The Influence of Social Media on Holiday Shopping

As the holiday spirit is defrosting, brands must place social media holiday marketing at the forefront of their strategy. Social media platforms have changed how brands engage with customers, offering the perfect opportunity to influence purchasing decisions. Optimizing your marketing strategy is essential to stand out this holiday season. Let’s explore how you can make the most of holiday trends and campaigns to captivate shoppers and drive results. 

Social Media and Holiday Shopping

Social media is no longer just a platform to stay in touch with family and friends or post vacation photos; it’s an essential part of the shopping journey. According to Sprout Social, 89% of consumers say brand social media impacts their holiday shopping decisions. Most consumers in today’s digital age discover products through social media, making it a powerful tool for holiday marketing campaigns. Plan your holiday marketing campaigns early to get ahead of the competition. 

Creating Holiday-Themed Content

Consumers love getting into the holiday spirit early and adjusting their lives to fit a holiday theme; your social media should do the same. Social media is the top source of holiday gift inspiration, making it the perfect time to captivate your audience. 

TikTok

TikTok is Gen Z’s preferred search engine. Video content on the platform allows customers to learn about products, showcase gift ideas, and access authentic reviews. Videos such as “My Christmas Wishlist 2024”, “Gift Ideas For Your Significant Other,” and “Gifts Under $25” flood the platform during the holidays. Brands need to capitalize on these trends. Consider partnering with influencers on the platform to highlight your products in videos to their established audiences. 

TikTok shop is an in-app e-commerce feature that allows users to buy directly from creators and sellers on the platform. Add products from your website to your TikTok shop to influence purchases directly on the platform. Influencers showcasing your brand can directly link your shop to their content, boosting revenue and brand awareness. 

Instagram

Instagram is the go-to platform for young consumers. Leverage reels and eye-catching images of your products to promote your holiday offers. With features such as direct links on stories and your bio, Instagram ensures maximum visibility for your products and website, helping your campaigns effectively reach the right audience. 

For example, Shop Hulu stayed true to its signature posting style, featuring fan-favorite TV shows while seamlessly incorporating holiday-themed content. They tapped into the popular ugly sweater trend and tied it to holiday parties, creating festive and engaging posts that resonated with their audience.

Pinterest

Pinterest sees a surge in activity during the holiday season; users are drawn to its scrollable content and the option to save products to curated boards for future reference. Many turn to the platform for holiday decor, outfit ideas, and gift inspiration, making it crucial for brands to create visually appealing content that resonates with their audience. Pinterest’s shoppable pins feature lets you link products directly to your website, making it easy for users to purchase in just a few clicks.

Evoking Nostalgia and Emotional Appeals

The holidays are a time of joy, family time, and hope for the year to come. Tap into an emotional appeal in your brand’s messaging to provide a personalized experience to followers. Storytelling can help humanize your brand, making relatable and memorable content. 

Instacart demonstrates the power of emotional appeal in social media holiday marketing by focusing on giving back during the holiday season. During Giving Tuesday, the company highlights its initiative to match every dollar spent on community carts, enabling users to donate groceries to Feeding America food banks. By showcasing this program on their social media platforms, Instacart reinforces a sense of community, tapping into the holiday spirit and building stronger connections with their audience.

Prepare for Customer Care

A lot of time and effort goes into finding the perfect gift online, which means customers have high expectations for your products. According to Sprout Social, 92% of consumers plan to reach out to brands as often as possible for their customer service needs compared to 2023. Regarding social media holiday marketing, efficient customer care can make all the difference in building brand loyalty and a positive shopping experience. Closely monitor direct messages and comments, empathizing with the stress that pairs with the holiday season. 

As the holiday season grows closer, brands that leverage social media to its fullest potential will thrive. The right mix of creative content and audience engagement can transform your holiday social media marketing.

Bright Age specializes in creating tailored strategies to enhance your brand’s social media holiday marketing efforts. Whether curating visually appealing posts, optimizing ad campaigns, or managing influencer partnerships, Bright Age ensures your brand captures the holiday spirit and stands out in a crowded digital landscape.

Strategies to Grow Your Instagram Audience

Growing a strong and loyal Instagram following is essential for any Instagram marketing agency or brand looking to boost its online presence. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for guaranteeing follower growth, but finding the best hacks for your brand will help you organically build your following effectively. Here is a look at the steps we recommend for tackling Instagram growth. 

Focus on Organic Growth

There are plenty of websites available where you can buy followers on Instagram. However, you should focus on quality over quantity when it comes to your Instagram audience. Purchased, fake followers do nothing to boost your brand’s engagement; bot accounts cannot engage with your brand or convert to loyal customers. The Instagram algorithm weeds out low-quality accounts and fake engagement, hurting your brand visibility. Although it might take longer, growing your audience authentically ensures a meaningful connection from brand to consumer, boosting revenue and loyal customers.

