Should boring brands use social media?
The short answer is yes, regardless of the lack of excitement level of your brand, social media is still an effective way to get your message across.
It is quite likely that, even though your brand is perceived as boring, it is actually a necessary service or product in many people’s day to day lives. As a brand, you need to occupy the same space as your customers in order to reach them, so if your customers use social then you should too.
To make you stand out above the other roof tile manufacturers, dental products or transport companies you need to have a presence in the social sphere. And we’ve all seen how ‘cool’ a taxi company can become, ok partly because clever marketing strategies have been in place but, Uber have amplified those messages using social media and built a solid, global community of advocates.
6 simple ways to make your boring brand more interesting
Faced with a not-so-exciting brand you’re going to need to employ some ‘out of the box’ thinking for your own social media strategy. Here are some tips to help you.
1. Reveal your personality
Your audience is more likely to react to a human so remove the corporate, dry tone from your posts – wallflowers don’t get attention. Be witty, be a little cheeky, show some attitude, adopt a Cockney accent. Make your brand stand out and be recognisable by what you say and how you say it.
2. Storytelling
This is an effective technique used in all areas of digital content, and with good reason. Storytelling engages your audience, it gives them something to align to and encourages them to interact. Develop characters and a story line for your posts.
3. Be a source of information
Offer information and advice that places your brand as an expert in the industry, at the same time showing your brand’s point of difference.
4. History of the brand
How did your brand start? Was it a life-long dream? Has it been a family business for generations? Did you have an epiphany while at the laundromat? Was your business plan devised on the back of a train ticket…in Brazil? People love a bit of history, it makes things interesting to know the back story of a brand.
5. The faces behind the brand
While your product/service is the main focus of your marketing it is also good to share things from behind the scenes. Introduce the team members, reveal what a day in the life is like at the office or factory, share photos of the staff Christmas lunch and other social occasions. It shows the human side of the brand to potential customers and gives future employees a taste of what the culture is like.
6. Share testimonials
Highlighting the reviews and testimonials of your previous clients and customers as individual posts is a great way to showcase and reinforce the benefits of your brand to your audience. Make sure you have their permission to use it and credit them in the post.
Incorporate some of these tips and have a bit of fun with your posts. After all, social media is about socialising.
