Today, social media play a crucial role in creating a community around your brand. Companies need not only to be present on these platforms, but also to be active on them to attract the attention of potential customers. In this article, we’ll look at different strategies for creating and maintaining a community around your brand on social networks.
How to create a community on social media?
Define your target audience: to start with, it’s crucial to know who you’re targeting. Determine your target audience by analyzing the demographics, search habits and online behaviors of your current and potential customers. This will help you create targeted content that resonates with your audience.
Create compelling content: once you’ve defined your target audience, create compelling content that meets their needs. Use high-quality images and videos to engage your audience. Don’t forget to post regularly to maintain engagement.
Use relevant hashtags: hashtags are a great way to get your brand noticed on social media. Use hashtags relevant to your industry and your posts to reach a wider audience.
Encourage interaction: encourage your followers to comment, like and share your content. Ask questions to spark conversations, and respond quickly to comments to show you’re engaged with your community.
Run contests and offer exclusive deals:contests and exclusive deals are a great way to boost engagement and retain your community. Offer rewards that are linked to your brand to encourage sharing and interaction.
How do you get your community to engage with your content on social media?
Respond to comments and direct messages: it’s important to be attentive to comments and direct messages from your community. Responding quickly and personally shows that you’re engaged with your audience.
Use polls and questionnaires: polls and questionnaires are a great way to engage your community and get valuable feedback on your brand. Ask questions that are relevant to your business and use the results to improve your products or services.
Collaborate with influencers: influencers can help expand your reach on social media by sharing your content with their own communities. Seek out influencers relevant to your industry and collaborate with them to reach a wider audience.
Organize online events: online events, such as webinars or live chats, are a great way to engage your community in real time. Offer valuable content and create a space for discussion to encourage engagement.
Monitor trends: stay abreast of trends and events relevant to your industry. Use this information to create content and engage your community around topics that are relevant to them.
Conclusion
Creating and engaging a community around your brand on social media takes time and effort. By following these tips, you can attract the attention of your target audience and build lasting relationships with them. Be patient and persistent, and you’ll see long-term results for your business.
You can’t have missed it: in graphic design, the color blue is everywhere. It’s even the most popular color for logos! So, from turquoise to sapphire, cobalt to azure, let’s investigate why blue is so ubiquitous.
Here is a quick summary of the themes that we will cover in this article:
Let’s start with an accurate definition of the color blue.
Blue: a simple primary color?
As we learned early on at school: blue is a primary color. However, it’s not quite that simple. In the additive color model (or RGB for Red, Green, Blue), which is used to define the colors diffused on our screens on websites and digital communications, blue is indeed a primary color. Yet for printed materials, the primary blue shade used is actually a cyan tint (blue-green). The printing industry uses the subtractive color model, or CMYK for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black.
The many hues of blue
Blue is a chromatic color, composed of hundreds of shades between green and violet.
Although blue is considered a cool color (as opposed to a warm red), shades of blue can be warmer or cooler depending on their undertones. The undertones are the secondary colors that are mixed with your blue: a little green will give you a peacock blue or teal, for example.
In addition, saturation also plays an important role: from a dull hue (blue-gray) to a vibrant hue (electric blue).
Finally, brightness will also determine your shade of blue: from a deep, dark shade like midnight blue, to a light shade like sky blue.
So, if you used to say that blue was your favorite color, you can now be more precise! As we have just seen, the range of blue is very wide. You probably have a preference between navy blue, pastel blue and electric blue!
💡TIP: The choice is yours! Be creative when choosing a shade of blue, don’t use a shade that is too close to your competitors’.
Blue and civilizations: history and perceptions
Now that we have defined the color blue, let’s begin to answer our question about the ubiquity of this color in graphic design by focusing on its history and its relationship to past and present civilizations.
A short history of the color blue
The birth of “blue”
This may surprise you, but blue was only born in the Middle Ages. Before that, neither its name nor its concept had been defined. In other words, blue was not a notion that existed at that time for human beings. However, this does not mean that there were no blue objects, just that blue was not considered a color in its own right. Anything blue was described with the colors that existed at the time. It’s very difficult to conceive of in this day and age!
A history of pigments
Blue is rarely found in nature, and natural blue pigments are therefore scarce. As a matter of fact, the only natural blue pigments come from indigo (a plant), pastel (a plant) and lapis lazuli (a mineral).
Civilizations quickly learned how to create synthetic blue pigments. The first of these was invented by the Egyptians in ancient times, called Egyptian blue. Prussian blue, Cobalt blue and Phthalocyanine blue are some other examples of synthetic blue pigments.
It is interesting to note that although blue did not yet have a name, human beings already seemed to be fascinated by this color to the point of trying to create pigments.
Blue and perceptions
Past perceptions
Today, blue is a color that is part of our daily lives, but this was not always the case. In ancient Rome, blue was despised: it was a symbol of ridicule and even associated with barbarians.
From the Middle Ages, the color took on a divine connotation and it started to appear on many religious works of art. It then became the color of the monarchy (of divine rights) a little later.
Finally, in the 20th century, all of humanity embraced the color blue when blue jeans came into fashion.
