To achieve genuine presence on social media, it's important to plan and execute a strong social media strategy that carries meaning to actively engage your audiences.

Do it right, and your presence will grow to wider audiences. Plus, it can help you achieve overall business goals – be it increased traffic, more direct sales, or a bigger customer base.

Get it wrong, or fail to adequately prepare a social media strategy, and you'll waste time and resources creating unguided content that negatively affects your brand.

This guide outlines how you can achieve the best social media presence on various platforms, and ensure your social strategy is correctly aligned with your overarching marketing goals.

Before we look at ways to enhance your social media presence, it's important to know what we're talking about.

What is a social media presence and why does it matter?

Your social media presence is how visible and active your brand is on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok. It includes your profiles, posts, interactions, and overall impact on these sites.

You might have a really active X account, for example, but not a strong presence because no one follows you, or you're posting about things no one's interested in. Meanwhile, you may only post one Instagram Reel a month but have a great presence because the video content goes viral every time.

Think of your presence as your digital storefront. Just like a physical shop, your social media profiles give people the most powerful impression of your brand. They show off your personality, values, and what you offer. The more active and engaging you are, the more likely people are to notice and remember you, and this creates brand impact.

Why a strong social media presence is crucial for your business

Businesses need this presence in order to interact with customers and audiences on social channels. Do it successfully, and the algorithms will champion your content over other brands and bring a wider audience to your content.

This creates a snowball effect, where a brand can suddenly become an industry leader on a certain platform, or trigger new trends. Your brand impact becomes more powerful and helps you get noticed.

In this guide:

Read on to learn how brands improve their social presence through a combination of planning, brand alignment, and data analysis.

Developing a strong brand voice and identity

The first thing brands should do – before they even consider which social media platforms to join – is to figure out their brand voice.

Having a strong brand voice and identity is crucial for standing out on social media. They can help you connect with your audience, build trust, and create a memorable presence that keeps people coming back for more.

Crafting your brand voice to resonate with your target audience

To create an accurate brand voice, you should have a true understanding of your audience. Start by getting your social media marketing team to share its insights into your brand, and use a social listening tool like Brandwatch to gauge your brand position.

You need to know what your intended audience's interests, pain points, and communication styles are. Use this info to shape your tone and messaging.

From here you create a brand persona – a character that embodies your brand's personality. This will help guide your content creation and interactions.

How your brand identity strengthens your social media presence

We'll look at social media strategies more closely later in this guide, but for now it's important to note that these initial audience insights will act as your guide when it comes to developing your brand identity.

Brands are tasked with keeping their audience engaged on platforms that are notorious for pushing users to the next piece of content. Figuring out how to resonate with social media users – perhaps only for a few seconds – is crucial for your brand identity.

Will you choose a humorous, cheeky voice? Or do you need to be ultra serious, like charity organizations? Does your brand "chat" with audiences, or does it keep a formal distance?

These are the sorts of things you need to consider, because they will affect how you are perceived on social media.

Choosing the right social media platforms for your target audience

Once you've nailed your brand voice you can start looking at the various platforms that might be suitable for your brand. Most social media platforms have a level of engagement that brands can rely on, but all require you to post actively engaging content. So be prepared to put some quality time towards this process.

Identifying your audience

One platform isn't enough for brands seeking a strong social presence. However, you don't necessarily need to be on every single one.

Start by creating audience personas and get detailed profiles of your ideal customers. Think about their age, interests, and online habits, what their pain points are, and what they value. Use surveys or use a powerful tool like Brandwatch to gather these insights.

Social media analytics will give clues about who's interested in your brand and your competitors, so you can easily find your target audience and where it resides.

