It’s so easy to set up an online profile these days that it also becomes easy (especially if you’re using a lot of social media tools) to develop brand inconsistency as you populate multiple online spaces with your company information. While this mistake may not ‘make or break’ your effectiveness online having a cohesive online presence can only help to advance your marketing and branding efforts across the web. Australian Businesswomen’s Network member Cat Matson of Alito is today’s 30 Days of Social Media contributor. In this post she provides us with some easy ways to keep our brand consistent. [At the bottom of this post you’ll find additional ideas and ways to be proactive in securing your brand congruence.]
How to Manage Your Online Brand – Consistency and Congruence
Do you have a Facebook profile? LinkedIn? Do you use Twitter, have a blog or a website or use other social networking platforms, like the ABN’s online communities? Do you use email stationery or signatures with tag-lines or links to various profiles? If I looked at each of those profiles today, would they present a consistent, congruent message of who you are? Would they support the marketing message you broadcast when you’ve got your ‘Business Owner’ hat on? Or do they work against you? The thing I find most exciting about online marketing is how effectively I can build relationships. In the ‘old’ days, I would attend networking functions, meet a handful of people and then, in order to build on the relationship, I would need to meet face-to-face or find other ways to ‘stay in touch’. But with online marketing, particularly the new social networking platforms, I can engage in meaningful, everyday conversations with people I would otherwise not get the chance to. However, just as with ‘traditional’ marketing, if you want it to be effective, your message needs to be consistent. It’s not about necessarily saying the same words in each context, rather you need to present a consistent ‘voice’. Here are my fundamental ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’. Do:
- Be yourself
- Be aware of how public the online space really is
- Use your real name in social networking platforms
- Clarify your purpose for using a particular online platform and learn the etiquette for that platform. From that foundation, engage appropriately for the context.
- Review your foundational marketing pieces – website, blog, paper-based collateral, business cards – do they present a united front?
Don’t:
- Use some abstract user name in social networking sites that could be misconstrued as a login for a porn site or alternate reality game
- Use a photo that doesn’t match your desired image
- Throw together a website or blog that doesn’t live up to your professional image – a site that detracts from your brand image does more damage than no site at all
- Use online tactics that don’t ‘sit’ well with you
Online networking is really just ‘traditional’ networking in hyper-drive – but it’s still all about connections, engagement, relationships and trust. And to do that you need to be genuine and authentic.
ADDITIONAL TIPS FOR MANAGING YOUR ONLINE BRAND
GRAB YOUR SPACE. PROTECT YOUR NAME. Identity theft of a different kind can occur online as people register usernames that are perhaps not their own, in order to make the most of search traffic. Whether you’re using them yet or not, grab your brand URLS on all the key social media spaces. Position placeholders and even redirect spaces to your site if you’re not yet ready to use them, but best to grab your company names and brands while they are available. You can also grab names that contain keywords that are relevant to your industry. For example the Australian Businesswomen’s Network has the Twitter names MentoringWomen and also WomenNetworking. While we don’t tweet from these names, they are placeholders that direct visits back to our main account(s).
SOME PLACES TO RESERVE YOUR BRANDS
- Twitter (Grab your user name – usually your identity – as well as company brand names)
- Facebook (Grab your user name – usually your identity – as well as company brand names for Groups and Pages.)
- LinkedIn (Reserver your user name and group names.)
- YouTube (Reserve your own name and your Channel.)
- Ning (Reserve a name that you may use in the future.)
Have I missed some? Add them to Comments below. TODAY’S TASK
- Do an online presence audit. Do you need to bring some of your online branding more into line with your corporate brand?
- Do you need to reserve your name on some of the more public online spaces that you may choose to play in in the future?
While you may choose to park these names for now, it means that you ‘own’ them and direct them to your active online spaces. Until tomorrow, Suzi
