- February 22, 2024
- Posted by: Featured
- Categories: Expert Roundups, Social Media
How to Use Social Media to Amplify Your Brand
In the digital age, mastering social media is crucial for brand growth, so we reached out to marketing experts to share their success stories. From creating authentic connections to infusing personality into content, explore the diverse strategies in our collection of twenty-three expert insights on enhancing your brand’s visibility and engagement on social media.
- Create Authentic Connections on Social Media
- Embrace Trendy YouTube Shorts
- Launch Ambassador Programs
- Collaborate for Competitions
- Integrate LinkedIn with Email Marketing
- Capitalize on Live Streaming Popularity
- Foster Community with User-Generated Content
- Leverage B2B Mid-Sized Influencers
- Vary Content Types for Engagement
- Personalize with Founder’s Brand
- Engage Audience with Virtual Treasure Hunt
- Amplify Reach with User Challenges
- Align with Social Media Trends
- Spotlight Features in Social Campaigns
- Boost Engagement with Interactive Content
- Share Industry Insights in Live Sessions
- Distinguish Brand with Unique Campaigns
- Partner with Influencers for Authenticity
- Utilize Meta Ads Post-Holiday Season
- Connect with #GoGreenWithUs Campaign
- Drive Followers with Instagram Giveaways
- Cross-Post with Similar Audience Accounts
- Infuse Personality into Reel Content
Create Authentic Connections on Social Media
Leveraging social media platforms goes beyond mere advertising. It’s about creating authentic connections by understanding and addressing the specific needs of your audience while positioning your brand as a trusted authority in your field. Success hinges on authentically connecting with your target audience in their own spaces and addressing needs expressed in these groups, offering insightful solutions with expertise while subtly highlighting your unique value proposition.
For example, take a successful campaign initiated on Reddit within a roofing forum that resulted in several new clients. I monitored the forum, looking for needs I had been able to meet in the past. By offering targeted advice to solve common lead-generation problems the group members posted about, I showcased my expertise and subtly highlighted my honest marketing approach. This strategy didn’t feel like advertising but about providing real value and solutions. The result was several inquiries from various small business owners, not just roofers, who were drawn to the honesty and helpfulness displayed. They trusted my advice before we spoke, demonstrating the power of building genuine relationships and trust through strategic social media involvement.
Seth Beaty
Digital Marketer, Rank Right SEO
Embrace Trendy YouTube Shorts
Forget stuffy LinkedIn posts; we turned to the sizzling world of YouTube Shorts to spice up our resume-writing service’s visibility. Imagine 60-second sizzlers packed with resume hacks, riding trending topics like ‘Quiet Quitting’ with tips on crafting a subtle escape plan, and sprinkling in humorous skits for maximum engagement.
The results? Views skyrocketed, website traffic boomed, and we became the go-to resume gurus for job seekers. Remember, ditch the droning, embrace the trendy and funny, and watch your audience fall in love with your brand story. In the land of social media, attention is the currency, and we just minted a fortune.
Bhavik Sarkhedi
Growth Head & CMO, Content Whale
Launch Ambassador Programs
At Cloudways, we know who our ideal customer profile is. The information comes from the signup data where customers choose a specific persona when they are starting up with us. Then we see how they are bringing in more business and how long they are staying with us.
After seeing this critical data, we found out that digital agencies from English-speaking countries like the US, UK, AU, and the EU choose Cloudways.
We strategized an ambassador program (Cloudways Mavericks) to bring in the best agency owners and influencers, who have their own digital agency coaching programs and communities.
They started creating content for us on social media (Facebook Live, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn) by interviewing other agency owners to help solve their problems.
The content was aligned to promote the Cloudways Agency Partner Program.
Before that strategy was deployed, the agency share in our customer base was around 11-12%. After one year, it grew to 19-23%.
