Social media, SEO, marketing and writingAre Social Network Conversations Diluting Your Brand?
As I have stated in previous posts, for a company to be successful online and to grow its brand in a calculated and constructive way, executives and marketing managers must develop a proactive strategy that directly influences and impacts who, what, where and why branded content results are FOUND–whenever, wherever, and however social publishing is performed.
Yeah, that’s a mouthful!
Successful online branding, especially via social networks, may require a company to consider a range of possible tactical approaches, including:
- Social media publishing, syndication, outreach, monitoring, and measurement activities
- Embracing a multichannel marketing approach that includes both paid marketing (search, display, email, mobile, etc) and well as emerging marketing activities (social-search, SEO, blogging, etc)
- Partnering and experimenting with pilot programs in a way that frees up proprietary content & data, empowers employees & customers, plus supports open networking & really simple integration
Even if you actively participate in all of the above activities, you still need to be part of the social conversation. And the rub is–many of these online communities don’t want you there. That is, unless you have something of value to offer–and you can do this is an honest, straightforward, and transparent way.
If I were a brand manager ‘worried’ about social markets diluting my brand, I would hunker down in my boardroom with some of the best and brightest staff (along with an many agencies & consultant that I could muster together in a room) and figure out the best way to leverage this ‘loss of control’ and morph it into an opportunity to ‘influence & expand’ my brand reach. The way I look at it, if your product or service is solid and your efforts to become part of the community are sincere and of value to others, I can’t see why the social web wouldn’t benefit your customers, your staff, your investors, and your company.
Your brand is a living, breathing example of your value proposition in action. Your challenge is to determine how best to humanize your brand and become accepted as a trusted community partner–while encouraging the masses (your customers & your constituents) to be constructive advocates for the brands they are passionate about.
