In today’s society, social media is instrumental for brands and businesses to increase their visibility. With over 3.4 billion users worldwide, these online communities have the power to help organizations expand their reach and establish relationships. One of the most important elements of building engagement on social media platforms is cultivating an identifiable voice that is specific to your brand.
Developing a voice
Recognizing the importance of developing a social media voice, the National Paper Trade Association (NPTA) – an association serving the paper distribution channel, and specifically its paper merchants – sought to give its posts more personality and leverage the power of digital marketing to keep members engaged year-round – especially in the midst of a year of cancelled in-person events and membership touchpoints.
NPTA decided to embody a familiar, everyman persona in its social media content while actively upholding the goal of the association – supporting members of the paper community. NPTA’s social media voice exudes authenticity, togetherness, and sustainability while using a strategically playful voice. NPTA began to heavily integrate this next-door, neighbor-like image into the creation of NPTA’s social media content at the beginning of 2021, and NPTA’s posts now feature emojis, common clichés, and alliterations and idioms. This colorful copywriting is often accessorized with bright, visually pleasing pictures.
Boosting engagement
As an association that treasures collaboration, NPTA further developed its social media presence by engaging its partnerships and industry thought leaders. NPTA shares externally sourced content several times each week (never from the same source two days in a row), and consistently incorporate hashtags and mentions to boost engagement. In addition to leveraging external content, NPTA capitalized on its PaperChain Chats, a video series that invites industry leaders to participate in conversations around trending industry topics, leadership initiatives, and more. This original content adds a personal touch to NPTA’s social media channels and brings industry leaders to the forefront of the conversation.
Results
NPTA’s messaging and content makeover has attracted a 15.4% increase in new followers across Twitter and LinkedIn since January 1, 2021. In addition to an increase in followers, NPTA has also seen a rise in impressions and engagements – this year, NPTA saw a 62% increase in organic impressions and an 8% increase in engagements on LinkedIn compared to 2020. As NPTA continues to move forward in 2021, its numbers will likely grow even more due to the choice to incorporate a strategically playful, newly adopted voice and industry-centric content.
Madeline Mohatt
(she/her)
Senior Associate,
Marketing &
Communications Services
Smithbucklin