Unlocking the Power of Brand Personality: Building a Social Media Persona for Ecommerce Success

Brand Personality is the means through which a brand represents and expresses itself. It is the pivotal force behind consumers' decisions to follow a company on social media and contact the business. It enables businesses to form meaningful connections with consumers, which is vital for sales and social media marketing success. Without it, businesses will struggle to maintain a competitive edge and stay relevant.

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What is a social media personality?

Simply put, it's the amalgamation of characteristics or qualities that form your unique brand personality. It could be anything that sets you apart from everyone else - a distinctive voice, tone, character, or approach. This is extremely useful, as your followers aren't on social media to read statistics. They care significantly less about how many awards you've won or how long you've been around, and much more about who you are and what you stand for. In fact, studies have found that almost 90% of people would buy from your brand if you advocate a cause they care about. Additionally, no one wants to talk to a logo - they want to converse with real people.

Even if you disregard all of that, having a social media personality can assist you in other ways. Your social media personality will:

● Be the vehicle through which you apply your social media strategy and achieve your goals

● Guide the content you post, the tone you use, and how you engage with your audience

● Help you become more memorable in the social media space

People associate themselves with the brands they use and consider them an extension of their own personality. Nowadays, consumers take pride in the brands they're associated with. Social media can help you construct a brand personality that resonates with your audience and convinces them that you're the right brand for them. But, the way to do that is by having a great social media personality.

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Five Types of Social Media Brand Personalities

Brands can possess a variety of personality types. The following five dimensions of brand personalities can be used in social media were developed by Jennifer Aaker, an American social psychologist, author, and General Atlantic Professor of Marketing at Stanford Graduate School of Business (source: Wikipedia):

● Excitement

● Sincerity

● Ruggedness

● Competence

● Sophistication

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"Excitement" Dimension

Traits associated with this dimension include:

● Daring

● Spirited

●I maginative

Coca-Cola is a prime example of a brand that successfully disseminates its marketing messages worldwide and is recognized as a "young personality" brand. The concepts of happiness and joy are consistently and predominantly exhibited in all their advertising and social media platforms.

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"Sincerity" Dimension

"Sincerity" is associated with the following traits:

● Down-to-earth

● Honest

● Cheerful

Brands with the "Sincerity" characteristics are known for genuineness and dedication. Snickers, the chocolate bar brand, is a perfect example of a brand that fits into the Sincerity dimension. It uses social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter as tools for posting humorous content that not only includes their products but also relates to trending news and current events. This generates a lot of engagement and interest in both the company and the topics discussed.

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"Ruggedness" Dimension

These are brands known for their toughness and appeal to the outdoors and nature. The ruggedness mainly originates from the nature of the product's attributes, which builds the personality of these brands. The target audiences for brands with the "Ruggedness" dimension are typically young professionals, mainly aged 20 to 35 years old.

The North Face, an outdoor product company, has been in the market for a long time and is built on ruggedness. Their target audiences are people who enjoy outdoor activities such as rock climbing, extreme skiing, biking, and hiking.

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"Competence" Dimension

The "Competence" dimension includes the following personality traits:

● Reliable

● Intelligent

● Successful

Brands with a competence brand personality are keen to demonstrate their commitment to quality and the impact their business is making on their industry. Competence brands also aim to establish themselves as industry leaders in the minds of consumers. They focus on producing products and services regularly that retain reliable quality. They also strive to meet the needs of their customers by referencing their competitive advantage and what other businesses are unable to provide.

Microsoft is one of the brands associated with the "Competence" dimension. Microsoft uses social media platforms to drive their potential customers' engagement and highlight the uniqueness of their innovations.

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"Sophistication" Dimension

The "Sophistication" trait is the most challenging one to achieve within the five main dimensions of brand personalities. Brands associated with "sophistication" are known as Elegant, Prestigious, and Sophisticated.

BMW and Tiffany are renowned brands that primarily focus on the "sophistication" nature of the products and offer high-end and luxurious products.

If you visit one of BMW’s pages on social media, the brand primarily aims to engage potential customers by publishing visually stunning and high-end images of vehicles.

Another example is Tiffany. The brand's marketing voice on social media is witty and sophisticated.

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If you have already established a recognizable business, there is a good chance that you have already cultivated a brand personality. If you haven’t yet created your identity, or are looking to improve or change it, you can seek the help of kua.ai to find a suitable social media personality for your brand.

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