media update’s Christine Beukes reveals three ways to create your brand’s personality on social media.

The way that you present your brand in the digisphere can either make or break you in terms of success. That’s why, when it comes to your brand’s personality, you need to make sure that you’re ticking all the right boxes.

Among other things, you need to ensure that your social media pages are both informative and entertaining. No one is going to follow a bland page with no personality. Your business page needs to possess that distinctive quality that makes audiences say, “Yep, that’s definitely that brand.”

Take it from Nando’s: No matter what the brand posts on social media, you’ll know it’s them before you even look at the @handle.

With that said, here are three ways to create your brand personality:

1. Speak to the right audience

One thing that Nando’s does well is speak to its audience. This restaurant chain has figured out all the tricks of the trade when it comes to engagement, and it’s because of how well it knows its market, i.e. South Africans.

When it comes to communication on social media, this brand is diverse and all inclusive, meaning that there is not one person in the country who cannot relate to its content as it contains SA languages of all sorts. Take the Facebook post below:



Babelas is a well-known term in South Africa often used by the citizens to describe a painful hangover. The brand is using this term to exploit its delivery service and to encourage its consumers to get their food delivered on the weekend, as that is when people kuier.

So before you hop on board the social media train, remember to do your research. Ensure that you know your audience like you do your own friends or family members, because that’s how you’ll be wanting to engage with them. People love relatable content, after all. Zwakala!

2. Show off your traits

Humour is a trait that is welcome on most, if not all, social media platforms. Nando’s, for instance, is all humour and wit. That is how the brand has established its presence on all platforms — media, traditional and social.

However, ‘funny’ might not be the route you want your brand to go. Especially if the subject material and content surrounding your business is of a serious matter (such as disease, death, etc.).

That is why it’s important to figure out what personality traits your brand has, as this will dictate how your post will be written, which platforms you’ll be active on and how you’ll be responding to your followers.

Take the following traits as examples:
  • Sassy
  • Humourous
  • Witty
  • Formal
  • Conversational
Once you’ve figured out what traits you want to convey on your social pages, include them in your style guide and ensure that these traits are exhibited in every single post — consistency is very important when it comes to establishing your brand personality.

3. Play well with others

By ‘playing well’ we mean avoid tooting your own horn the whole time by sharing just your content. Other brands are doing great things too, and it’s only decent to acknowledge that. Nando’s does a great job of sharing other brands’ posts, and even the content of its own followers.

Take the following tweet for example:

Notice how the brand is expressing joy at someone creating the same kind of product the food franchise provides. By being a good sport and interacting with consumers, Nando’s is showing them that it cares about what they have to say and that there are actual human beings behind the brand.

The content isn’t purely promotional either, which is something you should also avoid when creating posts for your pages. No one wants ads constantly thrown in their faces. You must of course promote your products and services, but do it in a way that also conveys your personality and that is relatable to your audience.

What are some traits of your own brand’s personality? Share them with us in the comments section below.

U lava mahungu aku hisa? Tsalela hina…

Hashtags are not new on social media, but their increasing value shouldn’t go unnoticed. With that in mind, it’s time to discover The value of the social media hashtag.

*Image courtesy of Vecteezy