How can social media be used to test and validate new brand innovation strategies?

Social media can be a powerful tool to test and validate new brand innovation strategies. Here are some points on how you can leverage social media for this purpose: Engage in Social Listening, Run Polls and Surveys, Share Teasers and Sneak Peeks, Crowdsourcing Ideas, A/B Testing with Ads, Influencer Partnerships, Create Branded Hashtags, Monitor Analytics, Launch Beta Programs, Measure Sentiment Analysis, Engage in Conversations, Track Competitor Activity. Monitor how competitors are using social media for innovation. By integrating these social media strategies, you can gather real-time feedback, understand customer sentiments, and iteratively refine your brand innovation approach based on the insights obtained from your online community.

First, identify your goals. What do you want to achieve through a particular campaign? Do you want to get more followers? Do you want to get more buyers? Or you are collaborating with another brand and want to go for a joint venture? When you identify your goal, making content around it becomes easier.

I’d highly recommend having private accounts and pages purely for graphics testing. Either to ensure artwork looks good live before public rollout, or to check with a very small audience that the graphic works with them. For example, I once created optical illusion graphics for a brand. I tested this with my private Instagram account to ensure the image appeared to rotate as intended. Taking concept and marketing ideas further afield can interfere with NDAs, and not all opinions are helpful. But having a sense checker is always a good idea!

My experience has always been great because of this one thing. I make sure that when a new product/idea/service is getting launched. I launch or start a campaign for the MVP a Quiz or an incentive-driven action for my target audience. That gives me a chance to know if our audience would receive the service of the product well enough. A lot of times (if service-based) we try to keep it free because the first 10 customers are more of a critique than customers and always help us to know better because no one can tell us how to make a product better than the customers themselves.

By executing a thorough analysis, your chosen social media platforms become a perfect testing ground. Understanding audiences, evaluating competitors, and anticipating risks create an ideal laboratory. With this foundation, you can methodically test and refine strategies, ensuring their resonance and effectiveness in the dynamic social media landscape.

Your brand innovation strategy will be dependent on the platform you choose to use, the kind of content trending at the moment among other factors. Now, of course you would choose platforms with the maximum number of followers. Utilizing a trending song or dance sequence can broaden your reach significantly. Tailor your content accordingly, choose an optimal posting time, and if there's a current trend or event, consider incorporating it into your content. This ensures your brand stays relevant and engaging.

This is a crucial step of the journey. You do everything, you employ all tricks up your sleeves but if you do not measure the metrics then it would all be a waste. Take note of the insights from your post. Compare them with your previous successful posts or gather data from your competitors. Monitor how their posts are doing and you will have an idea of your position.

To effectively utilize social media for brand innovation, adopt a strategic approach through targeted engagement. Focus on engaging with the right audience segments, using social media analytics to identify and reach the most relevant users for each experiment.