How to Effectively Share Your Social Media Brand Story
Know, like, trust …People buy products and services because they need them (and sometimes just because they want them). But why do people buy from specific businesses or brands? It’s because they know the brand, they like the brand and they trust the brand. If you have established brand credibility with your prospective customers, it is easy for them to see the value of your offerings.
So building a successful brand name should be a priority for you as a small business owner. And social media plays a huge role in building influence.
Think about it - the last time you had a really good customer experience, you probably posted about it on line. Just this weekend, I discovered a new-to-me grocery with a beautiful bakery in our local neighbourhood here on Vancouver Island. Before I left the store, I had an Instagram Post with a photo of all their yummy tarts and cakes up on my personal profile. Sure enough, several of my friends commented back about their experiences at the same grocery with suggestions on products to try. Now, that’s the kind of advertising that money can’t buy. If the business hadn’t been on IG … I couldn’t have given them a shout out.
So, let’s look at some ways to get started with your brand story.
START WITH YOUR ORIGIN STORY
Every great movie starts with an origin story. I mean, who would Wonder Woman be if she wasn’t first, Princess Diana of Themyscira? And every great company, also has an origin story. For example, did you know Valhalla Pure Outfitters is a Canadian brand started by a gang of BC based hikers who wanted gear that would meet the punishing requirements of British Columbia hiking? (they were also key in the creation of Valhalla Provincial Park - thank you!)
Your origin story will also help form your company purpose. A huge part of my history is scuba diving (you can read how I went from Underwater to Online here). When John Cronin started PADI (the Professional Association of Scuba Divers), really, he just wanted to teach his buddies to dive safely. Now PADI’s mission is “to teach the world to dive.”
Spend time figuring out your origin story and company purpose before you dive into the rest.
CUSTOMER PERSONA
Next you need to identify your ideal target customer. Your brand will be built around providing service to them.
A persona is a conceptual description of the ideal customer. It is usually based on both data from market and competitor research along with examining existing customer profiles.
Once generated, a customer persona will provide insights that can be used by marketing, sales, and product development to make informed decisions and create targeted messages.
Xtensio provides a good free resource that will help you.
BRAND VALUES
What are your brand values? Let’s see if you can answer the following questions:
What’s important to you and your company?
How do you want to be described by customers, suppliers, supporters?
What drives your decision making?
What makes you proud of your business?
There are lots of ways to narrow down your brand values. You could host a company retreat, you could hire a facilitator to hash them out with your team, you could spend the afternoon brainstorming, you could go on a super long walk and search your soul.
When I was settling in on the values for Elmtree Digital, I used this great resource from Lisa Furze. It’s a list of about 200 potential brand values. I sat down with my highlighter and marked the one’s that popped out for me. I thought about what resonated and who/what I wanted my company to be. Especially important was the question about how I wanted my customers to describe me.
I came up with about 40 or so descriptors that I then was able to group into common themes. Again, I got my highlighter out and marked the one’s that were clearly us. I was able to come up with a list of 10 values that really define the company and what I am trying to achieve. I identified the 5 primary values and my 5 supporting values.
Elmtree Digital is adventurous, empowering, approachable, authentic and local. We will always be resilient, sustainable, educational, collaborative and natural.
This was created with a free App called Word Salad. Check it out!
BRAND VOICE
Once you know your brand values, it is so much easier to figure out your brand voice.
This is where you determine what you want to talk about and also how you want to say it.
I am constantly being asked how I know what to post on line and when. My brand’s voice is key to my strategy.
For Elmtree, for example - I focus on posts that are educational (one of my brand values!) and post newsy pieces that include:
tips & tricks
best practices
trends in social media
I also post about my clients’ successes (which hits the brand values of being empowering and collaborative). I know my client’s success is my success and I want to share it with the world!
I post about local events and activities - feel good stories about what is going on in Oceanside because part of my mission is to support local businesses that are reinventing, reimaging or rebranding themselves.
I also post about the causes and events that are important to me … usually events that are adventurous and/or sustainable, like our latest hike up the Notch in Nanoose Bay or the underwater clean up that we organized for World Oceans Day. And of course, I am constantly posting about our dog, Candence, who came from a rescue shelter not too far from here. #adoptdontshop #rescuepup
Finally, I post about my services - because, let’s face it - my business only exists if I sell my services.
So you will want to come up with a list of content pillars (I’d suggest four to six) that will form the basis for all of your posts. Maybe it will be product demo’s, or a behind the scenes look at your business. Maybe it will be motivational or inspirational content or posts about your team. One content pillar I recommend to ALL of my clients, is themselves. I am a strong believer in origin stories when it comes to branding.
It is also important to consider the tone you will use when writing on line. This is especially important if you use a social media manager or freelancer to develop content on your behalf.
Your brand might be fun and witty, casual and conversational, professional or even formal. When choosing the tone you use for your posts, go back to your brand values. If, for example, your values are to be educational, authoritative and scientific - you might want to choose a tone that is informative, direct and even clinical.
At Elmtree Digital, I try to be authentic and approachable. And I give credit where credit is due, mentioning the resources I use when finding content for my posts, because I am collaborative. Pretty much, I get to use my own voice - because I am my brand, and my brand is me 😊.
Once you have this nailed down, your social media will flow much more easily. And because your audience is getting consistent messaging - your know, like and trust factor will grow!
BRAND VISUALS
Finally, it is time to create your visuals. My friend Kinsey, over at Feel Good Social, talked in one of her most recent podcasts about how this is the place people often want to start. It’s so true! But it really needs to follow setting your brand values and voice.
We humans love consistency! It helps us know what to expect and helps the the “know” factor in the Know, Like, Trust triangle. There are some super easy steps to take:
Start with having a consistent profile picture on every one of your social networks. It should be simple, clean, and reflect your values - for Elmtree, it’s me, in the woods on a hiking adventure, no makeup (all natural and authentic). For example, here’s my profile picture:
Facebook Profile
Instagram Profile
LinkedIn Profile
Also as part of my visuals strategy, I’ve selected colours, fonts and photo themes that fit the mood I am trying to create.
So that’s it - your brand story done (no … it is never done, you will want to go back and revisit this regularly).
Uncover your origin story
Capture your ideal customer’s persona
Document your brand values
Develop a brand voice
Publish your brand visuals
I would love to hear about your brand - be sure to visit me on Facebook or Instagram and tell me your story!
ShazBy the way, want to know about that grocery I mentioned all the way at the top? If you are on Vancouver Island in the Oceanside area and need some yummy eats, Eat Fresh Urban Market is the place to go! And no, this isn’t a sponsored post!
