4 Ways to Define Your Brand
Stand Out From The Crowd
We’ve all heard by now that Social Media Marketing is vital to every modern business. You can increase your visibility in a crowded marketplace, connect with your existing customer base and it’s free! But what is the difference between a run-of-the-mill social media presence and an account that goes viral? It’s all about crafting your unique voice.
All My Favorite Colors
The first thing people see when they open their Instagram app is an endless scroll of pictures; the same goes if they click over to the explore tab. In order to stand out amongst all the posts flashing by, it is important to define a palette. Often, your palette already exists, even if you don’t know it! Your brand’s color palette can be as simple as pulling the major colors out from your logo or it can be the colors of your décor and walls if you have a restaurant or physical retail space.
If you are a travel blogger, for example, you can’t control things like studio lighting so easily. Never fear! There are plenty of filters built into the Instagram app itself that can create aesthetically similar posts, as well as third-party apps like VSCO. If you really want to get fancy with it, Gradient Maps in Adobe Photoshop can really dial in exact color tones
An extra benefit to creating (and sticking to) your color palette is your Grid will look amazing. A well-planned grid when visiting an Instagram profile is one of the key differences between personal profiles featuring friends and family that serve as pseudo-scrapbooks and professional profiles marketing a product.
One of the keys to growing your brand is consistency, in how frequently you post and the type of posts. But, there is some leeway here! Don’t discard an incredible picture just because it might not fit perfectly in with the rest of your Grid.
Beauty Is In The Eye of the Beholder
Take some time when planning out how you want your brand perceived to think about the framing of the pictures you will share on social media. For a restaurant, extreme close ups of all of your delicious dishes might be the way to go. For a concert venue, you might favor wide shots that show the entire crowd dancing and having a great time. These types of decisions will build towards the overall story you are trying to tell with your brand.
Don’t sweat how you’re capturing these moments; remember that most people will be viewing your social media posts on their phone—it never hurts to use a Nikon D850 but taking pictures on your iPhone will work just fine!
Choose Your Words Carefully
The main focus of all Instagram, Facebook, and, yep, even Twitter posts is the picture, but that doesn’t mean the caption isn’t important. Just like you carefully selected your picture based on framing and colors, you should use the caption to convey as much as possible about who you are as a brand. Vocabulary and diction are integral choices; a fashion street wear company wouldn’t use the same word choice as a tiki-bar that caters to retirees.
It can also be helpful to craft a language or jargon that your loyal fans recognize as familiar or distinctly associated with your brand. If you are the owner of a fast-food stand called “Rocket Cheeseburgers”, you can call your customers “Astronauts” and describe your food as “out of this world” (Alright, we admit those are pretty cheesy examples, but you get the idea).
While Instagram captions allow for 2,200 characters (and Facebook gives you up to 63,206!), the ideal length for an Instagram caption is only 150 characters. With this range in mind, every word must be chosen with the utmost care. The same applies to hashtags; research shows that accounts with more than 1,000 followers should be using ten hashtags or less per post for maximum engagement.
What’s Next?
Whether you’re looking for personalized recommendations or want to remove the stress of managing your social accounts, Meerkat Media Group can help. Contact us to learn how we can help you grow, today!
