Most businesses use social media.
But most do it wrong.
Sure, they might create great content. Yet they miss the most important part of how to grow on social media: consistency.
Why Consistency Matters on Social Media
When people think about consistency on social media, they usually think of how frequently they post.
But consistency goes way beyond that.
Consistency also includes brand voice, design, and the content itself. These elements come together to create a consistent brand that shines on social media.
How to Grow on Social Media: Brand Identity
Consistency forms the core of brand identity on social media. So businesses that constantly switch up style and voice will confuse their customers.
Here are three factors of a consistent brand identity:
1. Tone of Voice
Brands express their emotions in their tone of voice. It’s how they frame their messages, which determines how viewers will receive them.
Therefore, brands need to convey their messages consistently or else risk confusing their audience.
For instance, if a brand’s tone is upbeat one day and snarky the next, it will confuse its followers.
This doesn’t mean every post and caption must be the same, but it shouldn’t vary too much.
2. Design and Color Pallete
A consistent design and color palette will create a smooth flow on social profiles. For example, Starbucks’ Instagram page always has bright, cheery colors.
Imagine if they started randomly posting black and white photos. That would confuse viewers and signal a different tone than what they expect.
3. Content
A brand’s content is essential to its identity on social media. Images, videos, posts, etc. all mesh with a specific niche.
Nike’s Instagram page features athletic content; that’s what their followers follow them for.
Switching their content to include, say, news commentary would be a jarring shift. And one that likely wouldn’t sit well with followers.
How to Grow on Social Media: Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is a primary goal of businesses on social media.
93% of marketers said their social media efforts increased business exposure. And a critical element of that increased exposure is consistency.
Without a consistent presence, social pages will struggle to gain a following. People follow a page to find more of whatever initially drew them in.
So ask yourself: “What do people follow our page for?”
Once you determine that, you can post consistently and create a reputation as a go-to for that kind of content.
This will also increase your word-of-mouth referrals—a source of new followings for 32% of consumers.
Your content will also appear in discovery pages, hashtags, and influencer mentions. Over time, all these form significant sources of increased brand awareness on social media.
Rare Beauty, for example, builds awareness in two ways:
- Positive messaging
- Influencer sponsorship
Most beauty brands focus on external beauty, but Rare supports inner health too. Combining that message with Selena Gomez’s sponsorship makes Rare instantly recognizable.
How to Grow on Social Media: Brand Recognition
As a brand builds awareness, it’ll inevitably build recognition.
Such was the case for Boxed Water. Their brand became famous thanks to excellent promotion on social media.
Since then, they’ve continued to create consistently valuable content for their followers. This has translated into real-life brand recognition for their store products.
Three Benefits of Being Consistent on Social Media
Consistent social media presence has a wide range of benefits:
1. An Increase in Conversions
Brands selling products online will receive more conversions from social media. CTAs (calls-to-action) within social content create a steady stream of leads.
57% of consumers follow brands’ social profiles to learn about products and promotions. This means that most of a brand’s followers are leads.
To capitalize on that, smart brands produce consistent content that captures viewers’ interest. Brands then include CTAs, such as a prompt to purchase at a temporary discount.
2. Better Relationships with Audiences
Social media has changed how businesses and their customers interact.
Before, businesses had precious few opportunities to interact with their customers directly. Usually, they had the point of sale, customer service, and nothing else.
Social media enables brands to stay at the forefront of consumers’ minds. Here’s how to take full advantage:
Individualized Customer Experiences
Nothing beats social media for personalized customer experiences. The smartest brands use social media to talk to their customers directly.
Consumers rarely forget a personal interaction with a brand on social media. It shows the company cares about its customers.
Showing your brand cares is essential for growth on social media.
Use a Relatable Brand Voice
A brand shouldn’t be too formal on social media. Remember that all consumers are real people, not robots.
Brands can take a page out of Wendy’s book (an American fast-food chain for those unfamiliar). They’ve become famous for being casual and fun with their audience.