The best social media platforms for your business

You might find your target audience sites on a few platforms. Each platform has its own strengths:

  • Facebook: Great for community building and niche interests
  • Instagram: Perfect for visual brands and younger audiences
  • LinkedIn: Ideal for B2B and professional services
  • X: Good for news, updates, and customer service
  • TikTok: Excellent for reaching Gen Z and creating fun, short videos
  • Snapchat: Great for personal storytelling and disposable content

Match these strengths to your audience personas and then decide which platforms are best to launch your brand on. This is far better than launching on all platforms before deciding which ones to focus on.

Why focusing on a few platforms is better than spreading thin

It's tempting to be on every platform, but that can quickly become a mistake. Quality beats quantity in social media – and your brand soon looks unprofessional if you launch on a platform and then neglect it.

Remember, each platform is a shop window – do you have the resources to manage five or six in one go?

Pick two or three platforms where your audience is most active and focus there. By concentrating on fewer platforms, you can:

  • Create better, more tailored content
  • Engage more deeply with your followers
  • Learn the ins and outs of each platform
  • Save time and resources

You can always scale up as your presence grows.

Social media content strategies for maximum engagement

Creating engaging social media content requires a thoughtful approach and consistent execution. Ignore this stage and your scattergun approach will look unprofessional and negatively impact your brand.

By focusing on compelling posts, strategic planning, and smart content repurposing, you can boost engagement rates and grow your audience, resulting in a greater presence.

Here are five areas to focus on:

1. Create posts that drive engagement and conversation

Social media is all about engagement. You can spend millions of dollars on a new product launch, but if the content isn't engaging then no one will notice it.

Craft posts that resonate with your audience – whether this is through eye-catching visuals, influencer endorsements, or audience interactions.

Your content has to be sharable and relatable. Users won't interact or share your content if they don't connect to it. It's all about having a presence that resonates.

2. Build a social media calendar and posting schedule

Next, calendarize your content as part of a social media marketing push. This might be all done on one day, or last several months. It's important to research how post frequency changes on other platforms, so you know how often to connect with your audience.

Schedule your posts in advance using tools like Brandwatch's social media management suite and maintain a consistent presence without constant manual effort.

3. Repurpose content across platforms for more traffic

Targeted campaigns often cover more than one platform. In order to save time and resources, it's worth ensuring your content can be resized, re-cut, and re-shaped to fit all your social channels.

This means creating content that works, across platforms – such as on Instagram, TikTok and your YouTube channel. Screen sizes and video quality differ greatly. Or you might need written content that is punchy enough for a short-form X post, but also carries weight on LinkedIn.

4. Balance organic and paid content

Many brands shy away from paid content for fear it's a waste of money. Yet social platforms operate a model that promotes those who pay the most. It's therefore important, especially when a brand is starting on social media, to run paid campaigns as a means of targeting the right audiences.

Your paid content gets your brand out there, while your organic content creates a deeper social presence. Learn more about paid content in this content marketing guide.

5. Track key metrics with analytics tools

So, you have your social media strategy, your chosen platforms, and your content. You're ready to go live and begin tracking the response of your posts.

Analytics tools are essential for measuring your social media performance. Use platforms like Brandwatch Consumer Research to monitor engagement rates, reach, and follower growth. Pay attention to post timing and content types that resonate with your audience.

Set up custom dashboards to track the metrics that matter most to your goals. This might include click-through rates, conversions, or sentiment analysis. Regular reporting helps you spot trends and make informed decisions.

Don't forget to benchmark your performance against competitors. This gives you valuable insights into industry standards and helps you identify areas for improvement.

Common mistakes when building presence on social media

Building a strong presence on social media takes effort and planning, but also a good deal of diligence. There are many areas where you can make mistakes, and social media is an unforgiving place if you publish something in error.

Here are three common errors brands encounter when operating their social media accounts:

1. Inconsistent posting schedule and lack of engaging content

This is such a simple thing but trips up even top brands. Social media is an insatiable machine, so that means you need to post regularly.

Sporadic posting causes your audience to lose interest – and even forget about you. The solution is to create a social media calendar, look a few weeks in advance, and plan your posting schedule ahead of time.