Emphasize Consistency

Having a consistent brand voice and aesthetic ensures you create a memorable account. Use your brand’s colors and logos, and create a consistent theme to show your personality. By creating a cohesive style, Bright Age has helped Golden Girls and BigStub grow their Instagram audience from scratch each now boasting over 100,000 followers. As an Instagram marketing agency, staying updated with trends is essential to our strategy. 

A consistent posting schedule helps you keep followers engaged and loyal. Regularly posted content keeps you at the top of your audience’s mind, reinforcing your brand’s identity. When followers can count on consistent posting and updates, they are more likely to return to your page.

BigStub

For BigStub, we emphasize event highlights and “top moments” from concerts showing what fans are experiencing as well as keeping them intrigued for future events. Using a mix of content types, including interactive stories, previews, and countdown posts from the beginning, helped us establish a recognizable brand, creating a sense of loyalty with our followers. 

Golden Girls

For Golden Girls, Bright Age taps into nostalgia and fan-driven content. Memorable quotes, iconic scenes, and character trivia keep the content fresh and relatable to diehard fans on the platform. Applying new trends in our posting style and captions keeps us relevant and engaging for both new and returning fans. 

Utilize Your Instagram Bio

Instagram allows up to 150 characters in your bio; optimizing your bio is essential to make every word count. It serves as your follower’s first glimpse into your brand’s identity, and adding the right keywords ensures your profile is discoverable by your target audience. Bios should be clear and creative, showing off personality, what your brand does, and how you can help them. 

BigStub’s bio includes its company name, business description, and direct website link, making it simple for followers to find their brand and redirect you to an external page, allowing them to purchase tickets to highlighted events seamlessly. 

Engage with Followers

It is no secret that engaging with followers is key to building brand loyalty. Engagement is a two-way street; followers are likelier to stay loyal when they feel valued. Responding to comments and direct messages shows followers that you care. 

Monitor Analytics

Monitoring key analytics on Instagram is a simple way to understand what’s working. Instagram offers post insights where you can see metrics, including reach, demographics, impressions, and follows. Set specific goals to determine what metrics are best to track. If you’re testing out a series of hashtags on your page, consider focusing on new followers and engagement. If you are experimenting with new post-times, monitoring impressions is most important.

User-generated content is another key part of engagement. Encourage followers to create content and give them a reason to share. Asking followers to tag your brand in their content fosters an online community and generates organic content for your page. 

Add Hashtags to Posts

Using the right hashtags helps expose your posts to a larger audience on Instagram. Hashtags add context to your post, making it easier to understand what your content is about and allowing Instagram to sort and deliver your content to more relevant audiences. For the best result, use three to five per post, focusing on industry-specific hashtags that are relevant to your audience and brand goals. 


Building a loyal and engaged Instagram following with these strategies becomes an achievable goal. At Bright Age, we specialize as an Instagram marketing agency dedicated to helping brands like BigStub and Golden Girls grow on social media. Our tailored approach to engagement and trend-driven content ensures that your brand reaches new audiences and keeps followers returning for more. Ready to elevate your Instagram presence? Let Bright Age help you create meaningful connections and boost organic growth.

How Social Media Impacts Every Part of Your Business

Social media can undeniably impact modern business strategy powerfully, especially when it comes to companies interacting with their customers. Before social media, we thought of advertising as billboards or magazines, which didn’t allow for the immediate consumer response like social media does. Social media has affected businesses, ranging from customer engagement to product development. Professionals highlight that social media’s influence on society is as fundamental as gravity’s pull on Earth. It has evolved from a mere luxury to an essential pillar of modern business. It is crucial for brands to harness what social media has to offer.

Customer Engagement and Brand Awareness

Today, businesses have unprecedented access to their target audience thanks to social media. Whether it be LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or X (formerly Twitter), these apps allow companies to contact their consumers directly. This access has opened new doors for things like brand loyalty, addressing concerns, sharing updates, and showcasing new products straight to the customer’s phone screen. The key to letting these facets improve your business is utilizing them authentically. Gone are the days of faceless corporations; today’s consumers crave genuine interactions with brands, which is simpler than you think. By humanizing your company’s online presence, you can create meaningful connections with your audience. It takes creativity and originality.

An excellent example is the skincare and beauty brand “Glossier.” Part of the brand’s rise to fame was because it used real people and customers in its advertisements to showcase its products. They didn’t use beauty models with professional lighting or airbrushed technology like many competitors in the industry. This image gave them the reputation of being “real and down to earth,” making them more authentic, likable, and profitable. Other forms of “realness” can include sharing behind-the-scenes content or even humorous posts to allow audiences to feel like they have a closer affiliation with the brand.

Influencer Marketing

One of the most significant developments in the social media marketing landscape has been the rise of influencer partnerships. These collaborations leverage the trust and following that influencers have already built with their audiences. It’s a modern form of word-of-mouth marketing. Consumers grow to trust influencers like their friends- they believe their testimonies. Influencer marketing can take many forms, from sponsored posts to product reviews or long-term brand ambassadorships. The key is to find influencers whose values and audience align with your brand. These partnerships can significantly boost brand awareness and credibility and drive direct sales when done right.