Current perceptions
As we have seen, depending on the era or culture, the feelings and connotations associated with certain colors can vary. Let’s take a look at current perceptions around the color blue.
In English, we say “feeling blue” to describe feelings of depression, but when we have “blue skies ahead” it means that we are optimistic about the future. In French, “être fleur bleue” means to be romantic or sentimental, and “avoir une peur bleue” means scared to death! So, blue can evoke several disparate images depending on the language.
Here are a few examples of different perceptions associated with the color blue:
Current universal perceptions
confidence
security
eternity
calm
peace
freedom
nostalgia
Specific cultural perceptions
nobility, royalty: royal blue, to have “blue blood”
workers: “blue collar” laborers, as opposed to “white collar” office workers
💡TIP: Although the feelings commonly associated with the color blue are calm and confidence, it is always a good idea to check the perception of each hue you plan to use in your communications against your target audience and their culture.
Blue in art
We couldn’t talk about blue in graphic design without also mentioning blue in art. Of course, graphic design draws inspiration from art! We can find blue in many works of art: from Van Gogh’s Starry Night to Hokusai’s The Great Wave to Andy Warhol’s Colored Mona Lisa.
So, while we will only cite a few interesting examples of the use of blue in art below, there are certainly many others.
The Jardin Majorelle
Have you heard of this villa and garden in Morocco, painted entirely in a special cobalt blue shade? It has become a very famous destination because it is so unique.
French painter Jacques Majorelle was inspired by Marrakesh and built a villa with its own botanical garden in the 1930s. But he did not stop there, he also created the “Majorelle blue” color and decided to paint the walls of his villa with it.
This garden has become a huge source of inspiration for artists and creatives, notably for French fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent.
💡 REMEMBER: Use blue in bold, new, unexpected, and inspiring ways.
Yves Klein: IKB blue
Let’s focus now on another inventor of blue: Yves Klein. He is the creator of IKB blue, or International Klein Blue, a shade close to ultramarine blue. He is a visual artist who used his invention, the IKB, in many works, including monochrome, meaning using only this color.
💡 REMEMBER: You can use blue as a trademark, a unique blue that makes you recognizable.
Picasso: the Blue Period
Our final example of the use of blue in art is Picasso’s Blue Period from 1901 to 1904. Deeply affected by the death of a loved one, the young painter began to paint in shades of blue to express his grief.
💡 REMEMBER: Colors can relay messages and express feelings.
Blue in graphic design and brand visual identity
After our extensive theoretical overview on the color blue, which we hope will have convinced you of its importance, let’s move on to a practical study: how do brands use blue? Plus, how to use it well in your brand identity and, by extension, in your digital publications on Calaméo.
Because blue is humankind’s favorite color, it seems obvious that using it in your designs is a good idea since it will appeal to a very large portion of your clients and prospects. In addition, there are many positive associations with this color: confidence, peace, calm. People will associate your brand with these qualities instantly.
So, just by using blue in your brand style guide, the public will have a positive perception of your brand.
For the user experience
In graphic design, it’s important to focus on the user experience and make it as pleasant as possible for everyone. Blue being the color least affected by color vision disorders, it is a good choice for your graphic design.
Examples of blue in brand style guides
To help you use blue in your visual identity and in your communications, here are some interesting examples of the use of blue in brand style guides and good ideas to inspire your creativity.
Ikea: unmistakable
How can we talk about blue in graphic design without talking about Ikea? Ikea uses two strong colors that stand out and give a unique and recognizable visual identity. It’s probably the only furniture store that you are able to recognize from afar, wherever you are in the world, thanks to its blue and yellow sign and blue exterior.
💡 REMEMBER: Partner two strong colors that contrast, such as complementary colors, for a big impact. For example: combine blue with orange or yellow tones.
These distinctive colors reflect those of the Swedish flag. This choice reinforces Ikea’s brand identity: from the names of the products to the types of dishes offered in their restaurants to their brand style guide…all of these elements emphasize the company’s origins.
💡REMEMBER: Use specific colors to reinforce your brand identity.
Major players on the web: all in shades of blue
Among the major Internet companies, almost all of their logos are blue. You can see some examples above. What at the beginning was perhaps a strategic choice seems to have turned into a trend. We can imagine that the choice of a blue logo of the first entities on the Internet reflects the desire to have an image of stability and confidence in this new virtual world that seemed ephemeral. As a result, blue logos are now associated with tech and web companies.
💡REMEMBER: Study your competitors and their brand style guides; if they all use the same codes, there may be a reason.
Calaméo: blue for emphasis
Finally, we wanted to tell you about our use of blue. Although blue is not our main color and does not appear in our logo, we do have a very specific use for it. We use blue to highlight and emphasize important messages. As you can see, on our blog the links are in blue and stand out.
💡REMEMBER: You can use a shade of blue in your graphic design without it being a main color. Do not hesitate to give it a specific function.
In this respect, many brands use blue in their visual identity, and the color performs different functions for each. From main color to accent color, it is a matter of finding the best way to incorporate this color in your style guide so that it completes your brand and identity.
