Last Tuesday, Tim Bojanowski spoke at AIGA Baltimore’s monthly Blend. Tim is the leading adviser and principal of Zest Social Media Solutions and to him and his team, brands concentrating only on increasing their number of followers are sweating the small stuff.
He told us that online consumers are looking for information and that social media is as crucial to their search as Google. Brands that take of advantage of providing free information through their social media channels capitalize on an opportunity to build what he calls a “tribe.”
“A tribe of loyal followers is more likely to comment on, share, and read posts,” said Tim, “Each follower within the tribe subsequently possesses a higher potential to convert.”
To brands interested in building tribes over a massive following, Tim advises them to use storytelling. He said, “The best narratives follow a series of causality surrounding the brand’s niche in the market. They say, ‘I am good at these things, here’s how I do them and here’s why.’ Taking 20 minutes to create a post that tells a story about something your brand created will go farther to increase your social equity. More than relying on the grumpy cat.”
Joshua Uzzell is a Baltimore-based graphic artist who provides illustrative branding, web design and development services. Follow him @joshuzzell.