Branding in the Age of Social Media

Kaylee Fenton
Aug 23, 2024
4 min read

Authored by Kaylee Fenton

Branding is an important part of every business; whether a company is in the tech industry or working in wellness, it needs to know how to brand itself properly to reach its target market, but what is branding? There are a few different definitions of what branding is, but the American Marketing Association defines it as, “the process of establishing and managing a corporation or organization’s identity” (Branding). Overall, it is how a brand portrays itself to consumers through messaging, visuals, and sharing its beliefs and core mission.

Before the rise of social media, branding was an important aspect of every company, but now, it is more important than ever before. According to Social Pilot, a social media scheduling and management tool that blogs about a variety of aspects of social networks, social media branding is, “the art of crafting and sustaining a consistent brand persona while actively engaging with your target audience across various social platforms” (Ghosh). Branding on social media involves much more than standard branding entails. While branding in general requires consistency in messaging and visuals, when branding for social platforms, it is essential that a company stays consistent with when they post, how much they post, and their engagement with their audience.

Why is branding on social media important? As of April of 2024, there were over 5 billion social media users around the world who spent an average of over 2 hours on social platforms each day (Bagadiya). That number is constantly growing, and it is predicted that there will be nearly 5.8 billion users that are able to be reached through social media ads by the year 2027 (Bagadiya). There are an enormous number of consumers online using social networks, and being able to serve them ads is just the beginning. Social platforms also give companies a place to talk directly with these consumers as well as to, “improve the reputation of [their] brand or company by increasing its online presence and interactions” (Pedriquez). Direct connectivity to consumers allows firms to build better, more direct, and trusting relationships with current customers and allows them to reach potential customers much easier than with traditional media.

To take advantage of the benefits that social media has to offer, companies must keep consistent branding on their social platforms. Whether it’s Facebook or TikTok, the message across all networks must be the same, regardless of if they are catering to a specific audience within their target market on a specific platform. Actions on each network should be consistent as well. Firms should be posting around the same the time each day, engaging with their consumers the same way at relatively regular intervals, and keeping mostly consistent visuals. Regularity helps to build trust between a company and digital users as well as creates a recognizable online persona for users to identify with. In turn, a company’s reach to potential customers will also increase as they build their recognizable brand on social media.

In the age of social media, branding is everything. Consistency in messaging, visuals, and actions across social networks can lead to better overall customer relationships and leads a company to become more recognizable. This recognizability is what allows companies to take advantage of all the benefits that social media has to offer; increased reach to consumers and potential customers ultimately leads to an increase in overall sales for a firm.

There are a few issues companies may run into when using social media for the first time. Without proper research, a company may not be using the correct platform to reach their target audience, and they may not be posting content that they want. Knowing your target audience is one of the most important parts of branding on social media. Another issue they may face is a lack of consistency in posting. Without consistency, a firm will have trouble creating trust between themselves and consumers; additionally, their branding will suffer and brand awareness on the social platform will decrease. Lastly, new companies may not understand the importance of engagement. Engaging with your audience helps to build your relationships and brand loyalty.

Below is a list of recommendations for companies looking to expand their social media presence:

Understand your audience
Engage with your audience
Develop a posting schedule
Set goals
Choose a suitable social media platform
Be authentic
Experiment with different formats

So, how can a consulting firm help? Consulting firms, like Cambridge International Advisory Group, can help you understand your target audience through market research and work with you to craft the perfect social media marketing strategy. This strategy will aim to

help you reach your social media goals and successfully brand your business on social networks. Once the strategy is implemented, the consultancy can then aid in analyzing the results from campaigns and tweak future campaigns to get better results. Overall, consulting firms can be very helpful for companies who are looking to brand themselves on social media.

References

Bagadiya, Jimit. “200+ Social Media Statistics and Facts for 2024.” SocialPilot, 6 June 2024, www.socialpilot.co/blog/social-media-statistics.

“Branding.” American Marketing Association, www.ama.org/topics/branding/. Accessed 1 July 2024.

Ghosh, Debamrita. “10 Essential Tips for Powerful Social Media Branding in 2024.” SocialPilot, 19 Apr. 2024, www.socialpilot.co/blog/social-media- branding#:~:text=we%20dive%20in%E2%80% A6-,What%20Does%20Social%20Media%20B randing%20Mean%3F,your%20brand%20on% 20social%20media. Pedriquez, Daleska. “What Is Social Media Branding? [+tips to Improve].” Venngage, 2 May 2024, venngage.com/blog/social-media-branding/.

Pedriquez, Daleska. “What Is Social Media Branding? [+tips to Improve].” Venngage, 2 May 2024, venngage.com/blog/social-media- branding/.