Blue is a fascinating color: its history, its many uses in art, and all its different meanings and connotations. That’s why blue has become an essential color in graphic design.
Don’t hesitate to use it in your brand identity and in your digital publications. Blue used with ingenuity, in an original shade or in combination with unusual shades, will make you stand out and will make your content unforgettable.
If you feel like you’ve been hearing more and more about content marketing over the past few years, you’re not alone! Although this strategy has been around for at least 100 years, it’s become especially important in the Internet age. Today, digital content marketing is working for businesses of all kinds—all over the planet.
Have you been wondering whether the time is right to try digital content marketing? In this article, we’ll explain everything you need to know about getting started.
First, let’s look at content marketing in general. Content marketing promotes a brand or business by offering people something useful: information, entertainment or insight. In other words, it’s about creating content that potential customers will discover and enjoy. This content can help them explore your products and solutions. Or it can simply introduce your company to new audiences.
Traditional content marketing includes things like guides, magazines and professional reports. However, digital content marketing has a much wider range of possibilities. For example, blogs, newsletters, infographics, videos, GIFs, slideshows, white papers, webinars and podcasts are all great formats for content marketing online. All you need is ideas to share!
How does it work?
The strategy behind digital content marketing is straightforward. Because billions of people go online to look for information, every search is an opportunity for your answer to be found. Ideally, you should focus your content around the interests of the people you want to reach. That way, when your target audience is browsing the web, they’re more likely to see results and posts from your company.
Next, capture their attention with engaging content. You can do this in all sorts of different ways, from a fun meme to a presentation of your business services. Most importantly, users who engage with your content will learn something about what your company offers. And after they’ve found your content, give them plenty of opportunities to keep exploring! More browsing means spending more time with your brand.
Finally, help your audience choose to purchase from your business. High-quality content builds trust, but you should also think specifically about questions that future clients might have regarding your solutions. Provide them with all the information they need to make an order. An extra bonus? Such well-informed users are more likely to be happy with their decision to buy and become repeat customers.
Today, digital content marketing is more popular than ever. A recent study found that 84% of companies had a content marketing strategy. (And that includes both B2B and B2C businesses, as well as non-profits and other organizations!) Even better, most companies surveyed were happy with their strategy. Over 60% rated its performance as excellent or good, and 71% saw an improvement compared to the previous year.
There are a few reasons why this trend is so powerful. For one, digital content marketing can be more efficient than traditional marketing. Instead of using advertising to find potential clients, businesses create content that allows potential clients to find them online. Plus, a good content marketing strategy doesn’t require huge resources. With just your website, knowledge of your business and a few useful tools, you’ll be all set to get started.
Where should I start?
Before we dive in, keep in mind that content marketing is not usually a strong short-term strategy. That is, it takes time to make great content, show up in search results and build an audience. To stay on track, don’t forget about other marketing actions like promotions while you work on these long-term efforts.
Here are 5 steps to develop your digital content marketing projects.
Find out what content you already have
If you think you don’t have any content, think again! Take a few minutes to review the material your business already uses to communicate with prospects and customers. This might include social channels, like your company Facebook page, as well as website content like videos, About pages and more. Write everything down in one place and note which content you consider most successful.
💡 TIP: Remember “offline” formats like brochures, annual reports and sales documents. In many cases, you can transform these printed material into digital publications to use in your content marketing.
Analyze what your customers need
Once you know what content your company already offers, it’s time to find areas to grow. Think back to questions you’ve received from customers over the years. What did they want to know more about before buying? Which factors helped them decide? When did they need extra support?
At this stage, you may also want to request feedback from your customer service and sales teams. Make a list of all the information potential clients need and notice where you can create new content.
Brainstorm content ideas
Now that the subject matter to cover is clear, schedule a brainstorming session to come up with content ideas. For example, imagine you’ve discovered that prospects often want to see real-world references of your product in use. Here are a few types of content you could make to address that need:
Customer case studies
Customer interviews
User-submitted photos of your products
How-to guides to using your products
Statistics about customer use
For each idea, there are a number of different formats available. A customer interview could be produced as a blog post, video or podcast. On the other hand, use statistics could be published in a report, infographic or animation. Let your creativity run wild and try to suggest as many content ideas as possible.
Evaluate what you can do
Hopefully, your brainstorm session has resulted in a lot of fantastic ideas for your digital content marketing strategy. However, it’s important to stay realistic when getting started. It may be easier to set up and write posts for a company blog than to launch a video series! Check the content that you’d most like to create against the resources it requires. One of the most cost-effective options? Embed a polished digital publication in your website for users to browse. You can be generating leads online in no time.
Make a plan
The final step is to organize all of your hard work into a single content marketing plan. Although these can be very complex, you should feel free to focus on the basics. Summarize the main points of your strategy:
From there, you’ll be in great shape to begin creating content!
Of course, this quick guide is just to show you where to get started with digital content marketing. To build out your strategy, there’s lots more to consider from social media to SEO. But you can try out digital publishing right now, for free! Join Calaméo and publish your documents online in seconds.
