The path-to-purchase of today’s world is ever-changing. The role of social media in influencing consumer attitudes and motivations is one of the most important media to increase brand awareness and sales.
The most effective way to cultivate a connection with customers is through authentic storytelling. Lifestyle brands, especially housewares and clothing, need to build a narrative that is compelling to their target audience. The reason that these industries, in particular, need a narrative is that these products are often used to form a customer’s identity, so this authentic storytelling will boost engagement and trust.
5 Tips for Social Media Storytelling
Make Your Audience Your Friend
When speaking to your audience, think of them as your friend. You should think of your brand as a person, who is changing and evolving over time, but still has a bold identity that spans the lengths of time. Be fun and bright with your copy. Understand the tone of your brand to write your copy. Consider the skincare brand, Frank Body, who uses “babes” for their audience nickname; they are able to use innuendo to set the cheeky tone of their brand. More serious brands, like Williams Sonoma, are able to have fun on social media without being too stuffy.
Be Creative with Posts
No matter what your business sells, it should understand the subjects that are celebrated by internal and external stakeholders. If your brand has interests in the environment, celebrate that narrative and challenge your audience to see why it is important. Popular focuses that lifestyle retailers use on social media are health and wellness. You can easily use these less controversial topics to inform your audience in a friendly way and create a soft-selling opportunity for your products.
Build an Experience
If there is an opportunity for your audience to interact with your brand or product, use this to your advantage beyond selling. Allow your audience to become influencers by engaging with your products in stores, at pop-ups, or by sharing reviews on your stories. There is an element of excitement that goes along with interaction, so tell your audience how to engage with your brand. You have an opportunity for your customers to write their own piece of your narrative for you.
Shameless Collaboration
Look for other brands that are adjacent to yours and collaborate. Social media storytelling won’t go very far without a bit of dialogue. If you are selling kitchen accessories, partner with an olive oil or spice company. Skincare brands can collaborate with wellness products. Like-minded collaborators can mutually benefit from creating partnerships and collaborations. You will expand your audience to those who are trusted followers of your partner brand, and you can offer the same to your collaborator. If you work with a distributor or are present in retail space, you might be able to find a connection from their other partnerships and create an offer for both of your brands.
Maintain Consistency
Representing your brand similarly on every platform will set the tone and particular voice of your brand. Take time to understand how that tone can be adjusted for each social media profile while maintaining consistency. This consistency assists your audience in building trust. Trust is an unmistakable asset in business development and customer acquisition. Empower your employees to mirror this brand identity so they can become brand ambassadors or influencers. Every narrative should have the same voice to limit confusion in your social media storytelling strategy.
Social media storytelling can be the most powerful digital marketing tactic. Building trust, engaging your audience, and retaining customers are just a few benefits of these tasks. Contact Ten Touch Creative Agency for a custom social media strategy for your retail brand.
