If I were starting up a brand today, and looking at all of the different marketing channels available to me, social media would be up there. I am biased, I’ve worked in the industry for nearly ten years.

Unfortunately, a large percentage of us hover on social platforms for a large chunk of our day, whether you are a poster, a commenter, a scroller, or a saver – you are using a channel somewhere. And if you are someone who does not have social, I applaud you because they are quite literally designed to suck you in. Hello Black Mirror.

So, you know everyones going to be there, but now it is time to tap into the attention economy, getting in front of an audience. But, the caveat is, it’s not even your competitors your competiting with on social, its other brands, its influencers, its creators, its bots, its even a persons friends and family.

Overwhelming, right? Trying to stand out in the sea of everyone online. Makes my heart race just thinking about it.

Here are the first questions I would ask before you leap into social:

Do you inherently know yourself as a brand, do you have a clear brand personality, goal and design?

Who is your audience? Not age range, I want personality, shopping habits, favourite brands, and their hobbies.

Once you have clarified the above, combine the two. Meet your audience where they live on social by knowing exactly who they are and who they follow, and then start showing up.

You’re selling nail polish? Start commenting on nail trend videos.

You’re selling suncream? Find the holiday recommendation content and start interacting.

Once you know your brand and your audience inside out, showing up in the right places starts to feel obvious. In some ways, you start to act like your audience. But knowing where to show up is only part of the battle, next, you need to know what to say, how to say it and where to say it. And that’s where strategy comes in.