Social media differs from traditional advertising in many different ways. Many of the ways are obvious but some are less obvious. In this post we are going to explore some of the less obvious ways.
Your Brand Voice
The very way in which you communicate differs vastly between social media marketing and traditional marketing. This is mainly because social media marketing is 2-way communication and traditional marketing is 1-way. Your users and followers can respond to you and you can then continue the conversation.
This means that if you engage in social media marketing that you have to be 100% confident in your brand voice. You must know what your brand sounds like and how your brand talks. This is more simple for small companies and one-man bands, but for larger companies the brand voice will require work and training.
Your Brand Representation and Association
Representation and association are 2 of the most important things to social media users. For many people their social media profiles are a representation of themselves. Their profiles are how they like to be portrayed to the outside world. Therefore it follows that who and what they associate with on social media are also used as a way of representation. If a person chooses to interact with you in the public realm of social media then this means that your brand aligns with how they like to be represented.
Your Brand Story
Traditional advertising limits the way in which you can tell your brand story. A 30 second television spot or an A5 advert in a magazine does not give much scope for portraying all the characteristics of your brand.
Through social media platforms you can slowly tell your audience your brand story and what your brand is about. How you present your brand on social media should be carefully planned with a strategy laid out in advance in order to ensure that you are making the most of the opportunities and communicating your message.
Social media should be used differently from a hard-sell advert. You should be using it to build your audience of potential customers and communicating with them in a way in which they will understand and connect with.