3 Ways to Use Social Media to Drive Brand Marketing

Garrett Heath is a social media and content marketing consultant and founder of MarketingBytes.io.

When it comes to social media, many marketers view the channel purely as a megaphone to push information out to consumers. But distilling down social strategy to this one-way communication tactic misses the mark on using social platforms to drive brand marketing: it will be hard to cut through the noise when you talk only about yourself.

Social mediapresents the opportunity to drive home the essence of your brand in a more “showme, don't tell me” approach. This can be done by pinpointing unique culturesrelated to your brand, identifying your strongest advocates and showcasing howreal people engage with your products through user generated content (UGC).

1. Target a Specific “Crowdculture”

While brandshave salivated over the thought of building engaged social media audiences thatrival those of entertainers and athletes, author Douglas Holt argues that isjust not possible. In his Harvard Business Journal pieceBranding in the Age of Social Media,Holt says, “What works for Shakirabackfires for Crest and Clorox. The idea that consumers could possibly want totalk about Corona or Coors in the same way that they debate the talents ofRonaldo and Messi is silly.”

To cut through the noise, Holt advises that brands go afterwhat he terms “crowdcultures,” once-fringe groups that are able to coalesceinto a large online audience. He gives two particularly poignant examples.

In 2011, Chipotle saw a vibrant crowdculture emerge aroundthe organic farming and pre-industrialized food practices spurred on by popularbooks such as “Fast Food Nation” and films like “Super Size Me.” Recognizingthe opportunity, Chipotle tapped into this audience by emphasizing itscommitment to farmers and practices that were the antithesis of the industrialfood movement dominating the fast-food scene. The result? A devoted fan basechampioning the brand and its premium-priced burritos because the brand spoketo their particular beliefs and values.

With the rise of Photoshop, consumers were bombarded withunrealistic body images beginning in the early 2000s—and a crowdculture soonemerged that questioned what beauty truly meant. Empowered women and advocatesin online and social media communities began rejecting the standards of beautythat were being forced on them, and they clamored for real representation. Doveresponded with its Campaign for Real Beauty, a branding effort that hasshowcased women from a variety of backgrounds and with differing body types.

Today it is one of the most recognized campaigns of the newmillennium and has cemented Dove as one of the top personal care brands.

2. Work with Brand Advocates

Originallysocial media was about building connections instead of promoting products.Getting back to the basics and focusing on building relationships with some ofyour most ardent fans is key to online branding. This is why you shouldidentify and cultivate brand advocates on social.

In a BusinessHorizons article called Will Social Media Kill Branding?, authors Chiranjeev Kohli, RajneeshSuri and Anuj Kapoor argue that working with brand advocates is one tactic thatmarketers must use in this era of brand communication.

“Consumersare now in control of communication,” the authors write. “While it is unrealisticto expect that they will listen with rapt attention to what marketers have toshare, it is still a desirable and feasible goal for marketers to shape thedialog.”

Advocatesdon't necessarily have to be major social media influencers with a hugefollowing, but rather strategic individuals who love your brand. As opposed toan influencer program where social stars are often paid to promote a brand(with posts often carrying a #sponsored or #ad hashtag), a brand advocateprogram is more about engaging those individuals who have a deep admiration ofyour brand.

Providingthese advocates with topical, relevant or even insider content is one way toengage them and to amplify your message. This can particularly serve businessesthat are trying to upend a more established competitor. As the authors go on towrite, “[If] individuals buy brands because they are assured of their qualityas vouched for by others, social media can be very disruptive; a better-qualitybrand can easily replace an existing brand of choice.”

3. Showcase Your Brand Through UserGenerated Content Initiatives

It is notjust devoted advocates who can promote your brand online. Implementing a savvyUGC strategy can compel even passive consumers to share information about yourcompany, helping to elevate your brand's voice on social media. That's exactly what iHeartRadiodid at one of their recent music festivals.

Today, youcan't simply ask a consumer to post about your product to social media—therehas to be a tangible benefit for them to do so. To motivate their concertgoers to post photos with the#iHeartRadio hashtag, the brand decided to show some of the best photos on hugescreens behind the artists who were performing.

Seeing theirphoto and name on a big screen behind their favorite performers was a hugemotivation for people to create content about iHeartRadio—in total, the hashtaggenerated over 7 billion social media impressions, an increase of 40%year-over-year.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/145302229

But customersdon't always need to be asked to create content—many folks post photos of productswithout brands ever having to ask. This is often the case when it comes toluxury brands, as mentioned in the Will Social Media Kill Branding? article.People do, after all, like to show off these kinds of purchases.

“Brands likeLouis Vuitton and Mercedes will continue to flourish and face a more stablelandscape because their buyers are likely to boast about these purchases,” theauthors noted. “Customers pay a premium not only for the inherent quality ofthe brand, but also because they want to have a relationship with that brand.We expect these types of brands to see gains from social media.”

User generated content is the best form ofword-of-mouth marketing. But ensuring that your company is plugged into socialmedia to understand what consumers are saying is only half the battle—having astrategy to repurpose that UGC content into your digital efforts is key tobranding in a social media world.