4: http://bgr.com/2016/04/08/tesla-model-s-price-increase/
5: http://www.designbolts.com/2014/08/30/apple-iphone-6-beautiful-design-concept-launch-date-9th-september-2014/
6: http://www.highsnobiety.com/2015/09/29/palace-skateboards/
7: http://lookbook.nu/look/7003382-Palaceskateboards-Palace-Pull-Bear-Skinny-Jeans