Top-4 Ways To Increase Brand Awareness Using Social Media - The Crowdfire blog

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Ever wondered how drastically your Facebook feed has changed over the years? Where once you could see constant posts by your friends and family, your Facebook feed now has brand advertisements peppered after every 1-2 personal posts. Here’s a screenshot of my FB feed:

As I keep scrolling down, I see more and more ads both on my main feed and on the top-right corner:

Every brand that I may have searched for (and in some cases, even spoken about) crops up on my social media feed, with Instagram being no exception. Clearly, brands are going all out on social media and are running paid campaigns to reel new users in. But the real question remains why?

Research can point us in the right direction:

Clearly, using social media to boost brand awareness is becoming more and more mainstream, with customers and marketers riding the social media-led digital advertising wave.

In this blog, we will look at the top-4 ways to skyrocket your brand awareness using various social media platforms available out there.

This one’s a no-brainer. People respond well to visuals more than heavy-duty content. In fact, according to research, visual information on the internet has increased by 9900% since 2007! Such is the popularity of visually-driven content that even ‘serious,’ no-nonsense brands like The Economist periodically post informative article snippets that are summarized in eye-catching illustrations and graphics:

Then, of course, some brands use the wildly popular GIFs to catch their audience’s attention as Schitt’s Creek does:

Next, you always have the option of ‘showing off’ your brand’s products with gorgeous imagery as shopbando does:

Key takeaway: From videos and GIFs to animations and product photos, there’s plenty of ground you can cover with visual graphics. The idea is to see which graphical format would best suit your content needs and then create aesthetically pleasing messaging that’s literally a treat for sore eyes!

2. Entertaining Content Is The Way To Go

Every marketer wants to promote their new line of products and services on social media to get the most out of their advertising spend. But that’s not what customers want, especially if you wish to engage your target audience. According to recent research,67% of customers are more likely to share and like posts by a brand that are entertaining:

This is where brands need to find a unique voice as well as tone and build on their brand personality. After all, interacting with users on social media is a relatively casual and informal endeavor. To that end, let’s look at some of Burger King’s most witty and brilliant social media responses and campaigns that are ‘palatable’ to say the least:

Obviously, the brand is not just about making funny, quick-witted comments. It takes on the Instagram platform to promote its products and any ongoing offers and deals:

Finally, Burger King is famously known to have hardcore “Burger Wars” with its long-standing competitor, McDonald’s. Here’s an example of Burger King taking a ‘dig’ at McDonald’s without stooping low or making it sound condescending:

Here’s another where Burger King implores customers to order from McDonald’s in the wake of the ongoing pandemic, gathering serious “awwws” and loyal fans along the way:

Key takeaway: Unsurprisingly, posts that talk about discounts and sales are least likely to be shared on social media. Hence, marketers need to go back to the drawing board and restrategize their overall brand messaging and content and make it more entertaining instead of mindlessly sharing posts related to the brand’s products and services, which will leave your customers running in the other direction.

3. Live Chat, Chatbots, And Social Media Are A Match Made In Heaven

Chatbots and live chat are every brand’s best go-to tools when it comes to boosting brand awareness using social media. That’s not all. Chatbots can be integrated with Facebook Messenger to sell products and services as well as offer guided conversations to users, as Hello Fresh demonstrates below:

In a brilliant move, the brand encourages customers to engage with the chatbot by offering bot-specific deals and discounts:

Live chat software, on the other hand, is mostly being used by brands to enhance their overall customer experience by offering customers real-time, convenience-led assistance:

For brands that cannot afford to offer 24x7x365 help, they can always create a dedicated chatbot and program it to answer basic, FAQ-type questions and assist users in their ‘hour’ of need (pun not intended) as Emirates Vacations chatbot does:

The bot throws light on important user areas of interest such as packages, destinations, hotels, third-party reviews, etc. Moreover, chatbots can also offer personalized guidance and interact with customers in ways better than a live agent could. How so? For starters, chatbots don’t tire, take coffee breaks, or go on sick leaves.

Key takeaway: If you wish to engage with your customers round-the-clock and in a hyper-personalized and speedy capacity, you can opt for a chatbot/live chat service that’s integrated with the popular social media channels that your customers most like.

4. Go Big, Go Diverse When Choosing The Right Kind Of Social Media Platforms.

Recently, a group of GameStop Corp fanatics on the Reddit forum,WallStreetBets, bet against a Wall Street hedge fund to save a company that they all loved. The hedge fund ended up losing millions, and the fans literally saved the day. In fact, according to reports, shares of GameStop are up by aphenomenal 400%, thanks to this ‘small endeavor.’ Long story short, that’s the power of social media for marketers.

What marketers need to do is find useful, nontraditional platforms such as Reddit, Quora, etc., and reach a wider target audience as long as the users are relevant to the brand’s offerings.

Key takeaway: The point we are driving home is this – Social media, if used correctly, can not only increase your brand’s awareness, it can literally save your brand from perishing away. The idea is to stay in the customer’s mind and ensure top-of-the-mind recall by driving purposeful, meaningful, and entertaining content.

In addition to the points mentioned above, here’s a quick round-up of other best practices to keep in mind when using social media as a brand awareness vehicle:

According to data by Statista, the number of social media users is poised to reach3.02 billion globally by 2021. Needless to say, if your brand is not capitalizing on social media platforms to expand its audience reach, it is missing out on nearly half the world’s population.

To wrap up, here are the top-4 strategies to create a killer social media strategy that can boost audience engagement and brand reach, all at the same time:

2. Make sure that the content and messaging are entertaining and in good taste.

4. Leverage all kinds of platforms that may be applicable to your brand’s offerings.

Try these time-tested hacks and kickstart your social media marketing journey on the right foot. Thoughts?

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