Why social media is essential for brand awareness!

How familiar are your potential customers with your product or services? Could they recall your brand, 3 months after it was mentioned to them by a friend? The answer to the second question is probably NO! Twenty years ago this might have been different. Now, however, we are bombarded with digital content every day we log onto the internet. Because we know we can access information at our fingertips, we do not tend to retain it.

Due to this inability to retain information, it is ultra important to build up a loyal fan base ready to support you, believe in you and spread your message. They might not be ready to buy right at this moment, but they like what you stand for and what you offer, keep them loyal and when they need your product or services, your business will more than likely be their first port of call. This is why social media is so important to your brand awareness campaigns. You will not see instant success with social media (although I know companies that could attribute bookings and sales to their early campaigns). However, social media is a tool that can bring success with time and effort.

Tips for improving your brand awareness using social media.

1. Make sure you are using the right sites for your customers. Research, trial and take advice. You should know your market, so all you have to do is find out which social media sites they are using. For example, If stay at home mums with money to spend are your target then Pinterest is a must. If you are offering professional training or trying to reach other businesses then Linkedin is essential.

2. Limit the number of channels/sites you use to the amount of time you have to spend on them. It is better to do 3 or 4 channels really well than 8 poorly.

3. Engage with your followers and give them what they want, this is normally solutions. Where do I go on holiday next year? which sailing course is right for me? How do I get rust stains off my boat? I need to do a specific course for my job next week. I need help organizing my boat maintenance. Useful resources given away for free.... give solutions and your potential customers will remain loyal.

4. Balance the content. Resourceful information, entertaining content, industry or hobby specific news with some subtle promotional material.

5. Make sure your brand is visually represented identically on all your channels. The same images used for your profile and header image across all your social media sites.

If all of this is too much for you and your small team to take on, you have a few choices to make:

• Engage someone like me to manage your social media accounts to increase brand awareness.

• Take me up on my offer of a free 'no strings attached' consultation and review of your current sites and/or website.

• Engage someone like me to train you or a member of your team to manage your own social media and brand awareness campaign.

• Employ a member of staff to manage your social media presence, This will take a lot of research time initially as well as time to keep abreast of this ever-changing digital media world.

• Ignore the availability of social media to increase your brand awareness and watch your competitors improve theirs.