Social media kits are becoming a staple in digital marketing packages; and with all their potential benefits, it’s not hard to see why!
What is tough to figure out, though, is why business owners are hesitating to invest in one…
In our fast-paced digital climate of easily-bored audiences, a tailored social media kit is a must. Without one it will be hard to solidify your place as a leader in your market, whatever it may be.
Like a first aid kit for your company’s digital presence, a well-built social media kit will provide everything you need to start, or even reestablish, your brand identity on any social media platform and more!
If used correctly, social media kits can greatly impact your initial consumer perceptions and brand recognition as well as employee pride and customer loyalty. All of these, in turn, increase your site traffic, sales, and overall market influence.
What is a Social Media Kit?
A social media kit is a customized package of marketing materials that are tailored specifically for the social media platforms on which you reside. The content created for these kits individually highlights each of the platform’s best qualities, producing images and interactive content that displays and reacts seamlessly on mobile or web.
Why is something like this necessary?
Well, to fully understand the overall value and potential marketing impact of these digital branding kits you must be able to analyze and appreciate each platform as its own entity. In other words, while all social media platforms tend to fall under the same umbrella of community outreach and consumer influence, each platform intrinsically provides its own marketing benefits for your brand.
This means that in order for your company to fully capitalize on all they have to offer, each social media platform needs to have its own section of the digital marketing plan.
Mixologists Welcome!
Like people, small businesses wear multiple hats. It would be no surprise if your local screen printing company not only makes your company tees, they also sponsor the little league baseball team down the street, donate food to the church by the interstate exit, and hold an annual 5K supporting the town’s no-kill animal shelter.
Businesses like these are common in today’s society and they need to be able to have a greater outreach for their sincere endeavors. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Snapchat each act as their own unique voice box for your small business.
This means that each platform provides the audience the opportunity to see, experience, and receive your content differently in each realm of social media. To take full advantage of these, you must be able to ‘hear’ or recognize your own brand’s voice, personality, or tone within each platform.
For experienced marketing directors and branding strategists, the idea of having a different voice across platforms may sound counterintuitive.
And they are smart to be skeptical.
Mixing brand voices across platforms can send a confusing message to consumers; but, if done correctly, it can become the most authentic interaction with a business or corporation that customers could ask for!
Think of us humans, for example. We are not 2D and we do not use the same tone of voice all day. We change our voices multiple times a day depending on where we are, who we’re talking to, and what we’re doing.
In the moments where we want to be serious or put our best foot forward, we tend to use a more professional tone. Other times, like when we’re just cutting up with friends at home, we use a more playful tone; making jokes and sometimes taking shots at each other.
Most of the time you will hear small business owners wanting their customers to really see them for who they are. They want their customers to witness the passion for their mission and inspire them to want to be a part of it.
Social media platforms provide the foundation for businesses of all sizes to create a presence in their niche and build a following. With that in mind, imagine being able to experience your favorite brands in this unfiltered way. Imagine your customers being able to experience you and your mission in this way!
If authenticity is what we crave from our beloved brands, why do we expect calculated monotone communications from a business run by humans?
Spend Less Time Posting and More Time Toasting!
By simply scrolling through the general newsfeed of each platform you can tell the subtle differences between each platform, or social subculture.
If you choose to scroll through Instagram, for example, the format for their postings is a large image with a small caption. This type of formatting puts more of the audience’s -customer’s- focus on the images and animations rather than the small caption at the bottom. =
Facebook and Twitter, on the other hand, format their posts in a way that puts the emphasis on the words, or captions, while the images tend to hang out down below.
If you’re accustomed to posting on social media platforms already, you’ve noticed that each editing and publishing process is a little different. And each process becomes more involved by the update. Social media kits give you back the time and energy that’s wasted while posting on social media and allow you to use it elsewhere!
Designed with the rules in mind, social media kits provide entrepreneurs the opportunity to post effortlessly without worrying about the accepted sizes, shapes, qualities of each social media platform.
Now, it would be unfair to dismiss the fact that business owners can edit their desired content right on the app itself. Most content types can be manipulated to fit within each social media platform’s required parameters; but why waste all that time? Shifting, cropping, flipping, and enhancing each image…
What if you had 56 pictures to post that day?
Oomph. Heavy.
If you decide to purchase a fillable template set you could be spending your money on something that works like a digital sticker; something that you will still have to apply to all of your own -still currently unedited- content.
And who knows? Your next-door neighbor Bonnie might’ve bought it last week for half the price!