An example would be an influencer, Sarah, who gives her followers a unique discount code, “SARAHFIT20,” for 20% off their first FitFlex purchase. Sarah’s posts reach 400,000 followers, and 40,000 users visit FitFlex’s website using Sarah’s custom link. 4,000 people use the discount code to make a purchase. If the average order value is $80, the total sales generated is $320,000. This partnership drives immediate sales and increases brand awareness and credibility for FitFlex among Sarah’s engaged fitness-focused audience. New customers unlocked.

In contrast, the 2023 collaboration of transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and Bud Light proved a different outcome regarding influencer partnerships. This collaboration angered the far-right conservatives so much that they decided to boycott the brand. Two weeks later, their sales were down by 17%. Their parent company (BUD) fell 20% because of investor fears. To anticipate such outcomes, Wall Street investors and analysts must monitor successful and problematic trends.

Refining Product Development

Valuable insights can be gained from social media and directly inform your product development process. Customer feedback, both positive and negative, highlights areas for improvement and can inspire new features. Some companies even use social media polls or surveys to gauge interest in potential new products before committing to full-scale development.

This can be super helpful in creating products that better meet customer needs and foster a sense of involvement among your audience. Many consumers now prefer to reach out to brands via social media rather than traditional channels like phone or email. When customers feel their voices are heard and valued, it strengthens their connection to your brand. Listen to them; social media makes it easy.

However, careful management is required to address potentially harmful situations in a public setting. By handling customer service issues effectively on social media, you can turn potentially harmful experiences into positive ones, demonstrating your company’s responsiveness and dedication to customer care. Doing this will give your brand a great look and help it gain respect.

Recruitment and Employer Branding

Beyond customer-facing applications, social media is crucial in recruitment and employer branding. Platforms like LinkedIn are obvious choices for professional networking and job postings, but even more casual platforms can be leveraged to showcase your company culture and attract top talent.

By sharing content that highlights your workplace environment, employee success stories, and company values, you will build a strong employer brand that attracts like-minded individuals to your organization.

Measuring ROI and Performance

One of the most significant advantages of social media marketing is the ability to measure and analyze performance in real-time. Unlike traditional marketing channels, social media provides detailed metrics on engagement, reach, conversions, and more.

This wealth of data allows businesses to continuously refine their strategies, allocate resources more effectively, and demonstrate the ROI of their social media efforts. By setting clear goals and KPIs, you can track your progress and make data-driven decisions to improve your social media performance over time.

Bright Age

Partnering with a dedicated agency like Bright Age Creative can make a significant difference. With our specialized expertise and up-to-date knowledge of platform algorithms, trends, and best practices, Bright Age can help businesses harness social media’s full potential.

From developing a comprehensive social media strategy tailored to your unique business goals to creating engaging content, managing influencer partnerships, and analyzing performance metrics, Bright Age offers the tools and insights needed to elevate your social media presence. Our team can help you cut through the noise, reach your target audience more effectively, and translate social media engagement into tangible business results.

How to Personalize Social Media Marketing for Your Tailored Audience

Although customer service has traditionally been associated with in-person encounters, such as the checkout line or the tire shop, it has now moved to the digital realm. Brands must now excel in online customer service, emphasizing punctuality with responses within the hour and crafting unique replies for each consumer query.

personalized social media marketing - laptop

Social media provides many opportunities to personalize advertised content to consumers. The key is to tap into this in a way that appeals to a specific audience. Ultimately, consumers will gravitate towards brands that demonstrate genuine connection and care for their needs and preferences. Addressing their unique needs through personalized engagement and content is the first step in achieving a genuine connection to your audience.

Customers want to be heard. Most consumers agree that brands are most memorable when attentive and responding to customers. However, not just any response will cut it. Consumers appreciate any extra measures brands take to enhance their experience. To deliver a truly exceptional customer experience, dig deeper to understand your audience’s needs and preferences. Get your customer insights and data ducks in a row. Leave room for testing new ideas and iterating. These are crucial steps toward nurturing your brand’s competitive edge and crafting a seamless, cohesive journey that delights your audience at every touchpoint.

As revealed in Salesforce’s in-depth State of the Connected Consumer study, 73% of consumers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations. Learning more about your target audience, such as what they like on social media, their interests, content preferences, who they follow, and what stage of the buying process they’re in, will all help create a personalized social media marketing strategy.

