One of the topics that was briefly discussed at the recent Westfair Communications Social Media Roundtable (that I moderated), involved branding. Unfortunately, because of time constraints and the wide range of social media topics that the excellent panel discussed, we did not address branding to the depth it deserves. (Incidentally, the content of this excellent social media roundtable is available on the Westfairinc.com website. The recording is about an hour in length.)
Branding is the creation of an image, symbol or name that provides a consistent theme for a company”™s product or service across a wide range of mediums. When successful, a brand can significantly help a company differentiate itself from its competitors and increase sales.
Every branding campaign requires consistency and clarity. If a brand is not consistent and crystal clear throughout a company”™s internal and external communications, its message will become diffused and its impact severely diminished. Even with a crystal clear message, branding requires consistent repetition (and sometimes saturation).
Companies spend millions of dollars to establish their brands. It”™s important for their brand promotion that they get before a large targeted and possibly interactive audience, one that will respond to their content. It is the aim ”“ and hope ”“ of most online marketers to be able to engage this interactive audience to such an extent that it will willingly extend the communications to friends and followers, potentially generating a viral amount of attention and buzz.
According to Claire Stoddard, president of Branding Universe (and the presenter of an upcoming June 20th webinar on branding), “Understanding the wants of your customer is critical to the success of any branding campaign. You must interact with prospects and customers, not only to determine whether or not they are satisfied with your brand, but what it is about your brand that has a unique value to them. Social media is a terrific tool to help accomplish this type of research and dialog.”
This interactivity is one of the most useful and potent aspects of online branding. By creating a dialog with a target market, a company can not only develop real insight about its product and how it is perceived but can also reinforce ”“ and possibly modify, if necessary ”“ its reputation. Since word of mouth and the speed of the social web is crucial to the continued success of any product or service, this interactivity can rapidly enhance or reduce a brand”™s perceived status. This is one of the major reasons why companies are increasingly starting to track brand sentiment.
Starbucks has a very prominent online branding presence. Its Facebook, YouTube and Twitter activities (among others) allow it to feature events, promotions and interviews. Not only does it make Twitter announcements, but it encourages feedback from its many followers. Dunkin”™ Donuts uses Facebook for brand promotion and features contests and games.
Although services (such as Google) recommend advertising as a means of promoting your brand, what they don”™t say is that these advertisements are significantly more effective when brand recognition is involved. People are far more likely to click on an advertisement in which they recognize the brand than one lacking that recognition. This makes it essential for companies with limited budgets and incomplete branding to not fall prey to the advertising hype and instead utilize the social aspect of social media ”“ dialogs, postings and effective platform techniques such as using hashtags on Twitter that incorporate a company slogan to help build their brand rather than a full-blown advertising campaign. A very limited and targeted advertising campaign can be more effective ”“ for both market research and promotion ”“ when done properly and within very specific financial constraints.
One further point: Although social media has rapidly become an integral component of most branding campaigns, it is important to remember that it still remains just a component of a consistent marketing campaign. It must still abide by the key aspects of any branding campaign, namely clarity, consistency and repetition.
Bruce Newman is the vice president at The Productivity Institute L.L.C. in Carmel. He is also a social media strategist and the designer of a new service, wwWebevents.com. Follow him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and the Productivity Institute blog. He can be reached at bnewman@prodinst.com.
