Without consistent engagement, no brand will realize the potential of their social media digital PR efforts. That consistency is vital to a brand’s success on social media, and it’s not enough to just consistently post content. It’s not enough to be “clever” or “original” or “helpful.” People need to actually respond – to react, comment and share – or the campaign misfires in some way.
The best way to create that consistent engagement is to give the people in the target market someone not just something to engage with. Simply put: brands need an identity online. They need personality and approachability in order to form the human connections that lead to consistent engagement.
Think about it, no one, really, is waking up in the morning wondering what’s for sale online. They want to know what happened, who did it, and how it will affect, influence, or entertain them. They want a “story,” and that’s marketing shorthand for someone doing something worth knowing about.
Humanizing a brand means creating connection points using digital PR messages. This could be about aspects of the brand that will resonate with readers, or it could just be allowing brand representatives and influencers to be “real” with people while interacting with the brand. Sometimes, often in fact, digital PR on social media is about establishing and nurturing relationships rather than offering products and services.
When brands find a way to authentically engage with consumers online – whether it be through influencers or directly through their brand’s social media accounts – that draws people in and creates reactions. Think about Wendy’s corporate Twitter account, for example. Most people have no idea who is behind it, but they show up for the humor and the interaction. There’s a team of people creating content that often has less to do with what Wendy’s is selling and more to do with making their audience react.
That commitment to humor humanizes the brand in a way that people can relate to. But that’s just one way to do it. Gratitude, heart, vision, enthusiasm, frustration… all of these emotions, when expressed authentically through digital PR on social media, can build that human connection and help brands develop stronger bonds with their customers.
Over time, brands that practice this approach consistently, create an identity – a personality and a “face” – for that brand in the minds of their customers. Instead of being a business or an anonymous corporation, they become a fun friend. Someone who brings joy… someone to trust.
But it should all be about personality. Brands should offer good content too. Advice, knowledge or insight, preferably presented in a form that makes it easy for the audience to understand and remember. Video, stories, memes should be simple, connective, and real. That’s the kind of digital PR that puts a name with a brand on social media.
