Finding your brand voice on social media

Having a strong brand voice online is crucial as you grow a business. People look to your company's website and blog posts, as well as its social media outlets, when they are trying to get a feel for its missions and what it represents. Believe it or not, every social post helps define your brand for consumers, so it is crucial that you take each one seriously. Here are some tips that will help you establish a strong and cohesive brand message through the use of social media.

Defining your brand

Before you start posting pictures, blogs, and other content online, have a good idea of the overarching image you want to present. In this exercise, simplicity is best. Start by trying to describe your brand in one word. While it might feel as though you are oversimplifying a complex concept (i.e. your business and its mission), using a single word as a road map makes marketing efforts much easier. Before you ever post, you weight the value as it relates to that word.

Defining your brand in this fashion requires a great deal of soul-searching and a look into the future. How sustainable is your business model? If you see yourself branching out into many more directions, your one-word brand concept may seem significantly larger than your current business model. Do not let that concern you. Play the long game when you think of company branding.

Social media and your brand voice

Once you know your business and see a clear direction for your brand, it is time to put some effort into your social posts. Try to create value in every post in order to align with your overall brand mission. No matter what your goals are in your specific industry, you want to be known as a brand that takes itself (and the time of its followers) seriously. Always think quality over quantity with your social posts—even when you are squeezing them into 140 characters. Frivolously posting on Facebook or Twitter will lead to consumers ignoring future posts.

More importantly, figure out how to tie images into your brand mission and social media strategy. Photos get more page views and shares than posts that rely solely on words. Brands that specialize in design, fashion, art, or photography have it easy in this regard. For a business that has no ostensible visual angle, find a way to get images into the themes of your post. Law firms, pet adoption services, and food truck owners each have ways of making noise on social media with the right pictures.

Finding help from followers and advocates

When you are stumped on how to write about your brand, take a tip from the many social media users who already cover your brand in their daily activities. Social media followers who comment on your products and services can become brand advocates—a company's best allies—when you engage them in the right way. This give-and-take relationship with brand ambassadors and advocates also allows you to hone in on your brand voice. The response people have to your business should not be lost on your marketing efforts.

To engage followers and advocates more, consider offering them samples of new products to review or test while you are still developing them. You might consider reaching out to bloggers and journalists for their takes on your products, and for a measured review. These steps all allow you to gain more exposure while igniting conversations about your brand on social media. As long as you monitor and respond to the activity, you are helping differentiate your brand and present its voice to the public through direct interaction.

Nailing down a company's brand voice on Facebook or Twitter might seem like a tall order for a social media novice, but offers from partners in The UPS Store can help. Constant Contact social campaigns can push your posts out to more followers, expanding the reach of your company's mission.

How to master the changing social environment and stay relevant as a business

While running a small business, you may feel like you have threats coming from all sides. Competitors copying your concept, innovators on the rise, and a constantly changing world will test even the best businesses. The fast-paced social environment is another aspect for small business owners to consider. As everything shifts around you, it is normal to feel like your company is being left behind. Here are a few ways for your business to stay relevant.

Stay informed

The technology section of your local newspaper will give you a beat on what is happening on the digital landscape, and there are specialized websites for everything from social media marketing help to improving your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy to gain ground in Google rankings. Tech conferences and marketing forums also highlight developments in the business world and society.

Another excellent way to keep on top of societal changes is by talking with your children or anyone who is young. What makes it into the newspaper and what the kids are saying do not often meet halfway. Have a source with an ear to the ground to stay informed about changes in social life. You may learn nearly as much by watching the top 10 YouTube videos of any given month.

Find out what works

While small business owners may feel overwhelmed by social media strategies, you have more tools at your disposal than ever to measure what is working. Twitter campaigns work for many businesses, but if you do not see any increase in followers, favorites, or retweets after months of activity, then your best bet is to change course and try another network.

Each social network has a way for you to see how your marketing efforts are performing. A skilled marketer will suggest ways for you to move the needle and expand your brand's reach, but you can take a look for yourself whenever you have doubts. The changing social environment is making it harder for marketers to tell companies tall tales of their success. Everything is verifiable.

Hire young

Those who say great recruiting is an exact science suggest you hire employees to address weaknesses in your company. In order to keep up with changing times, you may consider hiring a younger candidate to offer tips in social strategy and help you grasp what a new generation is looking for from your company.

Ignoring the fast-paced social environment was the downfall of many companies, like Blockbuster and Tower Records. In both cases, shifting habits and trends among younger consumers eventually made their products obsolete. By the time these businesses tried to adjust their approach, it was too late. Even the smallest business can learn from companies on that scale.

Outsource your concerns

As you try to keep your business model relevant, you may want to look for help outside your company. Business coaching, social media strategy, financing options, search engine optimization and help for other concerns are available through UPS Store professional partners. When you are having trouble with one area of your business, hiring a new employee may not be the most practical solution.

Outsourcing has the potential to solve your company's pressing needs without a large commitment in money or the valuable time of your staff. Businesses operating with a tight-knit group may not have the advantages of larger companies, but the number of freelancers and one-off professional service providers is allowing small businesses to close the gap. Before taking on more payroll, consider your outsourcing options, which require far less commitment.

A rapidly changing social environment should not intimidate a small business owner, no matter how long you have been in the game. Let The UPS Store partners help make your website mobile-friendly or give you the edge in any other area where you feel like you have fallen behind.