If you want a unique brand experience for your customers, marketing companies that provide custom social media branding kits are the way to go. Working with you one on one, these types of branding or marketing firms customize social media branding kits that will include everything you’ll need for your company’s exclusive branding journey.
What’s Included in a Social Media Marketing Kit?
If you search ‘social media marketing kit’ into Google, you will find many marketing companies offering packages that include everything from branded envelopes and notepads to posting templates and asset management spreadsheets.
What actually comes in your social media marketing kit will depend on the type of business you have, your marketing strategy, and overall budget, of course.
Fillable social media kit templates come in many styles and sizes on sites like Etsy and Pinterest. Themed templates are becoming more popular as they are a one-stop shop for all of your content needs. Professions centered around real estate, sports, cuisine, photography, and technology can all find a template for their daily posting activities.
Current social media kit templates contain a vast array of physical and digital marketing tools. Social media kits commonly include the following items:
– Brand Logo Stickers
– Digital Logo
– General eCommerce Spreadsheets
– Instagram Story Price Lists
– Instagram Post Templates
– Company/Niche Related Image Stickers
– Social Media Headers
Mistakes to Avoid with Social Media Branding Kits
In the grand scheme of things, your branding is one of the most influential pieces of your marketing strategy.
Whether you’re trying to create your own social media branding kit or purchasing one from a branding pro, there are a few things to be watchful of. Avoid the following mistakes and keep your brand’s reputation strong, positive, and purposeful!
Publishing content that is missing vital brand/contact information.
Every time you post it’s an opportunity to highlight your brand and/or potentially gain a customer. With a template kit, you might be distracted and post without having properly edited your images yet. With a custom social media branding kit that won’t happen. You would be able to go into a bank of edited images and just choose which one you like best. Each image will already be enhanced and adorned with your brand.
Not taking advantage of positive feedback.
With the help of online reviews, customers are becoming more vocal than ever about their shopping experiences. Conscious consumerism is on the rise and customers of all niches want to know where their products are coming from and where their money is going. Trust is a driving factor for many consumer purchases today; so much so that a customer’s circle of friends can impact their final purchase selections by 30% or more. As permission permits, companies should take advantage of every opportunity to showcase their happy customer feedback, as well as other positive customer experiences, on their active platforms.
Using images that are pixelated or out of focus.
This usually happens because images files aren’t the correct size or quality for that particular platform. Posting poor-quality images can come across as unprofessional. And since the issue is too easy to fix, something like this can be enough to leave a negative first impression with potential buyers. Small image files are usually to blame when photos and videos look stretched, grainy, blurry. Larger high-resolution images work much better, regardless of mobile or desktop application use.
Not including available viewing options for mobile and desktop.
While this may seem like an obvious choice, some businesses are still choosing to stick solely to desktop browsing. While there is nothing wrong with the good ole mouse pad, monitor, and keyboard, it’s just not where the shoppers are nowadays. With over 4 billion social media users on mobile, the numbers don’t lie. If your content is not ready to be viewed on mobile and desktop you’re losing out on a lot of traffic.
Inconsistency with brand colors and image styles.
The average online shopper now sees anywhere from 6,000 to upwards of 10,000 ads each day. Even though the tone of voice may change across platforms, the identity of the company should not. Now that customers have thousands of brands bidding for their attention, consistency in your branding and brand marketing will help your customers readily recognize your items or service on their crowded screens.
Publishing photos in the wrong orientation.
When editing photos and other media content it’s important to pay attention to little details like composition, orientation and filter characteristics, and availability. Marketing and branding professionals know that timeline posts on Instagram are centered on the viewer’s device and typically cropped square. Instagram stories are typically published vertically in full screen with quick resizing options. This level of attention may seem superfluous to the social media marketing rookie, but pros know that paying attention to details like this is what will separate you from the amateurs.
Need Help Designing a Social Media Kit?
As a small business owner, you know that time is always at a deficit. Social media kits are a great way to streamline your marketing efforts no matter which platform you use. What makes these marketing gems so desirable is their ability to help small business owners quickly and easily create and publish quality posts on all social media platforms.
Whether you’re a real estate agent who needs to make a quick ‘Pending Offer’ post on Instagram or a potter who wants to upload a quick video of your newest homemade mugs coming out of the kiln on TikTok, a social media kit can help you quickly brand your content and move onto your next task.
Regardless of whether your social media kit is updated monthly, quarterly, or at any interval, our comprehensive digital marketing packages are tailored to align with your brand’s mission, empowering you and your marketing team to achieve your goals.
To learn more about how social media kits can help your business, schedule a free marketing consultation call with our team here.