Do you want to learn how to drive more engagement and awareness through brand mentions? If so, you’re in the right place!
Regardless of your industry, there’s no doubt that brand mentions are vital for your success. Whether you’re a marketing manager at a big company, a social media strategist for a growing brand, or a small business owner trying to turn your dream into a reality, understanding and leveraging opportunities when people talk about you can make a big difference to your business’s visibility, credibility, and overall engagement.
Today, I’ll show you seven proven ways to get the most out of brand mentions so you can take your business to the next level.
Why do brand mentions matter?
When you consider that nearly 60 percent of the world is on social media, it’s clear that the reach and influence of brand mentions mean more than ever before. If people are talking about you or something your business does well, one of the best things you can do is get involved in the conversation.
They’re part of your online presence and can have a big impact on many different parts of your business. Here are a couple of the most important reasons brand mentions matter:
- Customer Trust and Social Proof – Brand mentions are basically modern word-of-mouth marketing. When people see others talking about your brand, it organically builds social proof, trust and credibility, which could influence their buying decisions.
- Increased Online Visibility – The more your company is mentioned online, the more brand awareness you’ll have in the community. Everyone in PR and marketing knows that this is the key to improving their reputation and building an audience.
- SEO Benefits – Search engines see brand mentions as an indicator of your brand’s relevance and authority. We’ve found that frequent positive mentions can boost search engine rankings, which makes your brand more discoverable online.
- Engagement Opportunities – Each mention is an opportunity for social media strategists to engage with the audience. Whether it’s thanking someone for a positive review or addressing a concern, these interactions can build stronger customer relationships.
- Market Insights – By monitoring brand mentions, you can gain valuable insights into customer opinions, product feedback, and competitor analysis. All of this leads to a better customer experience.
- Reputation Management – Keeping track of brand mentions allows you to quickly find and address any negative sentiment or potential issues before they get out of hand, which is vital for businesses of all sizes.
Now that you know why brand mentions matter, it’s time to discuss how to use these acknowledgments to drive engagement and reach your business goals. The 7 strategies below have helped us over the years, and I’m confident they’ll help you, too.
1) Encourage user-generated content (UGC)
First, let’s talk about how user-generated content (UGC) can help you get more brand mentions. Simply put, UGC is when customers create and share content around your brand. It’s a powerful tool for increasing brand mentions and driving engagement.
A good UGC strategy not only increases your visibility but also provides authentic, relatable material that resonates with potential customers. It’s a win-win for everyone.
There are plenty of creative ways you can encourage your audience to create UGC around your business. Here are a few ways that work well for us:
- Run a giveaway or contest that prompts customers to share photos or videos where they are using your products.
- Create a branded hashtag so you can easily track engagement and offer incentives such as discounts or the chance to be featured on your official accounts.
- Invite website visitors to share their experiences on social media. Sometimes, all you need to do is ask for people to start taking action.
A great example of an older but successful UGC is Starbucks’ #WhiteCupContest, where customers were invited to doodle on their white Starbucks cups and share photos. This one campaign resulted in thousands of creative entries and drastically increased brand engagement.
Source: Starbucks
2) Start an affiliate program
An affiliate program can significantly boost your brand mentions and reach by incentivizing partners to promote your products or services. This strategy is very effective for businesses that already have a sizable group of happy customers, since there are people already willing to become affiliates.
The benefits of starting an affiliate program include cost-effective marketing (you only pay for results), expanded reach as affiliates introduce your brand to their audiences, increased credibility through recommendations from trusted sources, and improved SEO from more backlinks and mentions.
You should encourage your affiliates to promote your products on social media through honest, in-depth product reviews, personal success stories, tutorial videos, and exclusive discounts or promotions for their followers. We’ve found that these are some of the best ways to showcase your products while building rapport with affiliates and their audience.
You can improve your odds of success by taking advantage of affiliate marketing email templates, providing affiliates with high-quality marketing materials, and maintaining open communication channels for support and feedback. You want to do everything you can to help because if they reach their goals, you can expect more brand mentions and engagement.
You could also take it a step further and create an exclusive community for your affiliates to network and share tips. This seemingly simple strategy can help you build your reputation and fanbase, which is always good for business.
Below is an example of a creator selling earbuds with affiliate links. The social mentions from this video alone will go a long way toward boosting engagement and mentions. This is especially true when you consider that it has over 70k views in a couple of months.
If you’re wondering how affiliate marketing can impact your sales, consider this: It’s estimated that 16 percent of online sales in the United States and Canada come from affiliate marketing. Shocking, right?
Image Source: Tom’s Guide
3) Create shareable, branded content
Another great way to get more engagement through mentions is to create content that people want to share. Think about it: people are not likely to share a boring, dry article. I suggest creating high-quality content on your website and supplementing it with good visuals.
Videos and images (like infographics) are extremely sharable because they break down information in a way that’s engaging and easy to understand. With this in mind, you’ll want to start thinking about how you can merge this together with your existing content marketing strategy.