Muhammad Saad Khan
Director, Product Marketing, Cloudways by DigitalOcean
Collaborate for Competitions
A competition run in collaboration with brands that have a similar target audience is the very best method that I’ve seen work effectively, quickly, and relatively cheaply, achieving a big boost in brand reach and engagement. The competition should offer a significant prize pool of products/services donated by participating brands, and is, of course, the main incentive to enter the competition. The competition should require entrants to engage (e.g., follow a page, like the post, comment, tag a friend, etc.) in order to make their entry valid. This means they think of who they know who might also be interested in the products and brands, which is exactly what an algorithm would do when trying to capture a relevant potential customer from a cold audience—except the competition entrants do it in an instant. This is the power of word-of-mouth.
An example of this was a baby consumer goods brand which collaborated with seven other non-competitive baby brands and offered a valuable prize pack of very appealing, cute, and necessary items to a new mother. Each brand shared the same post to their unique audience, meaning all brands gained reach approximately 800% more than what their reach could have been alone—and that was before the engagement began. The potential is limitless and can boost your brand’s reach and engagement exponentially, depending on how many brands collaborate, the criteria for entry, and the size of each brand’s reach.
Brigitte Knight
Marketing Manager, Flowers Across
Integrate LinkedIn with Email Marketing
While running a social media campaign for a B2B agency, LinkedIn proved highly effective in enhancing our brand visibility and engaging with our target audience. Here, we aligned our campaigns with another marketing channel, specifically email marketing. We integrated our email list into LinkedIn paid ads, showcasing ads to the same audience with whom we were already in contact through email campaigns.
Simultaneously, we sent connection requests to build a robust LinkedIn profile, connecting with our target audience and inviting them to share their thoughts while actively engaging with our posts. The topics were carefully chosen to be relevant to their interests.
Ultimately, this campaign was exceptionally successful in establishing our brand’s image within a larger group of our target audience.
Rahul Anand
Digital Marketing Manager, GMR Web Team
Capitalize on Live Streaming Popularity
I recommend using live streaming. Right now, live streaming is really popular on social media. It has become more popular than regular videos and photos. It’s easy to do and offers many benefits.
You just need a smartphone, good lighting, and a live streaming app. There’s no need for fancy equipment or big investments. Live streaming can be used in many ways. You can host Q&A sessions, showcase new products or brands, cover events live, create unboxing videos, and more. For example, on Instagram Live, you can chat live with viewers, and they can see everything happen in real time.
Live streams are great for engaging your audience. Viewers can comment and react while watching, which helps you connect better with them. You can use live streaming on platforms like Facebook Live, Twitter Live, or Instagram Live to increase engagement.
Precious Abacan
Marketing Director, Softlist
Foster Community with User-Generated Content
Enhancing brand visibility through social media requires a blend of creativity and engagement. In my role as the project marketing manager overseeing a vast network of over 400 cafes nationwide, we implemented a highly successful campaign centered around seasonal coffee cups. Teaming up with a renowned illustrator for an exclusive design elevated the cups’ desirability.
Each seasonal cup was adorned with a unique hashtag, motivating customers to share their photos featuring our cups on their social media platforms. The most imaginative entries not only earned a repost on our official account but also special gifts as a token of appreciation.
Harnessing the power of user-generated content (UGC), we not only showcased our brand but also cultivated a vibrant community around it. This campaign not only significantly broadened our reach, effectively captivating our target audience, but it also fostered a profound connection with customers, turning them into enthusiastic brand ambassadors. The anticipation for new designs each season became a hallmark of our approach, with customers eagerly awaiting the unveiling of our latest exclusive cup creations.
Oksana Sydorchuk
Marketing Manager, Oksana Sydorchuk
Leverage B2B Mid-Sized Influencers
The realities of social media have changed rapidly in the past decade, and with it, so too have the best practices for successful social media campaigns. We have officially entered the age of the B2B mid-sized influencer, meaning you don’t need millions or even hundreds of thousands of followers to drive engagement anymore. In fact, we are starting to see people with follower counts in the tens of thousands creating niche communities that they are using to drive increased visibility and opportunities for their brands.
For us, it all comes down to developing brand-aligned thought leadership posts from seasoned members of our executive team, and using those posts to drive real leads by featuring events we’re attending, content we’re producing, and demos of the products we’re developing, all with our own POV baked in. This strategy can be so effective that you might have to create a new source in your CRM called ‘CEO LinkedIn DMs’ to help filter through all the leads generated from your social campaigns.
