The explosion of social media--and the new powers of communication it gives audiences and consumers--can easily lead to a fragmented, "pixellated" brand. But while social media brings new tools, the "old" rules of branding still apply. And, because social media gives your constituents new ways to tell you what they care about, by bringing a brand-focused approach to your efforts, you can use those tools to add definition to your organization's brand and create a more vivid picture of what your organization stands for.
In this presentation, Brandon Walsh and Tamsen McMahon from Sametz Blackstone Associates, whose clients include the Fuller Craft Museum and the Boston Ballet, talk about what the rise of social media means for your institutional branding efforts. Using five basic rules of branding, you'll learn asystematic approach for implementing a social media strategy that focuses - not fragments - your organization's brand.
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475 million Internet users worldwide. Facebook reaches 1/3 of them. (Universal McCann)Time spent on social media is growing at 3xthe rate of the overall Internet. (Nielsen)122 million on Facebook. 23 million on Twitter. 12 million on LinkedIn. 1 million in niche networks on Ning. (Compete.com, Ning)Social media is like a ringing phone. Just because you don’t answer it, it doesn’t mean people will stop calling. And they’ll get increasingly annoyed. (Chris Brogan, Julien Smith)
“Consumers’ reliance on word of mouth…, either from people they know or online consumers they don’t, has increased significantly.” (JONATHAN CARSON, PRESIDENT OF ONLINE, INTERNATIONAL, FOR THE NIELSEN COMPANY)
Brands exists in the minds of your constituents. Since they’re listening to their friends more than they are you, it’s critical to join the conversation.
Print materials didn’t mean the end of face-to-face conversation. Websites didn’t mean the end of print materials. Social Media doesn’t mean the end of the websites…or print materials…or face-to-face conversation.But with so many channels, having a strong brand—strong enough to keep all of those vehicles pulled together—is critical.
Effective brands can’t be built with smoke and mirrors. Your mission, vision and capabilities + That which you believe about yourself and want others to understand, believe, and support.
Effective brands can’t be built with smoke and mirrors. Your mission, vision and capabilities + That which you believe about yourself and want others to understand, believe, and support.
Prepare your open book:Active v. Passive transparency
Your brand is like a sound wave that carries far—it will resonate with some and not others (and that’s okay)Social media means, in many ways, the "death of distance" - Tom Petersmost powerful (donor) constituency may not be your local onebroadcasting to narrowcast to find the the audiences with whom you resonate most strongly
This is the “age of avatars” – a picture HAS to say a thousand words.fragmentation and focus (visual brand diffusion is increasing threat)maximize what you control(use this preso as an example?)
matter where it matters to bemoving people closer to you v. moving you closer to them
Some talk about this as listening – we prefer to think of it as watching, to learn.
It’s about “listening” to what people are saying, but it’s also watching what they’re doing – and where.
With your eyes and ears open, it’s time to start digging deeper to see what’s there and what you have to work with. Investigation covers:AudiencesResonance and DissonanceContentOutcomes andMeasurement
Answer these questions
You’ll likely start to see areas where there’s a gap between what you thought was the case, and what is. The goal is to close the gap.
In other words, in addition to asking these questions…
…you also need to answer THESE.
Social media thrives on content. No content = no conversation.Let me say that again: no content = no conversation.If you don’t have anything to say, you’re likely not ready to start yet. Keep investigating.If you do, then you need to answer…
You need to identify, up front, where the content is coming from, and who is responsible. This takes more time than you might think (I spend 1 – 4 hours a day on it).DON’T give this responsibility to the youngest person on your staff just because they “get” Facebook. Do they get YOUR INSTITUTION? Are you comfortable with them being the very public face of your brand? Can they handle the inevitable negative feedback?
To paraphrase the Cheshire Cat, “if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”With social media, not knowing what image you’re trying to create can lead to a completely fragmented one – or something completely wrong.
You’re likely going to spend a lot of time defending the time you’re spending on social media.Your best answer? Now how you’ll know when you’re successful.In other words,
tie it to BUSINESS OBJECTIVESoperationalize itIf you want to sell more tickets? Raise more for the annual fund? get more press coverage (online or off)? Tie it to something you can measure.And give. it. time.
With all the information in place, it’s time to start setting up your experiment.
First, match platform to purpose, given the results of all you investigated.
DOCUMENT what you’re trying to achieve, you’re assumption, so you have a basis to make changes later.
Ready. Set. Go.
establish accountsparticipate, engage
Practice for yourself first – like getting a learner’s permit before you hand over the keys to your institution’s brandSocial Media Startup Lab
Once you’ve been doing this a while, you need to keep tabs on what’s happening, so you’re in a position to adjust your tactics – or even your strategy.
So where are you moving the needle?Look at the measurements you decided on, and see if you’re accomplishing the outcomes you wanted.Tools can help:Google Analytics for numbersSocialmention for sentimentActions are your own internal business metrics(And yes, there are companies that can help you do this, too, if you need more information.)
This is a continuous process of asking, testing, and readjusting based on the outcomes you want, and the outcomes you achieve.When you look at what social media is doing for you, you’ll likely see one of three brand images:
Depending on how you use social media in context with your brand, you can either sharpen the image, be fuzzy, or just be wrong. (And you can’t turn back time.)