Building a Brand in Social Media

Brand building is a complex process where advertising, strategy, and image that the corporation tries to create meets the perception, views and experiences it’s customers have. Many companies deal with an identity gap, a difference in the image they try to create and the perception of their customers. Social media can actually help companies bridge that gap.

If we look at a corporate brand as the character or personality your brand has, social media comes the perfect medium to reflect your company’s personality. Social media is a conversation platform where you and your “subject” exchange views, ideas and thoughts, all reflecting on your personality, creating a relationship between your company and your customers or community. That relationship is based on your participation in social media, the value you bring to others and the character or personality you reflect.

What is your brand like?
First of all, when entering social media as a corporation you have to realize what your brand is. Not what you think or want it to be, but what it is. To realize that, you’ll have to start by listening. There are number of search engines you can use to find where your brand is mentioned, such as technorati, Google blogsearch, Summize etc. You can also subscribe to notifications on Google Alerts, Summize and other places which will send you a notification when your brand or keyword is mentioned. Search for the names of your company, products and services and listen to the word out there. Is the brand coherent with what you thought it was or wanted it to be? Though you may find different perception of your brand from what you hoped for, that doesn’t have to be a negative thing. Perhaps you will find out that your brand stands for something positive that you didn’t realize. Something you can actually build on in your future brand building efforts.

What do you want your brand to be like?
Secondly, know where you want to be. Based on your product, service and own character, mixed with your target group’s interest and character and what you found in your search for discussions on your brand online and perhaps surveys you’ve had made, you should make a brand strategy. What’s your mantra? What are your key characteristics? If your brand was a car, what car would it be? If your brand was a person, what kind of person would it be? Where would you live, what would you drive, what would your family status be, what would your interests be? When you have figured out where you want your brand to be, summit up in one sentence or three keywords that best describe your brand character. These are the keywords you will have to bear in mind at all time when communicating with your customers or your target community.

Anything you say can and will be used against you
in Social Media

But don’t despair. You are making your brand more human by participating in social media and it’s human to make mistakes. Everyone does (and if they don’t they’re either lying or not trying hard enough). So don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Just when you do, be honest about it. Apologize and admit that you were wrong and move on. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how forgiving people really are when they don’t feel they’ve been fooled, tricked or deceived.

One of the benefits of making mistakes is that it makes your brand more human. And being more human means that people find it easier to relate to you, they see you’re honest and they trust you better. You see, it’s not the mistakes that ruin brands. It’s the cover up and the lies that do. Be honest about your mistakes and it might even strengthen your brand.

Do you have a brand building strategy for social media? Please share your ideas and thoughts on the subject in the comments below.

Hjörtur

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Comments

[Kimberly Bock]

I'm in the middle of writing a blog post that has to do with something along these lines now. The human element exists. It is underexplored, but times are changing, and we are growing as consumers. We'd rather see a screw up and an apology, then a screw up and a cover up.

[Kimberly Bock]

I'm in the middle of writing a blog post that has to do with something along these lines now. The human element exists. It is underexplored, but times are changing, and we are growing as consumers. We'd rather see a screw up and an apology, then a screw up and a cover up.

[Kimberly Bock]

I'm in the middle of writing a blog post that has to do with something along these lines now. The human element exists. It is underexplored, but times are changing, and we are growing as consumers. We'd rather see a screw up and an apology, then a screw up and a cover up.

[frank]

Hjörtur ...

Thanks for putting this out there. Here are a couple other posts that I have come across lately (see below).

I love what you have to say about listening ... it is the Key that it seems a lot of folks/companies either don't know how to do ... or just don't do period.

Once you listen it's all about engaging with the right group of people/companies. You have to get out there and participate in the conversations going on all over the web. This can be difficult, but it's necessary. We should be out reading blogs, commenting, discussing and sharing.

If you can actively listen and participate then the content you put out has a better chance of being valuable ... you will also gain the benifit of respect and trust from the bloggers you have been reading/participating with.

My delicious bookmarks on this building up here:
http://delicious.com/franswaa/branding

http://redcouch.typepad.com/weblog/2008/08/why-personal-co.html

http://bettercloser.com/2008/08/27/personal-branding-build-your-personal-brand-in-5-days/

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http://twitter.com/franswaa

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[Dana Lookadoo]

I'll chime in as well to say, "perfect timing!" I'm also happy to find Frank's references.

Your approach to branding applies to corporations and small businesses as well. We can too easily click "Submit" or hit "Enter" when participating in Social Media, spout off a comment, voice a concern, pass a judgment. Been there. Done that. Not proud of it. Learning...

Key takeaways here, listen and don't be too prideful to apologize. My latest thoughts have been to "tear off the rear view mirror" and stop looking back at the mistakes. Look where you want to go, forward.

Great post and very well written!

[Tanner (does Utah marketing)]

Don't forget about this great online tool for tracking brand buzz: http://www.serph.com brought to you by the great guys over at ACS.

[Internet Marketing Joy]

It is very important to create a brand that makes you stand out from others.

[Brandon Carlos]

It might be dangerous to recommend social media as the cure to an organizations branding woes. The harsh reality is this: SM, and those who participate in the space, primarily exists to add value. Many organizations have plenty of value-adding data to provide in the space; most do not. The problem with a Ford blog, for example, is that it really has nothing to offer. Personalizing the CEO or not, that blog will eventually fail because it ignores the law of value.
I like Dana's comment about your strategy applying to small business. Because of lack of visibility and speciality niche's, it's often much easier for a small business-- with the right buy-in-- to build a successful brand through social media involvement.