Having a social media strategy prepared, and subsequently put into action, will help to ensure that a business or brand’s social media efforts are cohesive with their business goals and marketing objectives. Trying to establish a brand on social media with no game plan is counterproductive and leaves little to no opportunity for exposure, growth, consistency, and a business’s overall success online.
Below I have selected three businesses/brands – two of which have a very successful online presence and are reflections of an in-depth social media strategy in action; the third, an organization that needs to adopt (or at least consider) a more refined social media strategy.
Memorable for a brand with no name
One of the more successful/social media-savvy organizations that I’ve chosen to highlight is Loblaw’s No Name brand. I’ve followed the No Name brand on Twitter for a couple of years, and as long as they remain consistent in their approach, I will remain a loyal follower and supporter of the brand. Here’s why:
- Their branding is cohesive, simplistic, and immediately recognizable – black font on a yellow background, lowercase sentencing, and a single font
- They effectively demonstrate how affordable their products are and why consumers should purchase their products
- They’re concise in their messaging. In a nutshell, they convey, “here’s the product. Here’s what it does. This is why you need it. We’re affordable, and you like saving money.”
- Their content is humourous/cheeky, which is memorable to the consumer, and this approach is consistent across all of their posts
#NoDigitalDistortion by Dove
As part of Dove’s mission to build confidence, celebrate authenticity, and boost the self-esteem of girls/women of all ages, Dove launched their #NoDigitalDistortion social media campaign in their efforts to create a more inclusive definition of beauty and to mitigate the pressures of perfection on social media with the use of filters and image-editing apps on selfies. Here’s why the campaign is successful:
- They’ve created a campaign-specific hashtag that allows for greater reach, exposure, and opens the floor to conversations and sharing across all of their platforms (for example, social media users are using TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter to post selfies or videos of their natural/authentic selves, using the hashtag, and often accompanied by words of positivity and encouragement)
- Dove is acknowledging the harmful impact of social media and supporting a more body-positive, inclusive, confident space – without needing to advertise any specific product. Their content is not a sales pitch by any means, but rather, authentic in their efforts to address a very real issue in a digital-first era
- Their outreach efforts consist of multiple platforms (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok)
- They provide a multitude of resources for youth and parents (i.e.: how to create a more positive social media feed, having the “selfie talk”)
- Their campaign features “real” women of different demographics, as well as body-positive celebrities like Lizzo
- Call-to-action: they ask people to take the pledge (on their website) to lead by example and post more unretouched photos online, have conversations with youth about social media and selfies, and to advocate for more inclusion as we define beauty online
GoodFood, UnderwhelmingOnlinePresence
On the contrary, one organization that could benefit from having a more widespread social media strategy is GoodFood, a meal delivery subscription service in Canada.
After glancing at their social media channels – Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook – I’ve come to find that they lack consistency across their platforms. Their branding and social media efforts are heavily focused on Instagram and Facebook (which, to be fair, might be a decent approach if this is where their target audience resides); however, my perception of a brand is affected when they fail to maintain the same presence and efforts across all platforms.
On Twitter in particular, it seems as though GoodFood uses the platform as a customer service hub (responding to complaints from customers) or as a space to gloat about their service by retweeting testimonials, rather than being informative about how their service works and communicating their efforts to enhance the customer’s experience. People want to know why a service is worth the praise, what problem the business/brand is solving for them, and what makes GoodFood unique and the optimal choice compared to its competitors (i.e.: Hello Fresh), etc. and these questions are only being answered or addressed on Instagram and Facebook, at a glance.
In addition, there is a lack of frequency in their posts. For example, GoodFood’s last two tweets were issued on March 25th and January 25th, which is simply not enough content to establish and sustain a loyal following. Twitter is used as a space to provide updates in real-time; a space for individuals to go when they want information and they want it now. Being inactive makes the company look disengaged and out of the loop.
Next steps…
- GoodFood should have a “one size fits all” approach to their content – whatever messaging is published on one platform, such as Instagram, should also be published on Facebook and Twitter (perhaps with modifications tailored to specific platforms)
- More visuals – on Facebook and Instagram in particular, we see alot of bright colours, catchy graphics, GIFs, videos, etc. These elements should be maintained/implemented on Twitter as well
- Make use of Twitter and/or reassess the purpose of having an account – posting a tweet every 1-2 months is not effective in social media marketing. Social media is an all-or-nothing tool that must be taken seriously. GoodFood should take advantage of the platform, perhaps reevaluate why they have an account and how else they can use it, or simply not use it at all.
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 
I really enjoyed reading this blog post! You’ve done such a great job using catchy titles and clearly done your research! Keep up the great work, looking forward to reading more.
I grew up on the brand No Name and I can agree, there approach is what keeps their loyal consumers.