Depending who you listen to or read in the social media space, the best reason to use social media for your brand varies. It can be for listening; resolving issues; lead generation; focus groups; recruitment; and much, much more.
All good reasons. All good value. And yet….
While these are all solid enough reasons to be on social media from a brand’s point-of-view, they mean nothing unless you have an audience. Not just an audience, but also one that actually trusts and supports you, and will listen when you speak. Without that, you’ll just be another tree in the forest that no-one hears fall.
So how do you build that most valued of commodities in social media (and business in general) – identity and trust? Especially in such a crowded space to start with? Thankfully, it’s not that hard – but it does take work and stamina. Let’s dig in.
Step 1: The Message is the Key
The big mistakes that brands make when jumping into social media is they see their competitors doing it, so think they need to as well. Wrong answer! (Insert buzzer noise here). For sure – social media can (and does) offer a fantastic additional tactic to add to your existing marketing mix. Yet only if it’s right for you – so make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons and not because of forced impressions.
Once you’ve gotten that out of the way, the most important part comes next – defining what your message is going to be, and how that is going to build the loyalty and brand identity that will define your success in this space.
The core points to consider here are:
- What’s our brand’s value proposition, and how do we convey that?
- Who will be our spokesperson/spokespeople, and in what capacity? How do we want to be perceived – thought leaders, the company that listens, educators, or something else?
- How will we ensure the message we’re sharing is consistent and built to last?
These are some of the initial questions to ask, and answers to provide. Without these, you’ll be floundering pretty quickly and people will move on to the next brand. Don’t let that be you. Think about the above questions, and make sure you have the answers (or know who the person is with the answers).
And, for the love of God, please make sure you actually know internally what your business stands for before you go outside!
Step 2: It Ain’t What You Do, It’s The Way That You Do It
Once you have your goals defined, and know exactly what will be said and who will be saying it, you move on to the next most important part – building your brand identity with these components.
This, probably more than anything, will be the part of the puzzle that either builds your identity and success, or sees you crash and burn on takeoff (I watched Top Gun again the other night, so forgive the gung-ho analogies!).
While it’s crucial to have the right people and message defined, it’s just as crucial (if not more so) to take it to market properly. What you say, and how you say it, is going to be the difference between you and your competitors. And if there’s one thing social media has taught all brands, it’s that people are always waiting for you to slip up.
To ensure your message is understood in the way you want it to be seen, you need to be consistent across every touchpoint:
- If you’re setting up a blog, make the editorial guidelines clear, both for internal bloggers and guest authors, determine the message from the blog, and make that core across all posts.
- On social networks, the people that will be the “official” voice of your company need to share communications with each other regularly, and know whose role it is to reply to a certain question or issue.
- On social media-led promotions that carry over to the offline space, ensure the same people promoting and answering online are attached to any offline teams as well, to keep the message clear and integrated.
These are just some of the ways to ensure the messaging from your brand is consistent and clear. That’s one of the first steps to building a true identity online. On top of that, obviously you need to make sure that your brand’s look and feel ties into this identity too.
The last thing you want to do is confuse people when they visit one of your online outposts (blog, social network, Pinterest board, etc.) and find a different colour scheme or look and feel at each place (unless you’re building external resources as a separate part of your brand identity, for SEO or thought leadership reasons).
Get the message consistent; get the look consistent; the rest will start to fall into place.
Step 3: The Long and Winding Road
Of course, this is all pre-identity stuff. Or, at least, pre-social media identity (you have identified what your brand stands for internally, right?). That’s the (relatively) easy part – the hard part is making sure that message is seen and, more importantly, retained time and time again.
And that’s where many brands fail, by expecting social media to be the quick fix to all that ails them. It’s not. Social media is not a fire sale – it’s a long-term investment and tactic, strategy, campaign, call it what you wish.
If you’re expecting your brand to be immediately identifiable through your actions on social media, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Instead, it’s the consistency of the message and voice that will build your identity, not the speed in which you bring that to market.
Customer loyalty isn’t something that can be bought – and the brands that identify the most with their customers’ needs will be the ones that are rewarded with loyalty, referrals, and word-of-mouth marketing.
Social media can enhance the reach of these referring voices to the Nth degree – but you need to make sure you’re deserving of it to start with. Get your identity right by planning it and building it up the right way, and the world (social media or otherwise) can truly be your oyster.
The choice is yours.
image: Margarita Perez Garcia
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30 Comments on "How to Build the Commodities of Identity and Trust in Social Media"
These are great pointers. I have been working on my brand for a couple of months now and I can see it paying off. It’s a tough journey but worth every step.
