How to Cultivate Your Brand’s Social Media Personality

Successful social media requires creating a great experience. 

Crafting a brand personality consistently across social media channels can often be the determining factor in securing customer loyalty. While customers expect your brand to self-promote, they also want acknowledgement and to feel like someone could relate to their situation or comment. That’s what converts your brand into the one they call their own. 

Consumers want to identify with a brand, to find belonging and appreciation. and to experience more of what they like about the product or company. When the engagement from a company with their customer or community base is overly polished, robotic, or disjointed, it creates a seed of doubt or flat-out disenchantment.

Here are five tips to meet your customers’ expectations through your brand’s social media personality.

Show your true self. Sometimes in life, you can fake it ‘til you make it. But when it comes to your social brand personality, consumers will call your bluff. First, determine what your brand’s personality is by taking an honest assessment. Don’t project what you think consumers want, if it’s not who you are. Instead, highlight and promote your strengths to appeal to customers. Is your brand exciting, revolutionary, sincere, competent, adventurous, innovative? Lead with your brand’s true identity, be proactive with their needs, and promote your solutions.

Ensure your brand is on point and properly represented. It’s not enough to say you’re a “rugged outdoorsman brand,” or an “inventive marketing team.” Prove it by managing your content continually. Three of the best ways to know if your personality is being perceived correctly is to meet regularly with your team, pay attention to consumer reviews, and perhaps identify a social monitoring partner that can manage your social profiles 24/7.

Create a human connection with your followers. Data and demographics are important to consider in reaching your target market. But don’t focus solely on your perceived customer’s persona; focus also on being a personality people want to associate with. Despite analysis and projections, many customers make emotion-based decisions when it comes to purchases. Connect with your user base on things they care about. Be human (and humane) in your social branding. Make sure your content is authentic, personable, and relatable.

Draw your audience into your world with open, inviting content. One of the best ways to connect consumers with your brand is to draw back the curtain and take them behind the scenes. What makes your company tick? Who are the personalities packing their goods, designing their software, or tooling their technology? A video tour showing how your product is made can make for interesting content. But an interview with your employees, a story about your community engagement, or a clip of your philanthropic involvement? That will make them feel connected.

Rise above the competition. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and your competition isn’t letting up. That’s why it’s vital to set yourself apart from your competitors. What do you offer that other brands don’t? Can you ship faster, provide discounts, offer incentives, or create loyalty perks? Articulate how those advantages will positively impact your customers, and do it by showcasing your customer-centric brand personality.

Don’t try to adapt your brand personality to the trend of the moment. It’s okay to be yourself; in fact, being genuine is frequently rewarded. Social brand personalities should excite, unite, inspire, connect, and assist consumers. Keep your customers engaged and wanting to come back for more.