Starbucks is a leader in creating a personalized marketing strategy for its costumers. If someone continuously orders a caramel macchiato, there will be a personalized deal for them on their Starbucks app: “Order this drink 5 times by 7/1 and get your 6th one free.” To promote these personalized offers even further, Starbucks will share deals on their social channels and create targeted ad campaigns to entice repeat customers. This concept also has great delivery; users get notifications from their Starbucks app that mimic a text from a friend or a social media notification. Their Instagram is the same way: casual and conversational, giving it a personal feel.

personalized social media marketing - Starbacks

To reach younger generations, te use f relevant and trendy copywriting is extremely valuable. This doesn’t mean throwing in text acronyms like ‘LOL’ or ‘OMG.’ Leaning into specific and niche formats of trending jokes and bits can be used for personalized social media marketing. Liquid I.V. utilizes this popular formula often, one instagram post states, “We’re Liquid I.V. OF COURSE we’re going to make you pee every 30 minutes.” This sentence makes sense to all viewers, even if they do not get the joke. However, the post is ten times cleverer and more relevant to those who are “in the know” about this trend on TikTok. Regardless of the consumer’s knowledge, it still portrays a clear message of what their product does casually and humorously. However, for the younger viewers who get the joke, this post will leave them feeling more connected to the brand and more likely to think about it again the next time they see this format of a joke/meme on their feed.

Vital Protein targets a specific audience and age group quite literally. One Instagram post states, “If you’ve ever been personally victimized by another generation calling you out for wearing your ankle socks proudly, please raise your hand. Our millennial (and over) support group is officially open in the comments section below. #collagen #anklesocks #millennials #genz #millennial #genx.” This explicitly calls out a specific group of people, so they are guaranteed to relate and connect with the content and maybe even share it with a friend.

personalized social media marketing

Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram offer powerful tools for businesses to tailor ads based on factors like user interests and online behavior. Many people, especially the younger generation, are inclined to scroll on social media between daily tasks. A magazine may not always be accessible, but social media on their phone is. As we know, Instagram is used by many folks in various places, such as waiting rooms, bus stops, or kitchens, waiting for coffee to finish brewing. This provides an ample amount of time to reach target audiences. By crafting content that speaks directly to your niche audience and delivering it straight to their content feeds, you can build experiences that resonate and stick with each user. Bright Age social media tailors elements such as visuals and copywriting to appeal to our audience. All text is intentional and personalized to connect to our audience and make a lasting impact.

While text is crucial, visual appeal is arguably just as important. Social media and digital content must appear as something people are inclined to click. Well-organized, concise, attention-grabbing, and aesthetically pleasing. Bright Age employs very organized, accessible designs on our website and social media to ensure that clients and potential clients quickly find their needs. “Our services” is listed, followed by each service we offer with a clever symbol and a concise description. You can increase engagement and audience retention by better understanding how to personalize your content to your viewers.

By tailoring content to your viewers’ interests and preferences and keeping their experience on your site easy and pleasurable, you’re more likely to capture and maintain their attention. It can be difficult to establish how to appeal to a niche target audience, but partnering with a specialized social media agency such as BrightAge can enhance your brand’s ability to create targeted, personalized marketing campaigns for your specific audience demographic.

The Power of Meme Marketing: Tapping into Viral Content for Brand Awareness

In the modern digital landscape, capturing your audience’s attention can be quite a challenge. Given the number of brands vying for the same eyeballs, one has to get creative and understand what resonates with their target audience. One of the power tools at your disposal is meme marketing. This form of social media marketing uses viral memes to boost brand awareness and engagement.

What is Meme Marketing?

Memes can be images, videos, or text pieces, often paired with a witty caption. Their power as a marketing tool is their shareability. If a meme resonates with a viewer, they are eager to share it, dramatically improving its reach and impressions.

The Appeal of Memes

One of the biggest appeals of memes is their relatability. Such relatability can create a connection between the viewer and the content, making viewers more likely to engage with the meme.

Memes also utilize humor. Laughter is a universal language. A well-crafted meme can provoke a chuckle and make the content more memorable and enjoyable. This way, the meme can enhance your brand’s value and recognition.

Memes carry cultural relevance. They easily tap into current events, trends, and pop culture. Utilizing memes signifies the brand’s alignment with modern culture, making it more appealing towards the younger audience.

The highly shareable nature of memes allow virality. Your branded meme can spread around the online community quickly. Hence, when a meme starts circulating after you post it, others see it and begin adapting and sharing it. As a result, your brand gets free advertising and and word-of-mouth, which are forms of viral marketing.

Strategies for Effective Meme Marketing

1. Know Your Audience: To create memes that resonate, you need to understand your target audience’s interests, sense of humor, and the type of content they consume. This knowledge and customer-centric approach will guide your meme creation process.

2. Stay Updated: The world of memes is fast-paced. What’s funny today might be outdated tomorrow. Keeping up with the latest trends and cultural moments is crucial for maintaining relevance.

3. Balance Branding and Humor: While it’s important to integrate your brand into memes, avoid being overly promotional. The primary appeal of memes is their humor and relatability. Subtlety is key.

4. Engage with User-Generated Content: Encourage your audience to create and share their own memes related to your brand. User-generated content not only increases engagement but also provides authentic and diverse perspectives on your brand.