For example, a popular and powerful way to get more shares and mentions is to create video versions of your blog posts. When a user lands on your page, they can choose to read, watch, or listen without jumping between pages.
If they are a fan of your content, add a small share button so they can get it out there to their followers when they’re done watching. This technique will help you get more organic mentions and engagement over time.
I also suggest reviewing what matters more to your target audience and creating content around these topics. If you want to win people over, your content has to help them reach a goal or solve a problem in their lives. In this case, knowing everything about your audience can have a direct impact on your mentions and engagement.
Source: MonsterInsights
4) Speak out on current events
Speaking out on things that are going on in the industry is a surefire way to get more engagement through brand mentions. By adding your voice to the conversation, you’re practically inviting people to reply to you, which normally leads to a mention.
The best way to implement this strategy is to monitor current events in your industry. There are a lot of tools that let you do this by entering in a number of keywords, anytime those keywords are mentioned, you get an alert.
Keep an eye on industry alerts and think about what you have to say that adds value to the discussion. Once you’re done thinking, jump on and create a creative, relevant social media post or piece of content that touches on the latest events.
Be sure to tag other thought leaders in your industry and ask them to share their thoughts with you in the comments or replies.
A word of advice though; do your best to avoid controversy. If something is in the news for the wrong reasons, your best bet is to avoid it and wait for something more positive and impactful to come along. Your audience will appreciate your drama-free approach and are far more likely to mention you in the future when they are wondering about your opinions on current events.
Source: Turtl
5) Build recognition with hashtags
Hashtags are a great way to boost brand recognition and engagement. Use them wisely, and you can expect to see more people discover your brand for the first time all while building rapport with existing followers.
I suggest starting with several popular, relevant hashtags in your industry. They’re usually full of people who are interested in the same subject, which makes them a great way to spark conversations and get more mentions.
But you shouldn’t stop there. You should also create your own branded hashtags. These tags are great for building your own community within the industry.
#JustDoIt worked wonders for Nike and helped them stand out in the sports community. What’s your equivalent? Are there any short, memorable inside jokes you could use to connect with your audience?
Take some time to think about it, because under the right circumstances, branded hashtags can be very effective.
Remember #IceBucketChallenge? It raised a total of $115 million for ALS research. That’s the power of a great hashtag campaign.
Source: Statista
6) Partner with other brands
Two brands are better than one. Strategic partnerships can help you and your partner double your reach and credibility.
The key is to look for brands that complement your own. They can be in the same industry; in fact, this is usually preferred because you often have shared values and target audiences. The thing is, you want to make sure they’re not in direct competition with you.
There are a ton of different ways you can work together once you find another brand to partner with. Guest posts, joint webinars, and co-branded infographics are just a few options, but there are many more.
It’s important to make sure the situation is mutually beneficial. What can you offer? What do you need? If you’re both after brand mentions, all you really need to do is create content together and share it while mentioning the other company.
Of course, it can become much more than that if that’s your goal. But if this is your first partnership, start small so you can get a feel for things and what kind of impact you can expect from different types of team-ups.
Once you work with a few partners, you can develop long-term collaborations where you can work together on a video series, special long-form guide, and other types of content that’s known to get plenty of shares and clicks.
All of this adds up to more brand mentions and engagement for your brand.
Source: Influencer
7) Optimize for social listening
Did you know that 78 percent of businesses that use social selling outperform their competitors, including in brand mentions? This startling statistic highlights why this is a great way to drive engagement.
Simply put, social listening is monitoring digital conversations about your brand, industry, and competitors. With the right tools, you can track brand mentions across platforms, respond quickly, and build meaningful engagement.
Responding to feedback, both positive and negative, is important for maintaining your reputation in the community. People with good things to say will appreciate your response, but this is even more important for negative feedback since 53% of customers expect brands to respond to their complaints.
Here are a few quick tips to help you improve your social listening strategy:
- Choose the right tools for you and your goals. Don’t forget to consider scalability and features.
- Define what you want to achieve from your social listening. Being mindful of your goals will help you track the right mentions and respond accordingly.
- Monitor beyond your brand name, industry keywords, and competitor mentions. You’ll also want to track common misspellings of your name.
- Analyse sentiment to see how your brand is perceived. The more people that feel positive, the better.
- Engage authentically, not with templated responses. Use the name of the person who mentioned you and respond directly to what they’re saying. Canned responses don’t really cut it.
- Use the insights to inform your wider marketing and business strategy.
The right social listening strategy will help you build stronger customer relationships, improve your products based on direct feedback, stay ahead of potential issues, and increase brand mentions.
Source: Geny Labs
Conclusion
There you have it! It’s easy to see that brand mentions are still one of the best ways to drive engagement, increase conversions, and build rapport with your target audience. The strategies and tips discussed today have helped us reach our goals, and I know they’ll help you.
My last piece of advice is this; please be patient, especially if you’re a small business owner looking to spread awareness. It takes time to grow and build a community. So, be positive, be patient, and you can expect to elevate your brand above everyone else in your industry.
