Using Social Media to Build

and Define Your Brand

Digital Media ButterflyNAFE – Waco16 May 2013

2Think about this: YOU are your brand

When someone comes to YOU for a service, they are buying YOUR

time, energy, creativity, insight, wisdom, talent, education,

signature. They are buying YOU.

Think of your brand as a story-teller

Brands who tell the best stories win loyal customers

Let your customers talk about you

Take the good along with the bad

Your message needs to be the same no matter where your

customer hears it

Unlike traditional marketing, social media gives you a chance

to interact directly and immediately with your customers

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Let’s Play a Guessing GameCompanies that get Branding Right

43 parts to your

Company’s Branding

Logo

Including Watermark/Favicon

Color Scheme

Voice

Including Tagline

5ConsistencyKey to Social Media and Branding

You must be consistent with your content and your branding.

If you have something tangible, valuable, memorable to share, you want to make it available.

Your consistency can be as often as weekly; it can be daily or twice a week. But be consistent with your message.

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Create Branded Online Destinations

This is the first step to raising brand awareness and loyalty. Companies with the most successful social media branding surround consumers with online experiences that allow them to select how they interact with the brand.

Consider using popular, free options like blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and so on. Of course, for small-business owners without the manpower to effectively manage too many destinations, you should consider testing each of these to determine which social media service you're most likely to stick with over the long haul. This will become your core destination. All your other online destinations should link back to the core.

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Consistently Post Relevant and Valuable Content

Have you heard of the saying, “out of sight out of mind”? If you don’t stay in contact with people regularly, they’ll forget you exist pretty quickly. Make sure they’re continually aware of your brand by posting regularly. Build up brand loyalty by posting content that your audience will really love (stuff they can use). And remember that value is determined by your audience. A corporate or professional audience might love a daily

three-minute video giving powerful tips on public speaking. A college-age crowd may be more interested in shocking or

humorous pictures and/or videos. A small business audience with limited time might appreciate

links to business news stories in their local area. The key here is to know your audience. Post the type of

content that your specific audience will love. Focus on offering value rather than trying to get people to buy something or like your page. Build up real loyalty rather than going for the quick sale.

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Communicating Thought Leadership

One way for a brand to lose credibility with a social audience is to simply spam them with “opportunities” to purchase a product or service without providing any value.

This value can come in many forms, but should be designed to teach, entertain, ignite discussions, and gain honest feedback.

Social media is the perfect platform for a brand to communicate their expertise in a given industry, and do so by providing great content that people will share with others.

This is how companies can become thought leaders in their space.

9Transparency This is an area that executives and decision

makers have feared the most but a hurdle that must be overcome for a company to be successful using social media.

In today’s digital world, transparency is an inherent reality, as people will be talking about issues associated with your brand online.

Companies need to embrace this and get involved in guiding that conversation. In a report from eMarketer, 77% of buyers said they

are more likely to buy from a company if the CEO uses social media, and 82% trust the company more. 

This is impressive, and telling of how consumers want to engage with brands and top-level executives.

10Quick & Responsive

Customer Communication

If consumers know they can reach out to your company via social media and are encouraged to do so, this is a good opportunity to provide great service in front of a large audience.

Don’t be afraid of customer complaints. Address them head on.

These opportunities can often turn into great testimonials when customers are handled with care.

11Ensures Accountability

When companies are openly engaged in social media and encouraging their audience to interact with them, it ensures a certain level of accountability.

In using social media aggressively, a brand can essentially hold itself accountable for providing great products, services, and customer service.

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Fun & Simple Engagement

Another way to build and maintain trust is through entertainment. 

Don’t always make it about your company and its services or value. This goes back to thought leadership and content marketing.

Provide value in fun and creative ways.

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Social Responsibility

A great way to build trust with your customers is to let them know that you care about others more than just yourself.

The same goes for building brand equity. Socially responsible brands often gain

more momentum because their customers know they aren’t just about profits, but also giving back to their communities or the world around them.

Social media channels are the perfect platform to communicate this message and let it spread organically. 

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Share Your Expertise through Content

Share content to your community which helps your visitors with items related to your products or any other need they need fulfilled.

Content does not necessarily need to be just about what you’re selling; it can be glimpses into your office, highlight your employees, convey your culture, share experiences from customers and much more.

Each piece of content builds upon one another and continues to construct a strong online brand.

Push only your best content to the world, don’t be overly promotional and always provide value to your end user.

15

Share Your Authority through Interaction

Build your authority from the messages and interaction you have with members of your community.

People have come to your business looking for a solution to their problem; extend the solution beyond your product by sharing messages that add to the overall value of what your product offers.

When people have problems they often flock to social networks to ask the community.

Join social networks to answer questions. Each time you interact with members on a social

network you will also be reaching friends of these people that leads to a great perception of authority.

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Share Your Message through Updates

Update your community with recent events at your business or what’s happening within your marketplace.

Information is powerful; sharing it will educate your community.

If you are the only player within your market that’s taking advantage of social media the16n you’re at a prime spot to properly build an online brand.

Businesses that are slow to join social networks are missing out on great opportunities to convey their message and build a lasting online brand through this interaction.

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Share your Culture through Transparency

Share the thing that makes your business special on social networks.

People have moved away from dealing with businesses that only want to make money; share the unique element about the culture behind your business to have people get on board with what you represent rather than what you sell.

Apple, for example, doesn’t simply sell products, their brand represents an artistic movement in computing; the movement is what people get behind and the products come second.

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Using your Logo Coca Cola

Twitter

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Using your Color Scheme McDonalds

Facebook

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Using your Voice Chipotle

Facebook

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Branding/Marketing Myths

The same marketing techniques work

every time

A perfectly executed marketing plan will

guarantee success

Marketing’s goal is to increase sales

Your marketing needs to appeal to

everyone

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Companies that Get Consistent Branding

Google

Etsy

Disney

Coca-Cola

Target

Amazon

The New Yorker

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Why should I care about social media?

It is not a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.

People are on social media talking about your company whether you are there or not.

Social Media gives consumers power and they like that!

In fact, according to a recent survey, 87% of all people looking for a new service provider, new service, or a new product go to the internet first. So if you are not on the internet with your message and

product, you are left with only 13% of the people looking for your service. Yikes!

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How do you get started in Social

Media?

Immerse yourself in the conversationsMessages are not conversations,

conversations are 2-sidedParticipate and Share

Social comes before mediaRelinquish control

You can not control the conversation, just your part in it

Make them love you or hate youDon’t leave them indifferent

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Done Right a Strong Brand Leads to Strong Profits

Building a strong brand using social media

involves First clearly defining your brand

Then choosing the right social networks to be

on

Finally posting content that your audience loves

If you do this right your brand will become

stronger and stronger both in your customer’s

mind and in your market in general, which

ultimately leads to referrals, opportunities and

profits.

26Got Questions?

Caryn BrownWebsite Crafter and Social Media StrategistDigital Media Butterflycaryn@DigitalMediaButterfly.com(254) 722-2991