5. Leverage Meme Templates: Popular meme templates can provide a familiar framework that audiences recognize and appreciate. Adding your brand’s twist to these templates can make your content both relatable and distinctive.

Success Stories in Meme Marketing

Several brands have successfully pulled off meme marketing as a way to boost their online visibility and engagement. Here are some examples:

1. Golden Girls: One of Bright Age’s clients, Golden Girls, saw a significant boost in engagement when our marketing team participated in the recent “If We Won the Lottery…” trend. We shared a fun, lighthearted post on their official Instagram page, which captivated the audience and sparked lively interaction.

2. Duolingo: The popular language-learning app is known to have a witty and often bold social media presence, primarily using video memes to engage with their audience and stay relevant in online conversations. This strategy has garnered them over 15 million total followers across platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and X, with one of their most famous videos amassing over 60 million views.

3. Barbie: The $1.5 billion box office film achieved remarkable marketing success through an innovative use of memes. The marketing team launched an interactive selfie generator on their official website. This unique feature allowed the film’s fans to create personalized Barbie-style images and captions. This was a creative element that sparked a lot of excitement and anticipation for the film.

4. Genuine Fred: Recently gaining traction, the home decor brand has cleverly capitalized on the #roommatetrend on TikTok to showcase their unique and whimsical products, which they later turned into a signature series. This subtle and humorous approach effectively engages viewers, who often don’t realize it’s an ad at first, making the campaign all the more impactful.

What to Consider Before Meme Marketing

Though Meme marketing can be highly effective such as other forms of marketing, it isn’t easy and comes with a slew of potential drawbacks. Memes can be unpredictable, and what may work for one company may not work for you at the next. In addition, Meme marketing that goes wrong is vulnerable to backlash, particularly if the content is perceived as insensitive or out of touch.

How Can a Social Media Agency Help?

It takes time, learning, and effort to stay current with the most popular memes while creating the most engaging content, thus meme marketing is where a social media agency may be a valuable ally for several reasons:

1. Expertise: Agencies employ teams of experts who are already familiar with social media creation and the most recent online trends. They have trained professionals who can readily craft content that resonates with your target audience.

2. Consistency: In terms of engagement, it is critical to ensure that the brand maintains social media consistency. Agencies can assist in steadily delivering relevant and engaging content with a schedule designed just for you.

3. Analytics: Marketing is about trial and error. Understanding what works and what doesn’t is key to defining your strategy. Agencies can provide insights and analytics to help measure the success of your meme marketing campaigns.

4. Crisis Management: In the fast-paced world of social media, things can go wrong quickly. Agencies are equipped to handle any backlash or negative feedback, ensuring that your brand’s reputation remains intact through online reputation management.

Conclusion

Meme marketing has displayed a surge in popularity; it is a cost-effective way to market to a broader online demographic. However, it being a highly responsive discipline, success with meme marketing requires both training and flexibility. Utilize meme culture to brighten up your online content and increase your brand’s digital engagement.

If you are unfamiliar with effective meme use, a social media agency like Bright Age may be an excellent option to help your brand navigate the dynamic landscape of meme culture, ensuring that your content remains relevant, fresh, and impactful.

How a Competitive Analysis Can Improve Your Brand’s Social Media

A brand’s social media marketing strategy can be crucial to raising awareness for a new product or service. While we may think about social media strategies as a way to illustrate the brand via social media platforms and track engagements and impressions, brands can take a step further and look outside their brand by performing a competitive analysis. Performing a competitive analysis on brands you may be competing against is extremely important and beneficial, and throughout, we will dive into why!

social media for brands

What is a Competitive Analysis? 

A competitive analysis can be defined as conducting a research report where you identify your brand’s competitors within your industry, allowing your brand to place where they stand among competitors and in the industry. Additionally, a competitive analysis allows for a deeper understanding of competitors’ marketing strategies and helps your brand identify its strengths and weaknesses among competitors. By knowing your competitors, you can monitor which strategies are successful for them, be aware of new products that may be launched, monitor industry-wide trends, and ultimately bridge the gap between current and potential customers and your brand. 

How to Make a Competitive Analysis and Tailored Social Media Marketing?

The first and most significant step in creating a competitive analysis report is performing thorough research to understand your brand’s competitors. Brands must identify both their direct and indirect competitors: direct competitors can be accredited to companies that have a similar product or service and a similar target audience to you, and indirect can be attributed to companies that do not offer the same product or service as your brand but have a similar target audience. It is crucial to be conscious of where your brand stands in the market and how consumers view you and your competitors. One way to discover competitors can be through a Google search using keywords you may use to describe your brand. 

Once you know who your competitors are, it is essential to perform market research on competing brands. Your brand will acquire information about the company, target audiences, products, and strategies from this market research. While understanding the company, looking at its social media marketing strategies and content creation is also precious. For example, look at which social media platforms they use. Are they active on Instagram, X, and Facebook, or just Instagram? What is their tone of voice on these platforms, and how do they interact with their target audience? Are they more casual or formal? Do they run contests and giveaways, what keywords do they use, how frequently and consistently do they post, and what are they posting? Social media for brands is a vital piece in marketing products or services, so by studying their strategies you can see their success in connecting with target audiences and growing their brand on social media. 