Lynn Morton
VP of Marketing, Novel Capital
Vary Content Types for Engagement
In order to maximize your use of social media to enhance your brand’s visibility and connect with your target audience, you need to provide the right type of content to promote at the right time and on the right platform.
One of our clients is an agricultural technology company. We have found that Facebook is the primary channel that their audience engages on, but their audience is also active on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Because of this, we have found that organic social on all of those platforms five to seven times per week helps to continue to engage this audience and stay top-of-mind. In addition, paid social primarily on Facebook, with a small budget on Facebook, helps to amplify the message and generate new prospects on those platforms.
To continue to engage the target audience, we vary the content types that are shared to engage a variety of different consumers. This has helped us determine the content types to create more of to continue to drive brand engagement on social and other digital channels. By doing this consistently and strategically, this client has seen tremendous growth in social including: a 692% increase in new contacts (leads), a 78% increase in website sessions, and a 164% increase in interactions.
Elyse Flynn Meyer
Owner & Founder, Prism Global Marketing Solutions
Personalize with Founder’s Brand
To boost your brand’s visibility and connect effectively with your audience, tap into the power of your founder’s personal brand. When your founder becomes the authentic face of your company, sharing knowledge and passion within your industry, it doesn’t just humanize your brand—it builds trust and authenticity. This approach enhances approachability, credibility, and generates relevant leads. At Leena AI, embracing our founder’s brand saw a significant increase in relevant viewership, impressions, and engagement—up by 267%, 500%, and 615%, respectively, all within just 30 days.
Chirayu Akotiya
Global Head of Marketing, Leena AI
Engage Audience with Virtual Treasure Hunt
In our experience managing a virtual reality (VR) gaming brand, we leveraged social media platforms in a unique way to enhance visibility and engage with our target audience. Understanding that our audience was passionate about immersive gaming experiences, we decided to create a virtual treasure hunt across various social media channels.
We initiated the campaign by hiding digital ‘treasures’ within our promotional content, such as teaser videos, concept art, and sneak peeks of upcoming games. To track engagement, we created a dedicated hashtag for the campaign and asked participants to share their findings, theories, and experiences on social media. This not only amplified the reach of our campaign but also fostered a sense of community among our audience.
As a result, the campaign generated significant buzz within the gaming community. Players were excited about the upcoming VR releases and were actively discussing and sharing their discoveries. The social media analytics showed a notable increase in brand mentions, follower growth, and overall engagement during the campaign period. This campaign enhanced the brand’s visibility and strengthened the connection with their target audience.
Neil Hodgson-Coyle
COO, TechNews180
Amplify Reach with User Challenges
In the highly visual space of social media, as a sticker printing company, we focus on creating content that is both eye-catching and shareable. Platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are particularly powerful for us due to their image-centric nature. One campaign that stands out was ‘Stick With Us,’ where we invited our customers to share creative ways they’ve used our stickers. We provided a hashtag, #StickWithUsChallenge, and the best submissions were featured weekly on our profile. This not only showcased the versatility of our products but also encouraged user-generated content that amplified our reach organically. The campaign led to a 30% increase in engagement and a significant boost in our follower count.
David Rubie-Todd
Co-Founder & Marketing Director, Glide
Align with Social Media Trends
In the world of social media marketing, staying on top of trends is key. As a short-form video editing and marketing agency, we make sure to hop on what’s hot in the video scene on social media, keeping our content fresh and aligned with what people are buzzing about. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels are our go-to spots for quick, attention-grabbing content.
For instance, we edited and ran a campaign for a client that aligned with a trending challenge on TikTok. By incorporating their brand message into the challenge, they were able to join the conversation and spark a ton of user-generated content.
Daniel Willmott
Founder, Shortformvideo.co
Spotlight Features in Social Campaigns
To enhance brand visibility and engage our target audience on social media, Taskade launched an AI Workflow Generator campaign, powered by GPT-4. This initiative aimed at driving user awareness of Taskade’s new capabilities, spotlighting features like the AI Workflow Generator, the /Subtask AI command, and the Multi-Line Notes Add-on. Each post was designed not just to inform but to engage, asking users to explore and share their experiences.
