In the digitally driven world, brands are leapfrogging traditional media and tools to become significant in the complex and competitive market landscape. New-age brands resort to social media to foster connections with consumers. It has become a powerful tool to convey great brand stories online and generate meaningful consumer interest.

Social media is meant to herald a gilded age of branding. In a short span, it has become the key to unlocking consumers’ hearts and brand potential. Having said that, the proliferation of screens and the Augmentation of social media has all cluttered the social media space. Consequently, droves of up-and-coming and established brands are fighting to be heard amongst a herd.

Understanding the product, brand & consumers

Consumers today look beyond products. They try to find brand ethos and values to resonate with.

While being on social media, brands should understand consumer expectations and align their offerings with the brand’s purpose. This also reflects on how brands are realigning their strategies and moving from simply a promotional attitude to conversational, community-oriented practice.

Personalising customer experience

The new-age customers crave human interaction and no longer fall for sales or marketing gimmicks. According to McKinsey, 71% of customers expect businesses to deliver personalised interactions. To stand out in the crowd, brands emphasise creating positive touchpoints to engage customers through personalised content. A popular example of this would be all those Zomato App notifications which we keep receiving throughout the day. Simply adding one's name, location cues or captions influenced by the weather in my city is enough to make the user take a second look.

Communicating brand values & ethics

Since brands are a part of this large social community, they should take an active part in sharing social responsibilities and aligning with causes close to their target audience. Brands are leveraging real-world opportunities with important events like World Water Day, International Day of Education, etc. to communicate their values and connect better with their audiences. For example - Given the Pride month being a highlight for June, many brands have leveled up the narrative this year and taken a stand for their beliefs very strongly.

Choosing the right influencers

In this ever-changing world of social media, brands need a voice to cut through the digital noise. By finding the right influencers, a brand can chart progress and with community building and co-creation being a key social pillar, many brands have moved away from simply selecting influencers with the most followers. Rather, we’ve seen rising popularity of micro and nano influencers who just happen to understand the brand vibe and create content in sync with the brand. For instance, Urbanic caused a stir among fashion-first millennials and Gen-Z consumers by championing the narratives of inclusivity and body positivity and building a community of thousands of Influencers or youth marketeers as we call it.

The Bottom Line

To stand out in the social media saturation, brands should continually measure their Performance, understand the insight behind their user mindset and preferences and always keep on working towards creating content that creates a connection. There is no set pattern or approach which can be taken as a thumb rule, it’s all about observing and innovating.

*The author is Raghav Bagai, Co-founder, Sociowash