A competitive analysis will be highly informational and beneficial for your brand. It not only allows you to see the potential holes in your marketing strategy, but you can also see what is successful for your brand compared to others. You can gain additional valuable information and adjust or improve your social media strategies by looking at fellow social media and content strategies.

social media for brands

How to Monitor Competitors? 

To see how you are performing among competitors, brands need to be able to monitor how successful your brands and competitor’s current strategies are. Various social media analytics and reporting tools can make this data accessible. 

One helpful tool that brands can use is Hootsuite. Hootsuite offers various services that allow you to compare your brand’s data to those of competitors or the industry. For example, Hootsuite provides a tool that will enable you to create a competitor watchlist to monitor differences in audience growth, published posts, total engagement, and more. If you have a list of competitors, this tool is handy when comparing your social media marketing strategies. If you do not have a list of your competitors or want to see how your brand compares to the industry, you can monitor metrics on platforms such as Facebook, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram. Hootsuite is a great tool to track, compare, and improve social media for brands.

Another valuable tool to use is Sprout Social. Sprout Social offers a competitive analysis tool that allows you to add competitors to compare your data. This tool can monitor data on X, Instagram, Facebook, etc… This service will enable you to see how many times your brand posts compared to competitors, engagement rates, and audience growth. Sprout Social has various other features crucial in monitoring how successful your brand’s social media marketing strategy is compared to competitors. 

It is no secret that social media for brands can be a significant factor in marketing a new product, creating connections with target audiences, and inherently growing your brand. By performing a competitive analysis, brands generate precious information that can permit them to improve their social media marketing strategies. When you want to perform a competitive analysis and need help with market research or content creation, remember that Bright Age is here to help! 

Why Your Brand Needs to Market on LinkedIn

When it comes to social media marketing LinkedIn has become an extremely powerful tool for businesses and individuals to utilize to connect in a way that promotes networking and marketing that no other platform on the market does today.  Globally, LinkedIn has 1 billion active users and this number is growing by the minute.  Companies have found LinkedIn to be an incredible resource for getting to know and connect with brands, and for that reason, it is so important that your brand markets itself on this platform.  

LinkedIn logo used to describe LinkedIn marketing tactics and strategies.

Why LinkedIn is so Important for Businesses 

LinkedIn is nearly 22 years old and with the platform’s growth in these last two decades, its impact on the business world has been huge.  In fact, LinkedIn is used by 80% of B2B marketers today.  Because it has become such a strong outlet for businesses to network with one another and promote their brand through content creation and interactivity, not utilizing LinkedIn’s benefits would set you behind other competitors in your industry.  LinkedIn is also the number one most trusted platform by brands, making it essential for businesses to use to increase their market value.  

The exposure that LinkedIn marketing can give your brand is massive.  When you have connections with people, and comment, like, or repost their posts, all of your followers will also see it even if they don’t follow that initial connection.  That is what makes LinkedIn so powerful when it comes to its ability to connect with other businesses or brands. You can see this in a post by Parex.  When someone comments on Parex’s post, all of the commenters’ connections will also see this Parex post.  This is an incredibly beneficial feature that can help brands.

Parex USA LinkedIn post example to show LinkedIn marketing and content creation by brands.

How to Market on LinkedIn

Demographics

For LinkedIn marketing, a brand needs to understand the demographics of those who are active on LinkedIn to know how to properly market their product.  60% of LinkedIn users fall between the age range of 25 and 34.  When your brand decides which specific marketing strategies to use to promote a product, this is something important to keep in mind to ensure your marketing to the correct audience.  

Two business people looking at LinkedIn on a laptop showing example of LinkedIn marketing.

Targeting on LinkedIn

When it comes to LinkedIn marketing and finding your target audience, it’s important to keep in mind that until you know exactly what audience you are trying to reach, keeping targeting tactics broad is your best bet.  There are so many different ways to target your audience on this platform: by country, job title, seniority, company, industry size, etc. It is imperative that for a business to market its brand successfully, they take advantage of the opportunities LinkedIn offers to aid in its marketing strategies.  

Unique Features

One of the features LinkedIn offers that can be extremely useful for marketers to use is their campaign manager account.  By creating a campaign manager account, marketers can easily create ads and see how they are doing after being posted on the platform. Users can also opt into LinkedIn Premium, which shows even more insights and analytics that can be useful when marketing your brand.  Here is an example of what Premium can show you using a company profile we all know and love, Shark Tank. 

Shark Tank ABC LinkedIn screenshot showing LinkedIn marketing and premium features.

LinkedIn can offer lots of benefits to your brand. The mere exposure that this platform can give to your brand is enough to convince anyone that it’s an essential part of successful branding for marketers.  On top of that, its ability to provide connections, create networking opportunities, and filter demographics to help you promote your advertisements, is something that you cannot find on any other platform.

