Social media PR refers to using social media platforms to manage a company’s online reputation. It involves creating and publishing content on social media that promotes your brand and builds a positive image. It could also involve using social media to deal with a PR crisis.
This post will look at four tips for boosting your brand visibility with Social Media PR.
Let’s dive in!
1. Connect With Your Target Audience
Connecting with your audience helps instill trust in your brand. Moreover, it allows you to gather vital customer feedback, which helps improve products, services, and overall customer experience.
So, invest time in understanding what kind of posts and content your audience prefers and assess what platforms they frequent the most.
Doing this will help you create content that resonates with your target audience. This could include informative industry-related posts, helpful tips or advice, and entertaining images or videos that capture followers’ attention.
Interacting with your followers is crucial to maintaining their interest in your brand. So, respond to comments, messages, and mentions showing that your brand values and appreciates customer feedback.
This also creates a positive impression with potential customers who might be lurking on social media. For example, Starbucks uses Twitter to address comments and strengthen customer relationships.
Finally, engage in influencer marketing by partnering with famous bloggers or social media influencers who have a large following and are respected in the industry. This helps you tap into existing audiences to boost your brand’s visibility.
2. Encourage Employees To Post On LinkedIn
Here is an interesting stat. LinkedIn claims that even though just 3% of workers post material about their firm, this sharing results in a 30% increase in overall organizational engagement. Therefore, encouraging employees to post on LinkedIn can significantly increase visibility and create a positive perception of your organization.
This is helpful, especially for B2B companies. That’s because LinkedIn is one of the most effective channels for B2B marketing. Other companies will also benefit, especially if they want to boost their employer branding.
So, ask your employees to share company updates, industry news, and achievements on their LinkedIn profiles to showcase their involvement and expertise. This will broaden your reach, amplify your message, and enhance your brand’s credibility. It’s a win-win – employees bolster their professional profiles while boosting brand visibility.
Here’s how Adroll employees repost announcements and influence their company’s brand visibility:
Show your employees that LinkedIn is a venue for mutual learning and growth. Make it clear that they contribute to the organization’s success by participating in this digital space.
At the same time, provide employees with relevant content and advice on how to use LinkedIn effectively.
Finally, creating a structured rewards system can motivate your employees. Set goals and provide incentives such as gift cards, discounts, or additional vacation time for those who make engaging content, reach certain levels of engagement, or frequently post on LinkedIn.
Additionally, provide employees with regular feedback to help them improve their efforts.
3. Use Hashtags
Hashtags make it easier for people to find content relevant to their interests. Therefore, using the right hashtags helps you reach the right audience and increase your visibility.
Research relevant industry hashtags that also work well with your brand. This involves researching your target audience, identifying what topics they are interested in, and analyzing your competitors and their use of hashtags.
By doing so, you can create a list of popular and niche hashtags to maximize your reach.
It’s also essential to know which hashtags are trending in your industry. This will help you tap into trending conversations.
You can also boost your brand awareness by launching a branded hashtag campaign with a fun challenge centered around your product. Domino’s nailed it with their prize and discount incentives, enticing their audience to join in.
You can run a similar campaign for your brand. But make it easy for others to participate in your hashtag campaigns.
Also, when creating a hashtag for your brand, keep it short, memorable, and unique. Use hashtags that accurately reflect the topic or subject you wish to promote.
Using relevant keywords in your hashtags is a good idea. This helps relevant people find them easily on social media platforms. For example, if you’re running an event, include the location in your hashtag, as shown below. The hashtag consists of the location of the event, which is the UK.
That said, ensure the hashtags are relevant to the post and that there aren’t too many hashtags in a single post. This can appear spammy and detract attention from your content.
4. Create A Social Media Crisis Management Plan
Lastly, you must create a crisis management plan. This is essential to ensure you have a solid plan on how your brand would respond if it gets caught up in a social media PR crisis.
A social media crisis may occur when negative feedback or comments spread rapidly across social media channels. This can damage your company’s reputation and might hurt your brand visibility.
You can partner with a PR services provider to create this plan. This is the best approach since they have expertise in the field. Alternatively, you can create your plan with the help of existing templates available online.
To start, create an emergency response team with clear roles and responsibilities, and designate a spokesperson responsible for speaking to the media if needed.
You also need clear guidelines for your employees’ behavior on social media platforms. These guidelines must outline the do’s and don’ts when responding to the crisis.
It is helpful to develop social media response templates. These templates are pre-drafted communication messages for responding to specific crises. They can be tailored to fit a company’s specific needs, and you can use them as a quick response to any crisis.
Here’s A Prime Example Of Social Media Crisis Management By KFC.
The chicken shortage caused KFC distribution problems, prompting some customers to express their displeasure on social media. But KFC immediately handled the situation with this humorous announcement:
Use tools such as Hootsuite and TweetDeck to monitor your brand mentions and ensure all comments are responded to quickly. This will help you identify and respond to issues before they become severe crises.
If possible, identify influencers on social media that can help spread positive messages when crises occur.
You should also establish a cohesive online presence with a dedicated website and register a domain name that reflects your brand. A website serves as a centralized hub for your brand, providing valuable information and resources for your audience. It allows you to showcase your products, services, and brand story in a way that aligns with your overall brand image.
If you register a domain name that matches your brand name or keywords relevant to your industry, it enhances your online visibility and makes it easier for potential customers to find and engage with your brand. Additionally, collaborating with influencers with a solid online presence can amplify your brand’s reach and reputation during a crisis, as they can help share positive messages and counter any negative sentiment.
Conclusion
Social media PR offers unique opportunities for driving engagement and increasing brand awareness through social platforms. It also provides ways to reach new potential customers and maintain the latest customer base.
Embracing these social media PR strategies can significantly enhance your brand’s visibility:
- Communicate with your target audience
- Encourage employees to post on LinkedIn
- Use hashtags
- Create a social media crisis management plan
Remember that consistency is the key to success in social media PR. Continue to assess and evolve your strategies to keep pace with changing trends, ensuring your brand remains visible and relevant in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
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