Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably seen social media’s rise to power. In fact, we’re not going to be surprised if you have already signed up for a few accounts yourself. As it turns out, you are not alone. According to the latest statistical reports, almost 60% of the world’s population is on social media. That’s equivalent to over 4.5 billion people, with an average daily usage time of two and half hours.
We’re sure you can already imagine this expansive reach's various implications and possibilities. As a business trying to establish a brand or branding identity, it’s important that you know how to make your social media stand out.
Learning how to make your brand stand out on the various platforms out there is a necessary skill in today's world. For that, we’ve got your back. Not only will be list actionable steps to help you learn how to stand out on social media but also provide creative social media posts.
That said, before we move on to these things, you will first need to set yourself up for success by understanding the element of branding basics. When trying to come up with ways to make your brand stand out on social media, there are three things you should keep in mind.
When formulating your social media campaign, the first thing to do is to determine your goals. Your goals will play a crucial role in determining not just the steps you should take but also which platform to use.
What do you want to achieve? Is it something as simple as giving your brand an online presence? Or, are you planning on selling your physical or digital products and services on social media (as opposed to offering them via online marketplaces or your own shop)?
Do you want to launch a social media campaign to promote new products and services? Or do you just want better client engagement?
Don’t forget your logo!
Your logo is the primary visual representation of your brand. Fortunately, there are platforms such as FreeLogoDesign that can help you create one. They have various resources to help you conquer social media platforms like Etsy and YouTube.
They offer tools and references about the different types of logos, how to create your own social media kit, and the meaning of colors.
Speaking of choosing the right platform in figuring out how to make your social media stand out, there are a lot of choices out there. The most popular ones are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and, more recently, TikTok.
That said, these are not your only options. There are also social media sites designed for certain groups of people.
For instance, those who want to attract artists and creatives can opt for DeviantArt and Behance. Meanwhile, those targeting students, teachers, or just book lovers, in general, as potential customers can benefit from Goodreads and LitPick.
Since we are already talking about demographics, your target audience is definitely something you should consider. You’ll want to think about your audience when choosing the best platform for your goals and for determining the content types you’ll be posting later on.
After stating your growth strategy goals, signing up for one or a few social media sites, and determining your target audience, we can finally move on to the exciting part—how to stand out on social media.
One of the best things about social media is its reach. In reality, though, it can be both a blessing and a curse. After all, a wide reach also means you have a lot of competition. And we’re not just talking about other famous brands. Even your target audience posts every day.
For instance, according to Hootsuite, one billion stories are posted by Facebook users daily. Hence, you need to find your brand’s unique voice—something that will set it apart from others. More importantly, your voice must be more recognizable amidst millions of other posts.
It sounds complicated, but there are a few actionable steps that you can do. You can use a theme of colors, fonts, and content styles. Even something as simple as using the same filters on all your posts can already make a difference.
Why did you pick those colors for your brand? What made you decide to share the images you posted? How about the tone of your written content? Is your brand witty, friendly, subdued, or perhaps cheery?
Ideally, it should reflect the history of your brand as well as dictate how you interact with your audience. Doing so can make your brand more relatable and significantly more memorable compared to a more generic approach.
Sure, written content can add value to your posts. However, if we’re being totally honest, reading takes longer than just looking at an image. As such, we highly recommend paying closer attention to the visuals you post.
Your brand’s personality, story, and voice reflect the visuals you post. Just take a look at these visual representations of social media platforms shared via Buzzfeed to witness the potential of effective image-based content.
There are various digital tools and platforms you can use to give your brand some advantage. We have already featured FreeLogoDesign earlier.
Canva is another good example of an image editing platform that can make branding and visual identity easier and more consistent. A social media scheduler is also worth looking into. It helps brands plan their content, create a more detailed and organized content schedule, and even automate posting.
Posting consistently will help you establish a loyal community of online followers. However, it’s not enough. You need to have a strategy and refine the timing of your posts. Use holidays and current trends to your advantage. You can also look into creating recurring posts that your followers can look forward to.
“You cannot buy engagement. You have to build engagement”.
Tara-Nicholle Nelson
This quote concisely explains the need to build momentum and maintain consistency on social media. That’s because that is what a brand needs in order to establish engagement. Think of your audience as beyond just passive followers. Instead, forge a relationship with them.
That said, forming meaningful relationships take a lot of work. One crucial step is taking the time to communicate with your followers on a regular basis. This is where setting a schedule of posting will come in handy.
You can use the below timing as a quick reference for posting on the three biggest social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Source: Hurryworld
Don’t take these details as your “holy grail.” After all, the ideal timing of posting will depend on various factors, such as:
Your Target Audience
When is their free time? Brands that target students might fare better posting after school hours and during the weekends. Meanwhile, those whose potential clients are stay-at-home moms will benefit from posting more during weekdays, ideally after most students have already gone off to school.
Your Chosen Platform
Different platforms reach peaks of activity on different days and hours. Facebook users typically go online mid-week and after office hours, probably because most of its users see it as a form of respite amidst their hectic lives.
Your Schedule
Finally, you also need to consider the most convenient time for you. This will help you stick to a more consistent schedule, especially if you are not going to use auto-publishing tools.
This factor also applies to those who have already established a schedule that their followers are already aware of. Changing it up could cause confusion and even potentially lead to a drop in engagement.
To learn more about getting your social media posts’ timing right, check out this helpful infographic by MarketingProfs.
Ready to post new superior content? Here are creative social media posts examples and ideas you should consider doing.
GIFs have already proven how effective they are in capturing people’s attention. You can create similar posts with the use of animation software.
What makes flowcharts interesting is their ability to keep a person’s attention, pique one’s interest, and provide a detailed insight into different processes. You can create one using a flowchart maker.
These are similar to flowcharts, especially in providing the same level of information. However, they are more flexible in their way of presenting various types of information. In other words, they are not stuck in just presenting connected processes as a flowchart is.
Please keep in mind that these are not the only social media posts you can explore. There are other forms of visual content out there; you just need to find the ones that best suit your social media strategy.
It’s not always easy to establish your online reputation, especially on the biggest platforms today. Fortunately, no matter how crowded it gets, social media remains to be a limitless expanse that always has space for anyone willing to make the effort.
We hope that the information we’ve shared with you will prove helpful in doing so.
Author Bio
Uday Tank is a serial entrepreneur and content marketing leader who serves the international community at Rankwisely. He enjoys writing, including marketing, productivity, business, health, diversity, and management.