Social Media basics : Social Media Handbook Part 1

Every brand aspires to be on social media but most don't know where to start from. So let's start with looking at some social media basics.

Why are you expected to be around?

Firstly, be sure of the reason for your existence on social media. A number of brands want to set up their presence just because everyone else is on social media platforms. It could either be the brand custodians, bosses, peers from other teams, competing brands, etc., that can trigger the need for a brand's existence on social media. However, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts are not ‘websites’ that ‘exist’ exist solely for your brand.

‘Humanize’ your brand

No I am not promoting the Galaxy S3 here :) , existence on social media platforms for any brand requires ‘humanizing’ the brand. The brand is going to start talking to people on these platforms, hence one needs to define the brand characteristics. How is old or young your brand gonna behave? Will it have a lighter or a heavier tone? What kind of conversations will the brand get involved in? Define the complete personality of an individual that the content writer can relate to, while writing content for the page.

Plan your approach

So setting up a Facebook page, a Twitter account or a blog is the easier part, what needs special focus is your consistent long term content strategy. If the brand has decided to venture on social media platforms, they will have to talk about something. Find the right balance between being relevant to the audience and being relevant to the brand products or services. Brands cannot be talking only about their products or services neither they should be ignoring them completely.

Choose the right platforms

It is not necessary to be present on all social media platforms. Choosing the right platforms even amongst the popular ones like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc does help. The approach could also be defined as being more aggressive on certain platforms that the other. It all depends on what your brand's target group is. If the brand wants to focus on an evolved audience, Twitter is the place to be. Facebook definitely is where the masses are, and gives more opportunities to explore engagement opportunities via tabs, flexible media spends options, etc. Generally, most brands start with Facebook and Twitter.

Setting up a platform

A number of new platforms have come up in the last two years. Here is a list of major platforms that are currently used by brands.

Facebook – To start with, getting the creatives right is most important. Design properties of Facebook, the Cover photo (851px by 315 px), the thumbnail (160px by 160px), the app icons (111px by 75px) and tab designs, if any. Use the milestones (843px by 403px) effectively to showcase previous achievements and major events of the brand. Ideally, set up a welcome tab too if you are just starting the page.

Twitter – The Twitter background is the most prominent of the design property available. Ideal dimensions of the design should be 382px on both sides to avoid the design getting overlapped by the timeline. Set up a profile pic, ideally, the brand logo. The designs need to have a seamless look throughout all the platforms and should match the brand’s identity.

Blog setup – Blogs can be most effective form of informative communication, if they are effectively used by the brands. Blogs can be a medium of expressing things about the industry and the brand which cannot not be done on the company websites.

YouTube – YouTube is an important supplement to the brand’s Facebook page, especially if the brand has exclusive video content. TV commercials get a place to centrally reside online on the YouTube channel. Other media partnerships like program sponsorships by the brand also are good fodder for a healthy YouTube channel.

Do share your experience while starting up on social platforms, in the comments section below.

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