This way, your brand can stay active and build relationships with your audience as your calendar unfolds. Your messaging remains consistent and you become a regular, reliable presence.

2. Ignoring community management and brand voice

Social media is a two-way street. Don't just broadcast – interact! Respond to comments and messages promptly, like and share content from your followers, and be proactive to generate more engagement.

It's critical you develop a clear brand voice that matches your company's personality. Train your team on brand guidelines – this keeps messaging consistent across platforms. Your audience should recognize your brand's unique style in every interaction.

3. Over-relying on automation in social media management

Automation tools can be helpful, but don't let them take over completely. Scheduled posts can lack authenticity and timeliness, and there's always a danger that you'll post something at the wrong moment. So make sure you're aware of current events and check your scheduling regularly.

Social media is evolving rapidly, with new trends shaping how brands and users interact online. Here are three ways the industry will shift in 2025.

AI to shape social media content and strategy even more

AI tools are already helping brands create and optimize their social media content. 2025 could be the year that AI takes over, with automated caption writing, image creation, and video creation. This last development could be huge, as brands will be able to make videos based on AI's audience research and data.

AI-powered chatbots will improve customer service on social platforms as audiences become more familiar with them. Chatbots will never fully replace customer service personnel, but they are now a commonly-accepted first step in the customer service journey.

Social commerce and building customer loyalty through social platforms

Social commerce is set to rapidly expand in 2025, with TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms looking to make it even easier to sell directly through social media posts, stories, and live streams.

Loyalty programs are expected to become more integrated with social platforms.

What's more, user-generated content will play a bigger role in social commerce. Brands will need to encourage customers to share photos and reviews of your products to build trust and drive sales.

Data is becoming more important

It's unlikely that a new player will enter the social media landscape in 2025, meaning the likes of Facebook, X, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Snapchat will continue their monopoly over the industry. This will have an impact on brands, because the monopoly makes it easier for platforms to charge more for paid ads.

Getting a competitive edge in an already-competitive industry isn't easy, meaning it's never been so important to have data guide your decisions.

Frequently asked questions

Let's now look at some common questions readers ask about building a presence on social media.

How can a business build a strong social media presence?

To build a bullet-proof social media presence, start by researching your target audience and understanding where they interact online. Develop a brand voice and tone, and then select the right social media platforms that house those specific demographics.

Post regular, high-quality content that adds value for your followers, and engage with your audience to build trust.

Use social media management tools to schedule posts and track performance, and use the data to feed back into your future strategies.

What strategies can individuals use to improve their personal brand on social media?

Individuals need to define their personal brand and be willing to remain consistent with it on two or three platforms. Audiences love consistency from brands.

Deepen your presence by engaging with others in your industry to remain visible even when you're not posting. Share behind-the-scenes content to humanize your brand and network with industry leaders and potential collaborators. Personal brands always do better when audiences access individuals on a deeper level.

What are the benefits of having a social media presence for companies?

A strong social media presence can increase brand awareness, reach new potential customers, and create more meaningful impact for causes your company may be interested in.

It allows you to engage directly with your audience, building trust and loyalty. You can gather valuable customer feedback and insights to improve your products or services, or begin a movement that befits your ideals.

How does social media presence impact customer engagement and brand perception?

An active social media presence means audiences see you far more and may lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

This could be in the form of sharing user-generated content and positive customer experiences. You might want to jump on trends or start your own viral campaigns. Or you may simply choose to post consistently and grow your presence in a steady way.

No matter what you do, focusing on your social presence is what ultimately guides your engagement with audiences, and their view of your brand.

What are some common pitfalls to avoid when building a social media presence?

The biggest mistakes brands make when seeking to develop a social media presence are:

  • Spreading yourself too thin across too many platforms
  • Buying followers or engagement (this really doesn't work!)
  • Ignoring negativityMissing the value of posting frequency
  • Forgetting about building relationships with audiences
  • Overuse of automation, particularly with valuable content