Your Social Media Marketing Linch Pin: Branding
Ever watch your grandmother sort through her (postal) mail? If your granny is anything like mine, she carefully inspects and opens piece after piece. You just want to scream, “Just scan and throw it out – it’s all junk!” Having grown up in the era of bulk postage rates, we’ve developed a ninja-fast ability to discern what’s real and what’s not when it comes to the daily mail haul. Why? To preserve our mental health. We’re overloaded with marketing messages every day on the radio, television, billboards and of course, our mailbox. If we gave every offer a neighborly, 1900’s-like consideration, we’d never make it through our day. It’s too much and most of it’s crap.
As a defense mechanism, we’ve developed a 6th sense to gauge what’s legitimate and what’s not. We can scan an email inbox with hundreds of messages and quickly identify the few “real” ones. We rifle through pages of Google results to find sources we can trust and which should be ignored. We read product reviews on Amazon and quickly decide which are helpful and which aren’t. Our brains are gold-panning supercomputers instantaneously filtering our way through daily information overloaded.
Now consider social media, the most eclectic, ever-changing fire hose of information in human history. As online marketers, what can we do to make sure our legitimate voice and information is taken seriously?
Answer: Branding. Yep, that old school marketing stuff…
Your brand is the genuine, distinct personality of your company. It’s what your organization stands for and makes you unique in a sea of otherwise sameness. It’s an emotional connection or way people react to a logo or product. And while it’s often associated with a visual/logo (an icon that symbolizes your brand), it includes what you say and how you say it as well. Over time, your brand builds equity — it means something to people and has value. It builds trust, justifies your attention and rationalizes a premium price.
When it comes to social media, the need for branding is greater than ever. People may find your organization’s Web site in search engine results along with you your Twitter account, Facebook group, YouTube channel and blog. Do all these places “feel” the same? Do they speak with the same voice? Do they offer consistent materials?
Now considering the chipmunk-on-meth attention span of most Web visitors, does your social media channel past the 5-second brand consistency test? Pull up one of your social media channels (say, your blog) then quickly review it for visuals, personality and content:
- Visual Presentation
Are you using your logo correctly – colors/size/spacing? Does your color scheme match your Web site? Do your photos match your other marketing materials? - Personality
Does it convey the right tone and spirit? Does it “feel” like your organization? - Content
Is the material you offer appropriate? Or is it just copy-and-pasted from your annual report? Does the depth and breadth of content reflect your expertise? Is it what people would expect?
There’s a lot in social media that you can’t control, but what you say and how you say it is still your choice. Your online brand identity should be treated as an invaluable asset that MUST be nurtured and protected. Because without it, you’re just a commodity fighting to breath in an increasingly crowded online marketplace.
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perry on October 24, 2009 @ 2:27 pm
Gary,
Great insights and proves the point that while the channel may change and things may speed up & change frequently, the fundamentals of business are still the fundamentals of business.
Business is now and has always been about people connecting to people. All of the social communication tools have just re-oriented us all (consumer & provider alike) to this fact. Long gone are the “Marketing Campaigns” where the message is controlled, protected, & pushed out to the masses. Now the masses decide what they believe and what they do not and are not afraid to engage providers and take them to task is the message is not authentic and aligned with the brand.
Some may call this anarchy, I say it is freedom for all of us to give up the fallacy of control.
Great post!