Niche Marketing on Social Media — Building a Brand Through SNS

As it happens, I am currently in charge of managing BOEL’s social media accounts on Instagram and Twitter.
Our accounts are still relatively new, and each day involves a process of trial and error.

When we say “social media,” there is now an ever-growing number of social networking services available.
Not only do they allow individuals to connect with one another, but they also enable communication with a wide and unspecified audience, making them a mainstream tool for corporate advertising and marketing.
Naturally, the number of users on each platform continues to grow rapidly—but have you ever come across a corporate account like this?

This is an example of our company’s account from a few years ago.
It was used solely to share updates from our website. Does it look familiar—an account that has effectively become a one-way “announcement tool”?
BOEL’s account had become exactly that. After taking on the role of social media manager, I began to consider how to break out of this pattern, and how we might better leverage the unique characteristics of social media to help people gain a deeper understanding of who we are as a company.

If we’re going to post, we want it to be meaningful.

With this in mind, we will look at ways to communicate a brand through social media—alongside the branding perspective that defines BOEL—while also exploring the advantages of doing so through examples from well-known corporate accounts.

This is an example of our company’s account from a few years ago.
It was used solely to share updates from our website. Does it look familiar—an account that has effectively become a one-way “announcement tool”?
BOEL’s account had become exactly that. After taking on the role of social media manager, I began to consider how to break out of this pattern, and how we might better leverage the unique characteristics of social media to help people gain a deeper understanding of who we are as a company.

If we’re going to post, we want it to be meaningful.

With this in mind, we will look at ways to communicate a brand through social media—alongside the branding perspective that defines BOEL—while also exploring the advantages of doing so through examples from well-known corporate accounts.

“Why do we operate social media accounts as a company?”
This was the very first question I asked myself when I took on the role of social media manager.
At the time, BOEL already had accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. However, the content was limited to occasional updates—mainly announcing newly published content or sharing information already available on our website.
For example, BOEL is a company whose core business revolves around branding and design. We operate with the desire to make the world, even if just slightly, a more pleasant place. With that in mind, rather than reaching a large audience indiscriminately, we want to communicate our ideas to a more specific group of people who resonate with this philosophy.
Advertising is often cited as a common method for disseminating information, but it is difficult to precisely target and reliably reach the right audience through such means.
As attention shifts from mass marketing—symbolized by television commercials—to niche marketing, social media emerges as a communication tool that enables marketing on a one-to-one level.
In other words, it allows us to deliver a message to a single individual.

Today, as information intersects across the world in real time, the volume of content being consumed is immeasurable. Philip Kotler, often referred to as the father of marketing, has predicted that by 2030, half of all advertising and marketing budgets will be allocated to social media.
(Quoted from “SNS Marketing,” Basic Knowledge for the Digital Age)

This illustrates just how significant social media has become—it is now an indispensable part of consumers’ lives.
Furthermore, as the so-called SNS generation and millennials enter the workforce, the way people gather information is also changing.

We are moving from an era of “Googling” to one of “tagging.”

Starting with hashtags, and expanding through features like Instagram Reels and shopping functions, social media continues to evolve—enabling the distribution and discovery of information tailored to each user’s interests and preferences.
On the other hand, information outside of a user’s interests tends to be automatically filtered out.<br> And in fact, this very characteristic is what makes social media particularly well-suited for niche marketing.

While the selection of information for each user has become increasingly automated, the sheer volume of content being exchanged in real time remains overwhelming.
However, as discussed earlier, when it comes to using social media for niche marketing, there is no need to rely on a “post a lot and hope one goes viral” approach. (Of course, going viral can certainly help spread awareness…)
There are many different ways to engage with your audience, depending on how you craft your posts and utilize the available tools.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some well-known accounts and explore effective approaches for delivering information to your audience.

情報を蓄積できるinstagramは写真や、画像を使った視覚的なアプローチでブランドを表現しやすいです。
世界観を駆使してブランドを形成し、ファンにアプローチしましょう。

リアルタイムで情報がどんどんタイムラインに流れていくTwitterは、刹那的な情報が多いです。そのため、投稿に一貫性を持たせることよりも、その時・その場所で求められていることを発信することが重要になります。

リアルタイムで情報がどんどんタイムラインに流れていくTwitterは、刹那的な情報が多いです。そのため、投稿に一貫性を持たせることよりも、その時・その場所で求められていることを発信することが重要になります。

As mentioned at the beginning, social media is a communication tool that enables marketing on a one-to-one level, and it can also serve as a powerful medium for brand expression. If you shift your perspective and realize that having a large number of followers or high view counts is not everything, doesn’t managing social media feel a bit more approachable?
We hope this serves as a helpful hint for those who feel their accounts have become mere “announcement tools,” or who are unsure about the purpose of operating social media.

I am still learning through trial and error every day, but with the mindset of shaping the face of our company, I will continue to nurture our social media accounts so they can reach and resonate with a niche audience.

You can find BOEL’s accounts below—please feel free to take a look!