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andrewmco435 very helpful for those in the class who are just getting used to Twitter. It’s important to start strong. #MCO435
[…] a lead. Leave out the obsessive nature of being liked, because likes are a great way to promote trust, but not necessarily and indicator of new customers. For instance, you might be able to start a […]
JJEnglishUSA Yes, thanks JJ.
BrettRelander DannyBrown This is a good one! Thanks.
[…] How To Build The Commodities of Identity and Trust in Social Media – Danny Brown highlights the importance of managing your social media effectively. He provides useful advice on how you can build a business identity and establish a relationship of trust through your social media channels. […]
[…] This article, copied with permission of Danny Brown, was originally published as “How to Build the Commodities of Identity and Trust in Social Media” on Dannybrown.me […]
tiinatyni1 Agreed. Especially given that so many cross both “paths” these days. AmyVernon
[…] Social media can enhance the reach of these referring voices to the Nth degree – but you need to make sure you’re deserving of it to start with. Get your identity right by planning it and building it up the right way, and the world (social media or otherwise) can truly be your oyster. […]
tiinatyni1 DannyBrown Absolutely.
AmyVernon DannyBrown Good points to consider for both company and personal brands.
[…] Once you've gotten that out of the way, the most important part comes next – defining what your message is going to be, and how that is going to build the loyalty and brand identity that will define your success in this space. […]
Thanks for sharing this. There are a lot of brands who are really knocking it out of the park with their social media and I think they are all the ones who are really taking time to engage with their audience in a personal way.
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[…] Social media can enhance the reach of these referring voices to the Nth degree – but you need to make sure you’re deserving of it to start with. […]
[…] http://dannybrown.me/2014/07/21/how-to-build-the-commodities-of-identity-and-trust-in-social-media/ […]
Howie Goldfarb It’s funny, mate. I once had a major disagreement with an ex-colleague about social activity. Their take was it needed to be a strategist running everything, while my take was the strategy was bigger picture. The day-to-day curation and general interaction would be better off someone that was truly passionate about both brand and social, regardless of seniority.
They got pissed, especially when results showed that my idea reaped more loyalty through increased interaction.
We went our separate ways soon after. Progress, eh? 😉
[…] How to Build the Commodities of Identity and Trust in Social Media [from Danny Brown] […]
I keep finding more and more brands kicking butt without social media. I also keep finding ones doing it themselves with no training and doing it right to grow relationships. It is usually agencies and consultants who screw things up.
This is a great post. You have to actually write down the things you brought up. My ex client in the pool industry (a pox on them for being bad clients) lost all this when I left. Now the person who does the work recycles my old content (hilarious) and brings no value. And the results is a brand that posts every day on Social but really is getting no return. This stuff doesn’t work in a vacuum. Unless you stand outfrom your peers, bring value, and always ask ‘Why would someone want my content?’ and then ‘Provide that content’. You are going to lose. If you just want to promote your brand and products….just do paid advertising. It will have a much higher ROI.
jayidave1 That sounds like a great idea that will help many organizations get their feet off the ground. I think the best way for an organization like a banquet hall would be to post food/menu items and photos of the location so viewers can get a feel for what the venue looks like. However, to balance out the self promotion you would also want to offer design DIY tips for events, recipes to switch it up.
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Annodyne I completely agree with your sentiment! Some organizations do not have a dedicated social media professional which hinders their efforts. I am currently working on an assignment that is helping an non-profit/governmental organization, with limited resources, in developing a marketing plan to drive business growth. They have the same issue with developing a message and utilizing social media. Social media can be extremely helpful to them marketing their banquet hall/locations. What are some ways they can still reap the benefits without a dedicated professional on staff?
jayidave1 Annodyne I agree with your thoughts on you should not be striving to become a thought leader, however what I was trying to say is that not everyone has experience with utilizing social platforms to their advantage. Unfortunately not all organizations have been exposed to social networks resulting in not having the time or resources to dedicate to a proper social marketing strategy that is effective. Having the time to create effective tactics can be a struggle.
I agree a genuine message will allow for an easier creation of marketing strategy. However, what I am trying to say is for those who are new to the realm may struggle with how to perceive there brand on a platform that is entirely new to them. Some organizations unfortunately are still new to social media let alone creating a strategy for the networks. Also, depending on the size of the organization they may not have the time to leverage let alone someone with the expertise to really curate there company’s voice/mission.
Annodyne A business should not gear its message in order to become perceived as a thought leader. A genuine message will allow for an easier creation of a social marketing strategy. Why do you feel it is a struggle for a business to be perceived as something it is possibly not? How would you utilize social media/social marketing strategy to reinforce a message that portrays leadership in the field without implying that it is self proclaimed?
[…] How to Build Identity and Trust in Social Media […]
I think it is a constant struggle as to how a business wants
to be perceived as a thought leader and following through with how that message
comes across as. I believe once that is figured out a social marketing strategy
is much easier.