The age of pushy salespeople and kitschy ads is being eclipsed by one where brands are more focused on connecting with their consumers on the ground level. People don’t want to be sold to anymore. From the clothes they wear to the products they use, they want to feel aligned with the brands they buy from and feel meaning behind their purchases. By exhibiting a relatable, unique and purposeful MO, brands give their consumers something they feel complements their own personal brand and a deeper reason to care about their products. The relationship becomes more than superficially transactional, encouraging long-term lifestyle integration and brand loyalty. Additionally, with the rise of AI generated marketing materials, we see brands default to AI-produced, algorithm-informed content formats to push their products. It lacks originality and adds to the noise with which we’re already being peppered.
Keeping all of this in mind, what overall strategy and tactics should brands be practicing on social media to achieve consumer interest, conversion and loyalty?
Not everything a brand posts to their social channels needs to be curated, branded and stylized. In this day and age, we are constantly getting bombarded with ads and sponsored content. Not every piece of content you produce should be sales-forward or even obviously pushing your product. Give consumers something entertaining, refreshing. Content that lives within the world of your brand but doesn’t overtly push a sale builds brand personality and makes your consumer comfortable letting their guard down. Making your brand’s social about more than just shoving sales messaging down their throat or explicitly reminding them about your product establishes trust and gives your social channels more purpose than just one-dimensional sales. By creating entertaining content that is adjacent to your brand and lives within the same world, this gives your consumers more reason to seek out your content and interact with your brand.
Example 1:
HelloFresh is one of many meal kit companies competing for consumer attention right now. They have identified that those ordering their meal kits are people that still enjoy cooking but perhaps not the logistics that come before or after. This being said, their social content doesn’t only involve their product offering but expands to general recipe videos, cooking tips and other trend-forward content that lives in the world of their brand.
Example 2:
RedBull, a known energy drink producer, has become a popular sponsor for extreme and unconventional sports events and their athletes. They have extended their brand to be recognized as more than just carbonated caffeinated beverages, to be strongly associated with adventure, risk-taking and peak physical performance. Partnering with break dancers Phil Wizard (@philwizard), Lee (@leetheruggeds) and Bboy Menno (@mennovangorp) to film a break dance battle is a brilliant example of the exciting and entertaining content Red Bull creates for social. While not product-associated, it perfectly aligns with the brand essence and entertains its consumer.
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Example 3:
Chipotle is very focused on using their social channels for entertainment over explicit sales-forward content. They are well-known for creatively integrating the use of social media trends in their brand’s content. Memes, soundbites and trending video templates make the majority of Chipotle’s content just like the below carousel meme suggesting baby names - related to the brand. This post is not directly pushing a sale but incorporating generic items that could be associated with the brand into an entertaining format.
Celebrity brand endorsements have long been used to sell products with very curated content made by brands themselves. This continues to be a successful method of bringing personality to a brand in highly produced commercial spaces (i.e. television, print, etc.) whereas content created specifically for social media channels appears to take a more ground-level, lower production approach. Here we see brands assuming the personalities of their own consumers (UGC & Influencer Partnerships) or their Founder/Employees. The tactics behind this are simply that consumers want someone they can relate to. They want to see themselves or someone they want to be like, in the brand. When that someone feels within reach, the integration of brand products in their daily life is much more seamless.
User Generated Content (UGC) & Influencer Partnerships
UGC and influencer partnerships can take on several formats depending on their placement in a channel. That said, with the purpose of reaching consumers through other perceived consumers, this content should feel like a recommendation between friends. Honest, impassioned but not forced, it can have extremely sales-focused language or use subtle product placement.
Example:
An influencer like Victoria Paris is a prime example of how influencer-brand partnerships can manufacture content that serves as a testament to the brand’s product offerings but does not appear like an ad. For example, Victoria creates content for a partnership with Roadway Movers and films content documenting their services during her moves. The videos combine entertaining her followers with the daily ongoings of her life while also implicitly recommending the use of Roadway as a moving company for their efficiency. some text
Founder & Employee Voice
When a brand incorporates or assumes the personality of their workforce it humanizes the company voice, reminding consumers about the real people behind the products. We are able to root our relationship with the brand in more than just the product but also how we connect to the people behind it. We are also reminded that the folks behind the scenes are consumers themselves.
Example 1:
Strawberry Milk Mob is a perfect example of a brand’s founder leveraging her own social platform and attributing her product’s brand to her own. She has seamlessly injected the placement of her product (bathing suits) into her profile content.
Example 2:
Surreal Founders and Team use their own wit and funny personalities as the voice of their product. The idea that Surreal has tapped into is that they are selling a product they themselves are proud of AND enjoy consuming! Knowing that, the consumers they are looking to sell to, are folks just like them. Unconventional, zany, fun people who aren’t afraid to try something new. Senior Creative/Office Hottie John Thornton is a familiar face in the marketing materials as well as features of Founder’s Jack Chetland and Kit Gammell.
Big brands have come to understand that they can no longer rely on continuously pushing product in front of their consumer’s faces to succeed in today’s market. As a result of this, their social media channels can not be saturated with only product releases, updates or deals. They have turned to using social as a platform that celebrates and fosters their consumer communities. From community event announcements and coverage to highlighting charitable initiatives, this is yet another content tactic that encourages companies to lead with brand ethos and not just “BUY OUR STUFF”.
Example 1:
Several brands including Lululemon and Arcteryx have tapped into recent running boom and host run clubs (QSW Run Club and Arcteryx Runners) out of their stores. They leverage social to celebrate these clubs and communicate with their members. Creating these micro-communities under the brand (that incorporate the products) establishes a multi-dimensional connection with consumers that isn’t purely transactional. It becomes integrated in their lifestyle and identity.
Example 2:
Dove Self Esteem Book Club is another example of how a brand can produce content around their values, fostering micro-communities that operate within their values and reflects positively on the brand. Key values like inclusivity, diversity, inspiring confidence and nurturing their consumers at any age aligns with this initiative the Self-Esteem book club is touting. Showcasing and asking followers to share children’s books “that help young people feel represented in the stories they read” draws in consumers for a non-product related purpose and perpetuates the pillars their brand sits upon.
Example 3:
Patagonia has always been a brand that proclaims being value-lead. Their company strives to balance both it’s humanitarian philanthropy as well as it’s product lead business. They are a for-profit organization that actually encourages their buyer to purchase less. How can this be? They want their consumers to see the value of paying for the quality of their products and how consumption affects our planet. Patagonia knows the relationship with their consumer is not one based on quick wins, trends and the latest product updates but trust, reliability in quality and ethical alignment. Their social media platforms are primarily used to share the charitable initiatives they are involved with and host a communities of activists interested in sustainability, green-living and social justice. Patagonia covers efforts in Chile, the United States and Iceland posting content for their followers to connect to the brand and each other over. Celebrating a healthy planet and giving their brand a philanthropic voice on social informs Patagonia’s consumer relationship and ultimately purchasing habits.
Authenticity is the name of the game in today’s social media landscape. Knowing your brand’s voice and how you use it on social media is one of the most important ingredients for standing out in the digital noise. Modern day consumers want value in their purchases, honesty and more than just a transactional relationship with the brands they buy from. Use your social media channels in a way that shows off your brand’s personality. Make them see the multi-faceted, unique, living, breathing animal it is.
