4 South Asian Brands That Are Killing It With Their Social Media Content Strategy
If there’s one thing we know by now it’s that social media is a non-negotiable for businesses that want to build a magnetic brand.
Everyone and their mom will tell you that social media helps you connect with your customers and create a community around your products or services, but what does that really mean?
A brand differs from a business in that it is humanized and focuses on its community, whereas a business is an entity focused on the bottom line.
In order to build a loyal fanbase around your brand, you need to get your audience to emotionally invest in your product or service. Think about these questions:
Why is your mission important to your audience?
When you solve your customer’s pain points through your product/service, how do they feel?
What characteristics allow you to connect one-on-one with your customers if you were to talk to them in person?
These are just a glimpse into how social media is a tool to execute your brand strategy. (Learn more about the 3 V’s of Authentic Brand Strategy).
By regularly posting engaging content and interacting with customers on social media, you can build relationships with your customers around these emotions and intimate connections. Doing so will not only rally a community around your brand, but also establish you as a thought leader in your industry.
Many of us know the Glossiers and Skims of the world, but what about the South Asian brands?
As a woman of color, I love to support other POC-owned brands. In fact, I’m on a mission to slowly transform my entire skincare routine to be all South Asian-owned products.
While searching for those brands, I admittedly fell into a rabbit hole of discovering incredible South Asian brands. So, here’s a look into four South Asian brands that are killing it with their social media content strategy and what we can learn from them:
Kolkata Chai
Kolkata Chai – a chai shop based in NYC – shows an intimate understanding of its target audience using culturally relevant inside jokes. Speaking to shared experiences such as being raised by immigrants or a hyphenated existence that rallies people together while poking fun is the perfect balance for this South Asian chai brand. (Plus, the copy is to die chai for)
Product-based brands without a brand ambassador (or face of the brand) need to niche down to speak to a specific audience to build a strong community effectively.
Conducting market research and analyzing customer data can give you valuable insight into your target audience if you have not yet identified it. However, once you do this, you can curate and fine-tune content like Kolkata that speaks directly to your followers in a way that makes them want to hit like, comment, and/or share.
Key Takeaway
Gain a deep understanding of your unique target audience and then create content that speaks directly to them, even if others may not necessarily understand. (Besides, we all know that feeling of FOMO when we see the latest trend on TikTok and want to understand what it is. Mystery breeds curiosity, which can in turn increase your visibility.)
Sahajan Skincare
Sahajan Skincare is a South Asian-owned (specifically, Malayalee-owned for my fellow Mallus!) skincare brand rooted in ayurveda. Their Instagram is a brilliant example of not selling a product, but rather selling a feeling or a lifestyle around the product.
Their social media features tons of content around health and wellness, such as meditations, affirmations, yoga poses, and more. Not only do all these topics align with the heavy ayurvedic roots of the product, but also with the lifestyle of founder Lisa Mattam.
In doing so, Sahajan gives a face to the brand that aligns with their intended customer: a skincare enthusiast that prioritizes not just wellness, but wellbeing. In other words, this is not a product that sits on the sink or in a skincare fridge; Sahajan is a part of daily rituals.
Not to mention, highlighting influencers and prominent South Asian public figures establishes social proof among a demographic and audience type that people can relate to.
The founder also makes personal appearances in the content, which signals that Sahajan’s content strategy is optimized to balance the lifestyle of a busy founder while maximizing user-generated content (UGC), product photography, and other influencers and content creators. Doing so allows their team to have a library of content that doesn’t leave them scrambling to find something to post.
Key Takeaway
Create a strong emotional connection with your audience by effectively showcasing your brand’s values and the lifestyle around your product or service. Leveraging your unique market positioning through relatable content will help build trust and credibility while establishing the foundation of your core values and mission.
Köppen Ayurveda
Köppen is an ayurvedic lifestyle and product company that sells beautiful and mindfully developed products to incorporate Ayurveda into daily life. In addition to sharing digestible and approachable educational content, Köppen has mastered the art of on-brand aesthetics.
One of the best ways to grab the attention of customers online is to create high-quality, engaging content that speaks to their needs and interests.
While certain social media platforms are less aesthetically-focused than others (looking at you, TikTok!) users still appreciate a beautiful brand, especially when it comes to product-based businesses.
Everything from the unboxing of a product to its regular use is a sensory experience that must include beauty and aesthetics. Therefore, your social media should reflect that experience as well.
Köppen’s on-brand digital presence takes their dreamy packaging and branding and amplifies it on social. Rather than showing its products on a plain white background, Köppen uses light play, fabric textures, angles, and more to create an emotional message about the therapeutic quality of its products.
Even in graphics, the brand remains true to its education-first approach while maintaining attention to detail in keeping the visuals on-brand.
Key Takeaway
Carefully design graphics and curate images to help establish and maintain a consistent brand identity on social media. On-brand graphics can help to differentiate your brand from others and make your content more visually appealing, which can help to attract and engage followers.
Kanya London
Kanya London is a modern South Asian clothing brand based in the United Kingdom. With stunning items, this brand is another example of not selling the product but selling an ideal that is made possible with the product. (Also, can we hear some commotion for their highlight covers?)
Where Sahajan sold the lifestyle around the product (skincare as a wellness ritual), Kanya sells an ideal that can only be accessed by purchasing its clothes.
By focusing on the lifestyle that its clothing enables, Kanya effectively taps into its customers' desires and aspirations.
In other words, Kanya drills down how one of its beautiful, modern sarees can help you become the head-turning, magnetic It Girl you really want to be. This strategy allows brands to create a compelling story that sets them apart from the competition and is a great example of provocative storytelling.
Key Takeaway
Focus on the emotions and aspirations that your product can enable. Show – don’t tell – your audience how your product or service can help them live a better, more fulfilling life. Convey the emotions and experiences that your customers can expect to have when interacting with your brand.
Craft a Magentic Social Media Presence with Strategic Content
Wish you had someone in your back pocket to consult any time you need to plan social media content?
With my Content Consulting packages, you get me as your on-call expert. We’ll sit down and create a plan for your next month of content across channels – together. You can also get started with a single, Q&A-style session if you’re feeling stuck and want to test it out.
Learn more about my content consulting sessions (including current pricing!) on my Services page.
