Brands & Social Media Marketing

Brands have been used to advertise and promote a specific type of product or company since the ages of traditional marketing.  The idea of having a brand does not only apply to traditional marketing, but also applies to non-traditional marketing.  I specifically am going to discuss how brands play an impact in social media marketing.  Brands use timeliness and relevance in social media marketing.  Due to the quick communication process social media allows, it is easy to brand an idea or product; it allows individuals to interact within a matter of seconds: this is timeliness.  Relevance is another key factor in social media branding because if the idea an individual is promoting is already being promoted by another group, the information would not be relevant.  The information would not be new.  When using social media, items are posted in a timely manner; this is also known as relevance because each post is new information about the brand that is trying to be promoted by social media.  If an individual or companies and relevance, people will become less engaged in their brand because it will allow them to forget or not trust the information being given out.

One example of a social media service that would allow an individual to brand an idea or campaign well is Instagram.  One example of a brand idea would be an individual who encourages traveling.  This individual could create a Instagram account about the different places the individual has traveled.  The account would follow other accounts of people the individual knows and of course, other world traveling accounts.  This would create a good base of individuals who are interested in the brand the account is promoting.  Another detail to consider is creating a catchy hash tag (similar to a slogan), which would intrigue followers; this would help make the brand more distinct too.  There have been various ideas and companies that have branded their products well by using Instagram.  You can check them out by clicking on this link: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/instagram-best-brands#sm.0000kz5rl119m7fofvrtgv1rlwuba!

Instagram is not the only form of social media that has used brands for marketing tools.  Other popular forms of social media such as Facebook and Twitter have used branding for marketing purposes.  The shoe brand, TOMS, has used Twitter to spread awareness of their product.  They created their brand as a company who every time you purchase a pair of shoes from them, they donate a pair of shoes to children in various countries. 

Personally, I have used Facebook to promote a brand as well.  The brand I have been promoting includes Garnos Ranch Hunts and The Garnos Getaway.  The connection between these two companies is that they are both privately owned businesses owned by my family... specifically my father.  I have promoted Garnos Ranch Hunts as a hunting outfitter.  Check this page out here:  https://www.facebook.com/GarnosHunts/.  About a month ago, I created The Garnos Getaway page to create a brand for my family's townhouse out in the Black Hills.  Check out my other page by clicking the following: https://www.facebook.com/GarnosGetawaySpearfish/.  

Though these pages are just the starts of building a brand for my family's small business, I believe what I have learned from my social media and marketing class that I can continue to work on promoting this brand.  
If you want to check out some successful companies who have used social media platforms to promote their unique brand, here is a good link:
https://www.clickz.com/10-ways-brands-are-using-social-media-marketing-for-good/92187/.

Pictured above is the logo I created for Garnos Ranch Hunts!





My Millennial Perspective
Chesney Jo