In today’s competitive digital landscape, social media has become an indispensable tool for brand growth. For new brands, leveraging social media effectively can mean the difference between obscurity and recognition. Let’s explore some vital statistics, the importance of social media in the marketing mix, and five essential tactics to grow your brand.

Social Media Statistics

• Over 5.22 billion people use social media worldwide (datareportal.com, 2024). That’s almost 65% of the population.
• 90% of social media users follow at least one brand (Sprout Social, 2023).
• Social media drives 16% of all referral traffic to websites (Srout Social, 2024)
• The average user spends 2 hours and 31 minutes on social media daily (DataReportal, 2023).
• Instagram leads in engagement rates, while Facebook remains the most widely used platform with 2.96 billion active users monthly (Meta, 2024).
• TikTok has become the fastest-growing platform, boasting over 1 billion monthly active users and dominating among Gen Z users (Business of Apps, 2024).

These numbers highlight the immense potential of social media in connecting brands with their target audience.

The Importance of Social Media in the Marketing Mix

Social media is more than just a promotional platform; it’s a space where brands can engage with their audience, build trust, and foster loyalty. It complements traditional marketing efforts by:

• Providing direct and instant communication with consumers.
• Offering cost-effective advertising solutions.
• Enabling real-time feedback and engagement.
• Amplifying brand awareness through shareable content.

For new brands, social media provides a level playing field to compete with established players, offering endless opportunities to reach and connect with a global audience.

5 Vital Tactics to Grow Your Brand on Social Media

1. Monitor /Listen to topics, places and hashtags

Understanding what your audience is talking about is crucial for crafting relevant and engaging content. Use tools like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or native platform analytics to monitor trending topics, hashtags, and even geotags.
Pro Tip: Regularly engage with trending hashtags or join conversations about events in your niche to increase visibility and demonstrate your brand’s relevance.

2. Start following relevant profiles or pages

To build a community, you need to be a part of it. Follow industry leaders, complementary businesses, and influencers who resonate with your brand values. This not only increases your exposure but also provides inspiration for your own content strategy. This is a great way to grow a community manually.
Also, by following relevant people, we are sending strong signals to the Instagram algorithm. As a result, Instagram starts giving us more relevant profiles in its explore tab. Following relevant profiles is crucial for our digital advertising targeting, especially if your digital ads team uses your current following and creates lookalike audiences.
Pro Tip: Avoid mass-following. Instead, be selective and engage meaningfully with the profiles you follow.

3. Be Social: like and comment

Social media is not a one-way street. Actively liking, commenting, and sharing content from others fosters relationships and increases your brand’s visibility.
Some hashtags are super relevant to your business, whereas some are more generic, therefore less relevant. How to strategize around them? Let’s take the brand IKEA as an example.
#furniture #home #living are generic, but the brand can still benefit from them, so monitoring, liking, and commenting on certain posts would be beneficial. If the social media team is large enough, why not allocate some sources?
#bedroom #sleep #ikea #ikeasleepeasy are much more relevant, so if the team focuses on monitoring and engaging with these hashtags, they would turn more strangers into visitors and leads.
This is not only an Instagram growth strategy. It also works brilliantly with slight adjustments in Linkedin, Twitter, or Facebook. So why not give it a try?
Pro Tip: Personalize your comments to show genuine interest. Automated or generic responses can come across as insincere. And don’t forget to evaluate frequently you hashtag performance and strategy.

4. Leverage User-Generated Content (UGC) by Reposting

User-generated content is a goldmine for new brands. It’s authentic, relatable, and builds trust among your audience. Encourage your followers to tag your brand in their posts and ask for permission to share their content. UGC often comes to life in three cases or scenarios:

• Customers create content onsite in brick-and-mortar stores: “Love the chicken burger” often paired with a location check-in.
• Customers create content after receiving online goods or services: “Just unboxed my new Thermomix – it’s amazing.”
• Influencers create content to cooperate with you: “Love my new @armani glasses.”

Pro Tip: Create branded hashtags to make it easy for users to share content about your brand. Reward contributors with shoutouts or giveaways.

5. Giveaways & Collaborations with Influencers

Giveaways and lotteries are some of the oldest tricks in the marketing encyclopedia. Followers are usually required to follow and like a post and tag a few friends. This creates a snowball effect and can cause a sharp increase in the following count and engagement rates. That’s why giveaway campaigns turned into a silver bullet for certain brands. Especially for large organizations with a sizeable following, it’s a great way to establish a spectacular organic reach.

Also, with the help of giveaways, prospects get to try out new goods and services. Once they do, they might become a repeat buyer. A great giveaway campaign doesn’t have to take place on your profile. In fact, posting giveaway campaigns at an influencer’s profile can boost campaign performance by storm.

Influencer marketing is also a powerful way to tap into established audiences. Partnering with micro or macro influencers can enhance your brand’s credibility and visibility.

Pro Tip: Choose influencers who align with your brand’s niche and values. Authenticity matters more than follower count. Use platforms like AspireIQ or Upfluence to find the right collaborators.

Conclusion

Social media is a game-changer for new brands looking to establish themselves. By listening to your audience, engaging authentically, and leveraging community-driven tactics like UGC and influencer collaborations, you can build a strong, recognizable presence online. Start implementing these tactics today and watch your brand thrive in the dynamic world of social media.

Which tactic will you try first? Share your thoughts or experiences in the comments below!