All brands don’t need to be as conversational as Wendy’s is on Twitter. But they shouldn’t be afraid to have fun and be human.
3. An Excellent Return on Investment (ROI)
The reach of social media has made it an essential marketing tool. Most marketing departments report it’s been effective for their business.
Businesses investing in a quality, consistent social media presence should expect great returns. And due to direct shopping on social media, online stores can achieve even better ROI.
How to Be Consistent on Social Media
There’s no question that a consistent social media presence leads to significant results. Research has proven it time and time again.
But how can a business be consistent on social media? How can they ensure quality, cohesive online presence?
This section answers those questions.
Create a Content Strategy
A defined content strategy is a blueprint for social media success, just like with content marketing. Without a proper plan, a brand’s social efforts won’t deliver optimal results.
Putting a content plan together can be hard, especially without experience. But it’s crucial to learn how to grow on social media.
So follow these steps for building an effective social media strategy:
1. Set Content Goals
Always start with a goal. This will help shape the kind of content you post. Without one, you’re just guessing.
By defining clear goals, marketers can align content and posts to match. They’ll also be able to track their campaign’s effectiveness.
2. Understand Your Audience
Marketers who understand their audience can tailor content directly to them. Knowing how to tailor content to an audience is key to how to grow on social media fast.
Identify who they are, their interests, and why they follow you. A good buyer persona will help you understand your audience.
Also, learn when they are most active. That will help you know when to post content for maximum engagement.
3. Prioritize the Right Platforms
Many businesses think they need to be present on all platforms. But that’s not true; you just need to be present on the right ones.
Find out which platforms your target audience uses the most. By using just these platforms, you can produce great content without overwhelming yourself.
Imagine a business trying to reach Generation Z. To reach their target audience, they might focus their efforts on Snapchat and TikTok.
On the other hand, a B2B business trying to reach upper management would likely target LinkedIn.
4. Create a Content Calendar
Posting consistently is crucial to growing social media profiles.
Create a social media content calendar to organize content and set posting days. Defined posting times will help you keep your business on track.
Many businesses start strong but lose focus if they don’t see immediate results. A content calendar will keep you accountable and on track.
How Often Should You Post on Social Media?
Committing to regular social publishing is one of the key drivers of success. But how often should you post on social media?
The answer: it depends on your brand strategy. Some businesses will commit to posting daily, others weekly.
Traditional wisdom suggests posting once per weekday. But a study of over thousands of Facebook pages revealed a different answer.
The study suggested that only pages with more than 10k followers benefited from daily posting. However, small pages actually saw lower engagement from daily posting.
The best thing to do is test your posting frequency to see how engagement fluctuates. If you find your audience is more engaged if you post three times a day, then that’s a frequency you should stick with.
Be Present and Engage With Your Audience
Engaging with your audience on social media is about creating meaningful relationships.
Followers are nice, but an engaged audience is what will pay off. Your business should strive for quality, not quantity.
Here’s how you can foster engagement and build a high-converting audience:
1. Respond to comments and direct messages: About 83% of people expect companies to reply to social media comments within a day. By responding to comments, you show your customers you care.
2. Make your posts visually appealing: Humans process images up to 600x faster than words. So good visual content is essential on every platform.
- Use relevant hashtags in your posts: Hashtags make your post more visible to users. Hashtags help keywords stand out in the post and connect with people using that hashtag.
- Understand platform algorithms: Platforms promote content with unique algorithms. Get to know them so you can boost engagement.
- Use a relatable voice: Making your social media presence authentic isn’t as simple as it sounds. The key to authenticity is a relatable voice. It humanizes you and encourages people to trust your brand.
Conclusion
Over half the world’s population uses social media, up 10.1% from last year (Datareportal). Due to the popularity of social media, the time to get on is yesterday.
Most businesses try their hand at social media, and many give up shortly afterward. They fail because they don’t commit to consistency: the key to how to grow on social media.
But that’s not you. Instead, your brand will grow massively with a consistent social media presence.