The Importance of Social Media Brand Awareness

When thinking about your favorite brands, what comes to mind? Most likely their products and services but also the personality they have curated. These factors tie into creating social media brand awareness which can be thought of as consumers’ ability to recognize specific brands on social media. Several factors go into creating and increasing brand awareness, and it is crucial to differentiate your brand from others.

What is Social Media Brand Awareness and Why is it Important?

At its core, brand awareness is the idea that consumers are familiar with the products and services your brand offers. Social media brand awareness refers to raising brand awareness through social media platforms which has become an increasingly popular strategy. For example, through the use of social media, you can reach different target audiences through different social media platforms. Social media brand awareness is vital and allows brands to develop relationships with potential customers and strengthen relationships with existing customers.

How to Develop and Increase Social Media Brand Awareness?

There are several ways to develop social media brand awareness, and it comes back to building a distinct and identifiable brand. Various factors play into having a recognizable brand which ranges from your brand personality to aesthetics and values. Starting with personality, it is important to look at what you are posting and how you are interacting with customers on social media pages. Are you formal or more casual when talking with customers? Customers enjoy unique and original content where they feel they are interacting with a person. Additionally, how you respond to and take care of customers if they are not satisfied with your product can impact your brand’s reputation.

Secondly, your brand’s aesthetic will help you be more identifiable. Having a consistent color scheme and style across various platforms will allow consumers to know and understand your brand better. If your website has a minimalist website, how are you portraying that identity on your Instagram and TikTok? Content between platforms will vary, but showing consistency is beneficial.

Additionally, showcasing your brand values can humanize your brand. Displaying brand values allows customers to build a sense of trust and loyalty with the brand and differentiate it from others. For example, if your brand is passionate about being an environmentally friendly brand how are you showing your customers that they can trust you? Maybe you make a TikTok showing the sustainable process of how you make your product. By knowing your brand, you can tailor your social media marketing strategy and content creation to be the most authentic it can be to your brand. Having an understanding of your brand and displaying that on social media platforms is an important first step in creating brand awareness.

Similar to displaying your brand values, another way to distinguish your brand from others is having a narrative. A narrative allows you to personalize and humanize your brand to your audiences. There are various narratives you can tell like the origin of the brand itself and the person behind it. Having a narrative is something that you can tie into your marketing strategy, and customers can see a more human side of your brand, increasing brand loyalty and distinguishing your brand from others. 

A third way to increase brand awareness is through contests and giveaways. Brands can run social media contests where they have users either tag a couple of friends in the comments or repost the contest post to their story. This is extremely beneficial in developing brand awareness as customers may expose their friends or followers to the brand. While it does require brands to give away something for free, the exposure they can generate from their audiences is greatly beneficial. 

You can also look outside just your brand when looking to gain awareness. Brands can partner with each other and perform co-branding or co-marketing. Collaborating with other brands allows your brand to be introduced to other audiences you may not be reaching. If you do not want to collaborate with another brand, working with social media creators or influencers is another great way to create brand awareness on social media as they can promote your product to their followers.

How to Track Social Media Brand Awareness? 

It is important to be aware of how your current tactics are working to increase your social media brand awareness, and luckily there are several ways to collect valuable information. 

Sentiment Analysis is one tool on Sproutsocial where you track customers’ comments and feedback. Customer sentiment analysis allows you to see how customers and people are feeling about your brand, whether it be positive or negative. With this data, you can track sentiment trends where brands can be proactive if there is consistently negative sentiment.

Sproutsocial also offers tools that allow you to monitor your Share of Voice (SOV). Share of Voice looks at how much your brand is being talked about in its respective market and where you stand among other brands. From the data, you can monitor how frequently and where your brand is mentioned.

One more valuable tool that Sproutsocial offers for tracking social media brand awareness is monitoring social media engagement. By looking at what and how users are interacting with brands, you can see which platforms they are having the most engagement on and see which methods are working for them.

One last valuable tool is Google Trends. Google Trends allows you to track how much your brand is being looked up across specific amounts of time and locations. Not only can you monitor your own brand’s data, but also perform research on competitors as well.

Social media brand awareness is crucial in being recognized and building loyalty with customers. Bright Age can help your brand generate social brand awareness whether it’s through branding itself, running a contest or giveaway, or altering your strategy to raise more awareness. Social media brand awareness is extremely valuable to brands and being effective in strategies allows your brand to reach as many customers as you can. 

Digital Marketing Trends to Watch Out for in 2024

As we stand on the brink of a new year, the ever-evolving trends of digital marketing continue to shape the way brands connect with their audiences. Going into 2024, we’re already seeing a shift online as we move to Web 3.0.

