Did you know that 90% of people follow at least one business on Instagram, according to a recent study? If you thought your business didn’t need a social media presence, think again. B2B digital marketing is so much more than just running paid ads, as any digital marketing agency will tell you. Curating a presence across multiple channels is the best way to give current and potential clients a window into your brand’s personality — a proven way to increase brand loyalty, since clients increasingly want to know not just what they’re buying, but from whom they’re buying it.

Building a social media persona that’s truly engaging requires some work, but a great digital marketing agency can lead the way with ease. Regardless of what route you go, there are three major elements to brand identity that you need to consider: visual, copy and community management.

Visual

Your brand already has a defined visual identity (…right?), which means you already have a starting point. Organic social media posts — that is, posts that are neither sponsored nor paid placements — are the basis of a successful digital marketing strategy. While a paid strategy can bring potential clients to your profile, organic posts are what will keep them there and encourage them to follow your brand. 

It can be incredibly simple to create a cohesive visual identity, thanks to tools like Canva that make graphic design simple and intuitive. For those with a bigger in-house budget or a dedicated digital marketing agency, there are a myriad of tools for creating graphics, editing photos and making templates that ensure all your social media posts will follow a theme.

Copy

An attractive Instagram feed is a good start, but it will fall flat without the proper copy. While your website functions as a brochure of your offerings, business approach, and employees, your social media presence is an opportunity to have some fun… within reason.

While it’s true that some brands achieve great success through irreverent social media posts, be wary of this strategy if your brand isn’t known for being cheeky. Your brand voice should always reflect your overall brand identity, so look at social media as an opportunity to hit a “sweet spot” that balances your usual brand voice with a more accessible, conversational tone.

Community Management

So you’ve created a beautiful social media grid and written great copies to match. Why aren’t your posts garnering any engagement? It may be because you’re ignoring your followers, current or potential.

Community engagement is a crucial part of social media management because these platforms are designed for interaction. Engaging with other users is the best way to put yourself on their radar, so create a list of profiles with which you need to interact and stick with it. Much like media relations, the community management side of digital marketing takes some time to show results.

Make sure your profile is well-curated from a community management standpoint: if users comment on your posts, respond to them! This could be as simple as “liking” their comment, although a good digital marketing agency will help you create a document of standard responses. Check your posts regularly for spam comments, and delete them as they appear.

Creating a social media presence that doesn’t feel like a sales pitch can be a challenge for many companies in the B2B space, where the impulse can be to sound overly “professional” as a way to prove expertise. 

Worried that there’s no way to balance the two? Talk to a digital marketing agency. By creating a powerful brand narrative that highlights your know-how without sacrificing approachability, we’ll ensure that your social media identity is authentic and engaging.