In the past, many brands developed cult-like followings through traditional marketing channels such as print media, television, and newspaper advertisements. Brands like Coca Cola, Levi’s, and Marlboro all developed huge customer bases with traditional marketing, and have been very successful for decades.
However, in the 21st century, it has become increasingly difficult for new brands to develop a following through traditional marketing alone. Today’s most successful brands have created incredibly effective digital marketing strategies by using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
While large audiences are more accessible than ever on social media, it’s hard to stick out from the crowd as a new brand. To learn more about how to grow your brand through digital marketing, I spoke to Joseph Ayoub, the founder and CEO of the digital marketing firm Creaze. Here are Ayoub’s tips for how brands can build a cult following on social media.
Have a call to action on your content.
One of the best ways for brands to develop a following on social media is to have a call to action on their content. Ayoub said that having a “call to action is very important. You have to tell people what to do in order to make a piece of content do well.”
A call to action is a message or direction given in a piece of social media content that instructs users to do something. This action can be visiting an external website, following a specific account, or purchasing a new product.
Having a call to action is an important step toward boosting your user engagement. Simply getting a user to look at your content is one thing, but getting them to do something as a result of viewing your content is even better. A user that is engaged with your posts is much more likely to want to revisit your page and share it with their friends. Having a call to action, therefore, is a great way to boost your growth on social media.
Partner with influencers that already have a substantial following.
One of the best ways for new brands to develop a cult following on social media is to partner with influencers. Nowadays, many businesses that produce consumer goods are paying popular social media users to feature their products in their content and promote services to their followers.
Ayoub thinks that “influencers are the most efficient marketers out there because they’ve proven it on themselves and turned themselves into brands that people follow.” Because influencers have already gone through the difficult process of building a follower base and developing brand loyalty with their followers, paying them for promotion is an extremely efficient way to get exposure to potential customers that you wouldn’t be able to reach normally.
For instance, if you’re a business that designs clothing and you want users to buy your new clothing line, you can pay a model on Instagram to wear your clothes and link to your site in the description of their post.
You can even get the influencer to actively encourage their followers to buy your product, which is a quick way to monetize your digital marketing. Make sure that the influencers you partner with are aligned with your target audience, and actively consider new influencers that may be able to generate a greater return on investment.
Tell a story through your content.
One thing that resonates with social media users the most is telling a story. Today, users are overloaded with new content, and it is impossible for them to engage with every piece of content that they see. That’s why it’s very important to make sure your content is unique and tells a story. Ayoub said that “It’s all about how you tell the story about your brand to someone who’s never heard about it.”
Users are much more likely to engage with content that’s relatable and resonates with them, since they can connect with it on a personal level. New brands looking to build a large following should focus on producing highly relatable content that speaks directly to their target audience.
Focus on consistency and frequency.
Producing high quality content is certainly an important part of successful digital marketing, but consistency and frequency of content distribution are equally important. Putting out one piece of quality content per week is not enough for a new brand to develop brand presence on any social media platform. New brands that are looking to develop a following should be putting out at least 1 piece of new content per day.
Users that see a brand’s content in their news feed frequently will begin to develop brand recognition, and will be much more likely to visit your page and engage with your content. You can even use third party applications to help you schedule your posts and organize your content across different platforms. Consistency and frequency are necessary for any brand to develop a cult following on social media.
