Sahail Ashraf — September 11, 2017 — September 11, 2017
There’s nothing wrong with being boring. But there is everything wrong with being boring about stuff that you care about.
If you run a company or you have a client with a company that is generally boring, as in having a product or service that isn’t going to wow everyone, it’s no big deal. If it sells, then it’s all good. But when it comes to marketing that brand on social media, you have to put in a little more thinking time.
To give you an example, you can’t make shower curtain fittings sexy, but you can try and make it more palatable as a subject. And you can make the social media conversation about the topic a lot more exciting than you think.
Change your face
Take a quick look at the Facebook banner image, or the Instagram profile that the brand has. Is it the same as it was two months ago? Changing what is shown to the public is one clear way of making sure that you appear more vibrant, exciting, and worth engaging with.
The best place to start is with the imagery and the profiles that you have on social media. Start a campaign of constantly changing these aspects because it just means that you are not the boring brand that people might expect. It’s a great way to kick start excitement in the company again.
Crank up that human feel
Just because your brand doesn’t immediately appear as fun and exciting, it doesn’t mean it has to be faceless. Many brands that have what could be perceived as ‘boring’ products and services make a huge effort to reach out and communicate personally with fans.
This kind of thing is good for any brand, but when you have a brand that isn’t in the limelight because its offerings are everyday and functional, it makes a huge difference when that brand is big on talking to people.
This cannot be neglected. Get out there on social and respond personally to any comments or positive actions that your audience makes. One of the very best examples of this is Wikipedia. It has long been viewed as a ‘conversation’ brand. But it’s not sexy by any means.
Every now and then though, Wikipedia sends out a message to its users asking for charitable donations. Then, as people start to donate, the organisation personally thanks them via social media.
And while you’re at it, get funny
We know, it is not always easy to be funny, especially if you have a very ‘functional’ brand. But there is always a way around this.
You can start by posting the odd funny meme or two. Then, by inviting comments on silly stuff in the office, like for example the naming of a new mascot, you start to open up the brand to humour.
People will see this, register it in their heads, and begin to feel like the brand is actually worth following. You could even focus on the ‘unsexy’ aspects of the products and services. Make fun of these (to a sensible degree) and you are showing more of that all-powerful humanity.
Some brands do this incredibly well. Nandos, for example, know how to make anything funny. This little, innocuous post shows how taking an aspect of what they do and then making it a ‘humour’ thing is actually a lot easier than you may think.
You don’t even have to be this funny. Just by taking a lighthearted look at what you do and then passing on the good vibes to your audience, you are making your brand a little more relatable. All it takes is a few funny observations here and there to develop a real voice.
Your team
Any brand can pull off this next little trick. Let’s say you sell something bland and functional. One of the very best things you can do to make your brand seem worth bothering with and engaging with is to focus on the people behind the name.
Take your team and set up some interviews, for example, chats that really carry across the personality of the team members. Or spend a day in the office just chronicling what happens. It’s easy to do with your phone so there should be no barriers to this type of work.
By focusing on the personalities involved in making your product, you show that the brand is a living, breathing thing. You can pass on some wisdom during the videos, or just a few shots of your madcap team mates (every team has one).
Then send this out on social media so that the audience knows what a great and fun bunch of people you are. Like the previous suggestions in this post, this is about showing your human side. You’re not a faceless brand, and this needs to really be sent out as a clear message.
Essentially, the audience (new or otherwise) needs to see you and your brand as a human place on social. At the very least, focus on your team in photos every once in awhile. You may well find that these posts bring about some considerable engagement.
Caring is sharing
This is a key point. Even though you’re a functional and bland brand (and we mean that in the nicest possible sense) you should be sharing useful and relevant content on all of your social media channels.
It is about being helpful, and it also shows that your brand exists. Even the most functional brands around, or brands with ‘unappealing’ services such as funeral homes, can benefit and bring in engagement with sensible, worthwhile sharing.
Get to know the industry around the brand and start bringing some real content out there. One of the biggest mistakes a brand can make is thinking that no one is interested in their particular industry, and that ‘we’re there when they need us’.
The profile of the brand should be your biggest and most urgent concern. And you build presence and a position in an industry (no matter which industry it is) by sharing as much useful content as possible.
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