A key strategy was the initial announcement tweet, highlighting the AI Workflow Generator’s ability to instantly generate thousands of case-specific workflows. This tweet alone received 227.6K views, indicating high interest and engagement. We followed up with posts on specific features, maintaining engagement and encouraging exploration of Taskade’s new tools.
The campaign’s success was marked by high engagement rates, with the launch announcement and subsequent feature spotlights generating significant attention and discussion among our audience. This demonstrated the power of targeted, feature-focused content in enhancing brand visibility and engaging with the user base.
Our experience underscores the importance of clear, engaging, and informative social media content that highlights innovative features and encourages audience interaction. By focusing on what’s new and how it can benefit users, brands can significantly boost their reach and engagement on social media platforms.
John Xie
Co-Founder and CEO, Taskade
Boost Engagement with Interactive Content
Effectively leveraging social media involves a strategic approach. One successful campaign involved creating interactive content, such as polls and quizzes, to engage the audience. By encouraging participation and sharing valuable insights, we not only boosted brand visibility but also fostered a sense of community.
For instance, a campaign centered around a quiz about industry trends garnered significant participation. The interactive nature increased shares and comments, amplifying our reach. This approach not only enhanced brand visibility but also strengthened our connection with the target audience, showcasing the power of interactive content in social media strategy.
Brad Cummins
Founder, Insurance Geek
Share Industry Insights in Live Sessions
We focus on creating value-driven content that addresses our audience’s needs and interests, using a tone and style that resonate with them. By consistently providing high-quality, relevant content, we position our brand as a trusted authority in our industry.
We also engage with our audience by responding to comments, messages, and feedback promptly, which helps build a community around our brand. Additionally, we use social media analytics tools to monitor the performance of our content, enabling us to refine our strategy and focus on what works best for our audience.
A successful social media campaign that significantly boosted our brand’s reach and engagement was a series of interactive live sessions where we shared industry insights, answered audience questions in real time, and featured guest speakers from related fields. This not only provided valuable content but also fostered a sense of community and direct interaction with our brand. The campaign led to a 40% increase in our social media followers and a 30% uptick in engagement rates, showcasing the power of interactive content and direct engagement in enhancing brand visibility and audience connection.
Niclas Schlopsna
Managing Consultant and CEO, spectup
Distinguish Brand with Unique Campaigns
In the dynamic landscape of social media marketing, unlocking the full potential of platforms requires a strategic blend of visibility and engagement. Adopting a multifaceted approach inspired by insights from top marketing professionals, I have honed a strategy that not only enhances brand visibility but also forges meaningful connections with the target audience.
One standout strategy is the ‘Zig When Competitors Zag’ principle, applied to social media. Rather than following conventional trends, our team identified a white space in our industry. Recognizing a surge in user engagement with interactive content, we launched a campaign that embraced immersive experiences on Instagram and TikTok. This move not only distinguished us from competitors but also resonated with our audience’s preferences, leading to a significant uptick in brand visibility.
The success of this campaign lay in its ability to humanize our brand against more sterile competitors. By showcasing the personal side of our team through behind-the-scenes content, we fostered a genuine connection with our audience. This emotional appeal, coupled with strategic use of hashtags and collaboration with influencers, resulted in a campaign that expanded our reach and sparked meaningful conversations with our audience.
It’s essential to emphasize emotional benefits in messaging, and this was evident in our campaign’s messaging. By aligning our content with the aspirations and emotions of our audience, we not only conveyed the functional benefits of our products but also created a lasting emotional connection. This resonant messaging, coupled with a consistent posting schedule and active community engagement, propelled our brand into the social media spotlight.
In the ever-evolving landscape of social media, it’s crucial to adapt to emerging trends. Whether it’s the rise of ephemeral content, the integration of AR filters, or the latest algorithm updates, staying ahead ensures sustained visibility. This proactive approach not only positions our brand as an industry leader but also keeps our audience engaged with fresh and exciting content.