At Bright Age, we are eager to explore the upcoming trends that we believe will redefine the way businesses engage with their customers and elevate their online presence. Here are some trends to be on the lookout for:

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Emerging Platforms and Video Content Dominance

Video content has been on the rise for several years. In 2024, we predict it will continue to dominate the digital marketing space. Short-clip videos, live streams, and interactive video content will be key components of successful marketing campaigns. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels featuring User-Generated Content (UGC) will be essential for reaching younger audiences, while long-form video content on platforms like YouTube will remain crucial. For many users, these platforms have even taken over as a search engine. 

According to one study by the Pew Research Center, nearly 40% of Gen Z use TikTok more than Google for their online searches. This goes to show just how important creating a presence on these platforms is in increasing your brand presence for the new generation. Check out Dancing With the Stars trending video content on TikTok for inspiration.

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Taking on a Privacy-First Approach 

As concerns about data privacy have continued to grow, we will need to adapt to a privacy-first approach. Personalized advertising will need to adapt to a new expectation for user privacy going forward and the need to navigate the evolving landscape of privacy regulations and find innovative ways to deliver targeted content while respecting user privacy preferences will be important in 2024 and beyond. 

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AI and Machine Learning 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have been pivotal in reshaping digital marketing strategies. In 2024, their influence is set to intensify. From personalized customer experiences to predictive analytics, AI will play a crucial role in understanding user behavior and tailoring marketing efforts accordingly. 

Machine Learning algorithms will enable us to make data-driven decisions, optimizing campaigns in real-time and enhancing overall efficiency. For more information on integrating AI into your business strategy, refer to our post to help build your marketing plan. 

How We Can Help 

As we step into 2024, the digital marketing landscape is booming with opportunities for those ready to embrace these new trends. New Platforms, video content, privacy considerations, and AI will be crucial in the continuation of the industry in the future.

At Bright Age, our commitment is to stay at the forefront of these ever-evolving trends in digital marketing. We’re here to help you navigate the digital landscape and unlock new avenues for success to grow your business. Our services can help you stay on track with these trends with ease in 2024.

Content Creation for Social Media Entertainment

Social media has changed the way in which we consume entertainment in the past decade. Whether it be through Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or even Threads, consumers approach social media content creation in an entirely new way. Additionally, algorithms are at the forefront of controlling what we see and don’t see on search and explore pages, so understanding and implementing new strategies is important to gain traction and stay relevant as a brand.

There are a variety of ways in which brands can stay on top of the algorithm and cater towards the new and ever-changing entertainment sphere. Here are some ways to create more engaging social content that will speak to your customers!

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  1. Finding your voice 

As a brand, it is important to understand how you want to appear and who you want to market yourself as to consumers. There are millions of brands and other companies out there with similar products and ideas, so it is necessary to grab the attention of customers and win them over with your personality. With that in mind, you can craft media posts that give a glimpse into what your brand stands for and create a persona you want people to perceive you as. 

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2. Stay Up to Date

Trends eb and flow and social media is always moving onto the newest and latest topics. Taking notice of popular sounds on TikTok and trending hashtags is a great way to stay on the forefront of the algorithm and have customers feel like you understand their interest and humor. 

Demographics are just as important as trends. Watching and creating up-to-date demographic reports on your customers is vital to create content that connects with them. If your target audience is primarily Gen Z, using trending TikTok sounds is an easy implementation strategy to market toward that generation.  

Lastly, staying up to date on competitors is critical. Competitors are the most helpful way in seeing if their marketing strategy is appealing to their audience. If it is, then implementing some of those strategies can aid in shaping your social content.

3. Videos, videos, and more videos

Screen time is at an all time high in 2023. Although screen time is up, people have adapted a short attention span with the millions of social media posts constantly circulating around them. This means that creating content that is engaging for consumers to stop and look at is necessary. Videos in the format of TikToks and Instagram Reels are the most engaging form of content that keeps consumers from scrolling. People enjoy using social media to relax and watching a video is far less energy than reading up on a long caption. With this in mind, utilizing relaxing audios over videos can keep consumers watching for more than a few seconds! 

4. Be a human, not a robot

People just want to feel understood and that a brand gets them. Being relatable is the most important factor in social media content creation. It is easy to see through a facade. No one is at their best 100% of the time. Some ways to humanize your content are showing what goes on behind the scenes or what a typical work day can look like. A great example for a makeup brand could be a video of what your everyday two step makeup routine is because realistically no one has time to do full-glam everyday!

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5. Utilize the world around us

The last way in which to create content for social media entertainment is through utilizing the world around us. There are so many national holidays and different events going on throughout the world, allowing brands to tap into a new market and gain access to a new audience. For example, with the Women’s World Cup going on, you could create content geared towards the world of soccer and focus on popular players.

Social media content creation is an important topic for brands to understand in this day and age. The way in which we engage is social media entertainment has shifted and to flourish within this shift, staying on top of the trends, algorithm, and the newest marketing strategies is how one  can succeed. There is no telling where social media will go in the future, but for now, we must recognize the culture we live in and utilize the tools at hand!