For a long time now the buzzword in marketing has been social media and it is still one of the best ways to build your brand. Whether you are an online marketer or have a flower shop, social media has the ability to build your brand like little else can.

How can social media help to build your brand?

Building a following can turn your struggling little business into a flourishing enterprise. Getting more likes on your Facebook page, having more followers on Twitter and the LinkedIn page of your business or having more people repin your pins on Pinterest can all help build your brand. Utilized correctly, you can use all of these to boost sales.

Whether you are a writer or the owner of a shoe store, a successful social media campaign can build your brand better than any expensive television ad campaign. The only difference is that if you plan it correctly, you will be able to do it on a shoestring budget.

By increasing the visibility of your brand in social media, people will start to recognize your brand. When you get to the stage where your followers start sharing your products and services with their own circles, they will build your brand for you.

How to build your brand through social media

So how should you go about building your brand through social media? There are many do’s and don’ts on this subject but here are a few of my favourites:

Optimize your presence on social media.

This means complete that profile! So many start a page somewhere on social media but then they do not put in the work to complete the profile page. Completing your profile page and using your keywords in your profile, is what will get you found on social media. The keywords you will use will depend in large part on the type of business you are promoting. If you are an author who need to get your books sold, you need to have author pages on various social media sites. A good Facebook page for your store (whatever kind of store it may be) can also help build customer confidence in your business. If you have a flower shop and allow customers to order bouquets via your Facebook page, it can mean a tremendous increase in business.

Promote your social media sites on your website, blogs or anywhere else you can.

It is important that people know about your website from your Facebook page or Twitter profile but it is also important that they can find your Facebook or Twitter page from your website. Many people seem to feel more comfortable commenting on posts or giving feedback on social media than they are on business websites. Make use of this fact and get valuable feedback from your customers.

Add social sharing buttons to all your blog posts, articles, etc.

This will help your followers to share the word about you and your brand with their own friends and followers. People love sharing good promotions, discount coupons, etc. Make it easy for them to like and share your pages. The easier you make it for potential customers to like, follow or share your content, the keener they will be to do so. Make it easy for them to help you build your brand.

Interact, interact, interact.

People love reaching out to others but nobody likes to be ignored. If you are not going to reply to comments or posts from your followers, you may as well save yourself the trouble of starting social media pages to begin with. Whether the feedback you receive is positive or negative, react. But make sure never to get into a mudslinging match with a customer on a public forum. This can harm your business’ online profile. So once the client complains, make sure you take the necessary steps to resolve the problem. A good solution with a satisfied customer can then be taken online again and help show other followers that you care and that you will solve problems if any arise. This will help you build your brand in a way that will ensure customers trust you and your product.

Build your brand by offering incentives for new likes or shares.

Let people share your page and have a competition where you give away a free, autographed book or a free download to the person who shared your page the most. If you have a movie theater, you can give away discount coupons for movies in exchange for likes. Be creative and find ways to let your followers feel the benefits of following you. Any competition like this or any free give-away will help you build your brand.

Good luck with building your following. When you build your following, you also build your brand. Make sure to also follow us on social media.