Nimrod Vromen
Startup Consultant and Host, Startup Confidential Podcast – CTech
Partner with Influencers for Authenticity
Partnering with influencers has really helped our business gain more attention and interaction on social media. The key to attracting customers and getting them to engage with your business is by creating content that feels personal and relatable. People crave human-to-human content. Recommendations from real people have more influence than promotions from companies or other groups. Consumers prefer advice from their peers or people they trust, especially if there’s evidence supporting the recommended value.
The personal touch and persuasive impact of an influencer endorsing your brand outshine traditional promotional materials. Influencers give your brand credibility and the implicit trust needed to connect with consumers.
To be part of our influencer program, influencers need at least 2,000 followers. This means each influencer endorsement gives us access to 2,000 potential new connections. When you add up the impact of multiple influencers in our program—some with more than 2,000 followers—the growth and reach potential become clear.
Anna Parvatova
Brand Manager and Creative Director, SNS Nails
Utilize Meta Ads Post-Holiday Season
As a legal process outsourcing (LPO) owner, I know standing out online can be tough. So, we decided to try something different: ditching Google Ads for Facebook and Instagram ads (aka Meta Ads) right after Christmas when our usual search engine traffic dips. Our target? Deposition summarization services. Turns out, it was a genius move!
Instead of relying on people actively searching for our service, we put eye-catching ads right in front of potential clients scrolling through their social media feeds. This grabbed their attention and got them asking questions, leading to a bunch of new projects and even some awesome long-term clients. While the campaign is over, people still message us on Facebook and Instagram asking about our services, proving it was a major success.
The key takeaway? Don’t just stick to the usual search ads. By understanding where your target audience hangs out online (and using some cool visuals!), you can boost your brand and attract amazing clients, even when things seem slow.
Aseem Jha
Founder & Head of Customer Delivery, Legal Consulting Pro
Connect with #GoGreenWithUs Campaign
In our case, it’s crucial to understand our audience’s interests and behaviors on social media. Our most successful campaign was based on this very principle. We noticed that our target audience was very passionate about sustainable living. So, we launched a campaign titled “#GoGreenWithUs”, encouraging users to share their own sustainable practices. Not only did it resonate with our audience’s values, but it also fostered a community around our brand. We saw an increase of 35% in our social media engagement and a 20% growth in followers. This goes to show that understanding and connecting with your audience’s interests is key to a successful social media campaign.
David Rubie-Todd
Co-Founder & Marketing Director, Glide
Drive Followers with Instagram Giveaways
When launching our air-quality monitoring devices last year, we ran an Instagram giveaway that drove over 5,000 new followers in a week. Creating bite-sized video content that highlighted our product’s features led to 30% more engagement than static posts. The giveaway prize of a free device generated substantial buzz among our target demographic of health-conscious millennials. We also ran paid promotions to ensure the content reached beyond our existing followers, helping us acquire many new potential customers.
Gideon Ruben
CEO, Your IAQ
Cross-Post with Similar Audience Accounts
One way to enhance your brand’s visibility and engage with your target audience is to cross-post on an account with a similar audience demographic. This strategy allows you to organically reach a much larger audience, with the added benefit that those followers will likely already trust and give attention to the account you’re collaborating with. Rather than simply asking for a tag on a post from another account, I recommend using the platform’s tools—for instance, on Instagram, leveraging the collaborator post function (with a follow-up DM reminding the partner account to accept your invite so that your content appears natively on their feed), or a link that drives viewers to your website. For example, we invited an artist to one of our events, and she drew a sketch of the experience that she shared on her page, which drove interest back to ours.
Carly Hill
Operations Manager, Virtual Holiday Party
Infuse Personality into Reel Content
In my experience, the key to leveraging social media platforms to enhance brand visibility and engagement lies in authenticity and personality. We decided to dive headfirst into reel content, with me, Diane Howard, as the face of the brand. We understood that our audience craves content that is not only informative but also entertaining and relatable. So, we infused my unique sense of humor into the posts, creating a series of routine reels that were both educational and fun. The results were phenomenal—we saw a significant boost in our reach, and we even noticed an increase in client bookings.
Diane Howard
RN and Founder, Esthetic Finesse
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