Enhancing Your Online Brand Through Social Media

Presented by Miles Technologies

August 24, 2011

What Defines Your Brand?

• Logo• Color Schemes• Slogan• Core Business Values• Key Messages/Concepts

– Anything that distinguishes your business from the rest!

Your Brand – Online vs. Offline

Offline, your brand is:

– Static– Easier to control– Less adaptable

Online, your brand is:

– Dynamic– Less Predictable– More adaptable

Why does your online brand matter?

• 92% of consumers have more confidence in information they find online than they do in information they receive from sales clerks or other sources. (Wall Street Journal, Jan 2009)

• 97% of consumers use the Internet to research products or services in their local area (Kelsey Group, March 2010)

• 79% of smartphone consumers use their phones to help with shopping, from comparing prices, finding more product info to locating a retailer (Google & Ipsos OTX, April 2011)

– Whether you are doing business online or offline, potential customers are searching for your business to gather relevant information before they make a purchase.

Your Online Brand: 3 Considerations

1. Consistency Do you have a consistent look and feel?

2. VisibilityWhat percentage of the SERP’s do you own for branded

searches?

3. SentimentWhat are consumers saying about your brand?

Brand Consistency

• Potential customers searching for you online are seeking information about what your business offers, what they can expect from you, etc.

• A consistent brand makes sure that you are answering these questions the same way on every online platform you use.

• This includes both written messages and visual cues (graphics/logos/color schemes).

Brand Consistency (continued)

Brand Consistency (continued)

Brand Consistency (continued)

Brand Consistency (continued)

Brand Consistency (continued)

Considerations for Getting Started

– Start Small: Simple graphical customizations to your Facebook profile photo or Twitter background can go a long way.

– Plan Your Message: Different social media platforms have different character limitations. Craft your primary message so that it can be broken down into smaller snippets (150 words, 50 words, 25 words).

Brand Visibility

How easy is it to find your brand online?

Take the time now

to do a test search

on Google for your

company name.

What do you see?

Brand Visibility (continued)

Brand Visibility (continued)

Improving Your Brand Visibility

• Social Media– LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Etc.

• Content Distribution– Press Releases, Articles, Blogs

• Directory Listings– Manta, MerchantCircle.com, Google Business Listings

• Multimedia– Photos, Videos

Custom Social Media URL’s

• Twitter– http://twitter.com/milestech

• Facebook– http://www.facebook.com/MilesTechnologies

• LinkedIn– http://www.linkedin.com/company/miles-technologies

Custom URL’s

• Twitter URL: – Defined by your username (some character limitations)

• Facebook URL: – Once your page has 25 fans, you can set your username.

• Go to facebook.com/username as the person who created the fan page. Then, click “set a username for your pages” and you’ll be free to set your name.

– Important Note: Once you set a username for a page, you cannot change it!

Custom URL’s (continued)

• LinkedIn Public Profile

Custom URL’s (continued)

• Click “Edit Profile” to customize your URL:

Custom URL’s (continued)

Brand Sentiment

• What are users saying about your brand on social media sites?

Brand Sentiment (continued)

Brand Sentiment (continued)

Brand Sentiment

• What does this mean for your online brand?

To protect your brand, you must implement a plan to monitor and respond to consumers via social media platforms.

Brand Sentiment (continued)

• Monitoring Your Online Brand– Facebook

• If you are the owner/admin of a page, you are eligible to receive an email from Facebook every time a user posts or comments on your wall.

– Twitter• Twitter will alert you via email when one of your

followers mentions you on the site.

Brand Sentiment (continued)An additional tool for monitoring your online brand:

Google Alerts

Google Alerts are email updates that alert you when a specific phrase is indexed by Google.

Brand Sentiment (continued)

To set up Google alerts, go to http://www.google.com/alerts

Brand Sentiment (continued)

Brand Sentiment (continued)

Brand Sentiment (continued)

Brand Sentiment (continued)

Brand Sentiment (continued)

Brand Sentiment (continued)

Brand Sentiment (continued)

Brand Sentiment (continued)

• Responding to consumers via social media platforms.

– Considerations:• Creating a plan before an incident arises is the best way to

ensure proper response (to both positive and negative feedback).

– Who will respond?– What types of responses are appropriate?– What is the goal for timely response to brand sentiment

issues?

Thank you for joining us!

• Questions about today’s presentation?• Need help implementing these & other tools?• Interested in a free SEO Evaluation?

Contact Us!www.MilesTechnologies.com

800-496-8001

Courtney Gager: Lead Online Marketing & PR Specialistcourtney@4miles.com