Building Your Brand Beyond Social
A few weeks back we woke up, logged into our work, took a few sips of coffee and then it happened...Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp stopped working. If you are like me, you likely tried to refresh 20-30 times before Googling “is instagram down?”
If you haven’t been following the story, the gist is that some of the social platforms that we use everyday have been promoting content that is violent, abusive, and in some cases seemingly sinister. Now, it really shouldn’t be a surprise that these and really all social platforms can be used not to connect but to tear apart even if the original purpose of the platform was to bring folks together.
With some data in our rearview and with more and more research being done, the dangers of the social platforms we use everyday have been warned by doctors, politicians, mothers and uncles. While some may be more infromormed than others, all seem to have a similar acknowledgement that we don’t have an exhaustive list of all of the potential negative or positive outcomes of these platforms. The point here isn't to say that social platforms and media are bad, but rather to say that when these tools are used unconsciously they can become knowingly or unknowingly hurtful and it can get out of hand quickly.
The reality is, if you are growing a brand in the year 2021 and beyond, it’s imperative that you are building your audience and brand on social but also beyond. It’s easy for brands to fall into just focusing on social media to build their brands but there is more to the story and more to building your brand than just posting some photos on your feed.
Our Duty: To Be Conscious Creators
As creators and brand builders, it’s imperative that we acknowledge that the brands we build will not be interacted with in a vacuum and therefore we must be conscious of this while we are building brands. The goal should be to build things that matter, are truthful, are helpful, and are for the good of the audience / clients.
That said, the connectivity that a brand or person can now have due to social platforms is unprecedented. The fact that a person can keep up with a friend who lives in a different state or that one of our green coffee clients can reach out directly to the folks cultivating and processing coffee - instantaneously, for free, internationally at any time through any of the apps that went down, is wildly unprecedented. Just a few decades ago, the best mankind had was a car phone and now we carry around little computers that can get directions to dinner, find a life partner, or order pizza without leaving our chair, pretty amazing.
Because of the nearly unlimited potential of social platforms to reach people, it presents a double edged sword for brands. On one side, there is unlimited potential for good and on the other side there is equally unlimited potential for harm. This is where consciousness comes into play. If we as creators, brand managers, C level executives, and business owners are not consciously creating content that is in alignment with our brand and goals, it can simply be about getting the most likes or having the highest engagement verses truly helping our audience.
As a branding, content, and marketing agency, it’s our duty to be conscious of the dangers of social content and work, not to manipulate them but rather to consciously create content that supports your brand, is truthful, and utilizes these apps and platforms to benefit your brand and your audience in a healthy and conscious way.
Our job is not just to “get our own” but rather to offer an invitation to audiences. An invitation to something more true. An invitation to something of more value. An invitation to something more healing. An invitation to something that offers more fullness.
At The Lev Co, we primarily work with value driven brands who produce specialty products of some kind. The reason for this mouth full of a focus, is because we don’t just want to build brands that add to the noise but we want to work with brands that have something to say. The kinds of brands that want to be part of positive change in our world even if that’s just being kind or sourcing their raw products transparently and equitably. This is where the invitation comes into play. The invitation is for buyers, consumers, and audiences to vote with their dollars and say “I want to support folks who are seeking to do things better.”
Some questions that you might ask your teams regarding the content they are creating are:
Is this simply for the likes or is this helpful to our audience?
Is this content inline with our goals or is this simply pandering to an algorithm to get in front of the most eyeballs?
Are we being true to our Mission, Vision, and Values as a company in the kind of content we create?
If someone has never heard of us and looked at our last piece of content, would it tell them a truthful story about who we are and why we exist?
This is not an easy task as it takes looking at ourselves and our teams in the mirror and asking these hard questions. These questions may also lead to conclusions that might be uncomfortable and they may add more work but they will result in deeper connection with your audience in a world that prioritizes comfort and ease over the uncomfortable truth.
How to Build Your Brand Beyond Social
So what’s the answer? It's simple. Continue to create content that is honest, truthful and meaningful on your social platforms while also building your brand and audience through other avenues of connection.
Here’s a few ideas to get your gears turning:
Email Campaigns
If you are not capturing emails, you need to. Either on your website or if you have a physical location, it could be as simple as a sign up sheet by the register. Whatever you do, capture emails. Also, this can be a place where you can communicate directly to your audience in a more private and intentional way. This is a great opportunity for vulnerability and value to be offered to your clients.
Video Content
It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive, but you do need to produce video content. Folks engage with video content significantly more than still content...again, even if it’s not perfect, produce video content.
A few areas you could use video in addition to your social platforms are:
Email Campaigns & Updates
In Cold Emails
On Your Landing Pages
Website SEO
This may seem cost prohibitive up front but it’s well worth it in the long run. Not sure where to begin or who to trust? We’d love to have a chat and guide you through the process.
Blogging - With An SEO Strategy
This is a two step process:
Step 1.
First things first, just start. The easiest way to get started is by doing it today. Trust us, the first few won't be great, but the more you write the better they will get. Once you feel comfortable pumping 800+ word blogs out on the regular, it’s time to put some strategy behind your writing.
Step 2.
Start blogging with a strategy. It’s important to note that you need to have an SEO strategy around your blogs because it can actually hurt the SEO work you've already done on your site through your blog if done incorrectly.
* A few notes on blogging. Blogging is helpful in 3 key ways:
It establishes you / your brand as an authority in your industry, you can repurpose the content for your social platforms and it is evergreen content that folks can find online in perpetuity.
It tells google and the other engines that your website is active. Every time you post to your site it lets google know that this site isn’t dormant and lets the engines know that they should send search queries your way.
It can further support the SEO work you have already done on your site but again, you need some strategy and know-how to do this properly.
Write A Letter
Seems silly but folks don’t get mail very often any more and getting a card in the mail that is memorable and meaningful can be a great way to gain someone's attention and deepen the connection.
3 Questions To Ask Your Brand
I’ll leave you with the following questions to ask yourself about your brand:
If you would define your brand as values based, how are you inviting your customers, buyers, and audience into participating in those values?
Is your brand consciously seeking to build your audience in a way that is manipulative or in a way that is truthful and beneficial to and for your audience?
Do you have a brand, content and audience engagement strategy that goes beyond just social platforms?
If you are seeking to build a brand that doesn't just add to the noise but has something to say and you are seeking to offer real value to your audience but aren’t sure how to go about it? We’d love to help.
Whether it’s building your brand from scratch, creating conscious content, SEO for your site, or something totally different, we’d love to be part of that journey. You can reach us at thelevco@gmail.com or you can find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @thelevco.
Be well!
Author: Luke Waite