Your brand is a bit like a puzzle. It’s made up of many pieces that all fit together to create the overall perception that people have of your organization. In our blog post last week, 3 reasons your branding should evolve, we made the case for changing elements (or puzzle pieces if you will) of your brand gradually over time, rather than drastically changing everything all at once.
One piece of your brand, that can be updated relatively easily, is your social media.
Here are 4 reasons you might want to rebrand your social media:
1. You have low engagement.
Has your social media engagement been less than stellar? Then perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate the way that you are presenting your brand on social media. People thrive on novelty, so present them with something new and exciting that they can’t help but engage with. For example, if you don’t typically share a lot of images on social media, try posting some pictures or graphics! Messages with images get 75% more clicks than those that don’t have a photo.
2. You have inconsistent messaging across your profiles.
Take a look at the the way you describe your business on your different social media channels and on your website. Do they all match up to paint a clear picture of what your company does and why you do things that way? If not, it might be time to rebrand. Your social media accounts can be one of the first places that people find information about your company, make sure they are getting the correct information.
3. You have a new website.
Let’s say you put a lot of blood, sweat, tears (and money) into getting a website with a fresh new look and feel up and running. Wouldn’t you want your social media accounts to match? By rebranding your social media accounts to match your new website, you provide people with a consistent experience no matter where they are interacting with your brand.
4. You have new business goals or direction.
Are going to be offering a new product or service? Or simply changing the way that you go about providing your current offerings? Make sure that your social media accounts reflect any of these changes because it’s one of the easiest ways to tell large numbers of customers the story of any changes that are happening in your business.
If I’ve peaked your interest and you think feel that your social media could use a little TLC, read on…
So, what exactly can you do to rebrand your social media?
Social media rebranding efforts fall into 2 main categories:
1. Changing how you visually represent your brand with things like graphics and photography.
Ensure that the branding that you use on your social media profiles aligns with the branding on your company website. Use your logo, company colors, and font styles whenever you can. Use them in banner images and shared images. To see what I mean, take a look at these examples from our own site and social media accounts.
To have a consistent user experience, both our Facebook and Twitter accounts we use the same header image:
2. Changing what you say and the way you say it.
Look back at your recent social media posts, have you been posting the same exact type of content on all of your channels? If so, it’s definitely time to make some changes! Tailor your messages to play into the strengths of each social media platform, for example:
- Facebook – It’s a great avenue for humanizing your organization. Use it to share your company culture, blog posts, and other relevant industry knowledge. The keys to success are to use a lot of images, to be timely with what’s trending, and to post original/creative content.
- LinkedIn – Use this channel to become an industry thought leader by sharing original content, sharing other thought leader blogs, and participating in relevant LinkedIn groups. The keys to success are to be consistent with posts, to find target persona, and to use a caption that draws the reader in.
- Twitter – Another great channel for positioning your company as a thought leaders by sharing blogs, retweeting other thought leaders, and joining in conversations. The keys to success are to use a lot of images, to stay away from salesy language, to be timely with what’s trending, to use hashtags effectively, and to post original content.
Take some time to think about the language and tone that you use when writing your social media posts, that’s your brand’s voice. Is it flexible and conversational or is it factual and professional? Perhaps it’s somewhere in between. No matter your brand voice it should remain consistent across all of your social media platforms.
An important note.
Now is a good time to mention that any changes that you make to the the visual elements and content you post to social media should be documented in a social media style guide. With a style guide, multiple members of your company can get on board with posting, and you won’t have to wonder what to post and when to post it. If you’re looking for some tips to help you get started creating one of these handy documents, check out this blog post.
As I mentioned, social media rebranding can be done alone or in conjunction with other rebranding initiatives (content, website, etc). So if you are ready to change the way that current and potential customers view your brand on social media, there is no better time than the present to get started!
