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Branding: Be Yourself, Earn Engagement

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In public relations, there’s a lot of talk about a company’s brand and its messaging – the ideas and public image of the institution and its representatives. The value cannot be overstated.

Messaging and branding give a company its identity, making it appear “human” in the eyes of people. It gives anyone interacting with a company or organization an identity they can latch onto and work with.

A loyalty to your messaging and branding as a company is important. However, things are changing. If you’re an individual, even a CEO, the rules are not quite the same.

I want to direct you to the Twitter feed of Elon Musk, CEO and Founder of Tesla Motors, SpaceX, and other companies that revolutionizing their respective industries: http://www.twitter.com/elonmusk

Did you notice anything? Elon is in touch with the companies he runs and the branding of those companies, but he is operating outside that sphere as an autonomous person.

Be it a Karl Marx meme that he drunkenly puts out to make people laugh, or his ill-advised tweets about Covid, he is just being himself. He talks about his products and his brands when they are doing something interesting, but he also posts stupid photos, trolls his followers with snarky comments, and sometimes says inflammatory things intentionally to get a rise out of people.

Basically, he is your crazy uncle on Facebook. And that’s fine, because his engagement level is through the roof. 

He has 39 million followers and each of his posts earn thousands of replies, retweets, and likes. Elon is in touch with the times and realizes that corporate branding is great – but not for people. He comes off as a genuine individual, and that’s what makes him so popular.

I look at the Twitter feeds of other CEOs and business magnates and they tell a different story. I see nothing but links to blogs with bland statements, on-brand messaging, company news, and the occasional nod to a competitor.

It’s boring. It feels pre-planned and doesn’t contain anything worth seeking out and engaging. Sure, these business people (who I won’t point out specifically) do have followers and people who engage them, but it’s almost assuredly no one outside of their immediate sphere.

Their engagements are low, and their image is that of their company. No one sees them as a separate entity, a real person.

Yet, despite how popular social icons like Elon Musk  — and others, such as “crazy” billionaire Richard Branson – are, most others still choose to play it safe, opting not to express their personality.

Granted, there is some risk of saying the wrong thing, making someone mad, etc. But, in the case of Elon (and probably Branson as well), short of saying something overtly racist or homophobic, or short of a criminal scandal of some kind, their brands will march on because the public views them as genuine characters. Their flaws are part of their charm of being a regular person, which is something people value.

If you want to draw attention to yourself (and thus your company), you can’t be afraid to just be yourself. Don’t overthink it. Just go for it.

Remember, the President of the United States of America is a reality TV star and WWE Hall of Famer who wrestled another Fortune 500 CEO in a Hair vs Hair Match at the Battle of the Billionaires. That’s a fact. Google it.

It’s fair to say the formalities of banal corporate speak and a bland, “proper” image don’t resonate with the public like they used to. Don’t be afraid to separate yourself from your corporate brand – the followers, engagements, and media interviews will follow if you reveal yourself to be a genuine person with interesting things to say.

And if you can’t take the first steps, a good agency and marketing team will help you make it work.

3 ways to build a profitable social media audience

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Clamoring to get the most followers on social media doesn’t always translate to a profitable social media audience. It actually can create a lot of noise instead of driving profitable traffic.

Social media platforms are a way to connect with people without the restraints of proximity. A profitable social media audience is composed of specific followers not just anyone and everyone. Imagine your company’s social media account as a storefront. You want potential buyers looking through your windows not loiterers, right?

No matter what social media platform you are using it will work best when your foundation is solid, meaning your audience cares about what you are doing. Your social media audience needs to be built of 3 main groups: influencers and experts relevant to your brand, decision makers in your target market, and the field agents of those decision makers.

The beauty of the social platform is the sheer amount of people you can reach which happens to be the same obstacle in getting these influencers and decision makers to listen to you. So how do you build a social media audience that will give you a return on your investment? Give them a reason to follow you, tailor to how or where they are listening to you, and listen and engage with the right people.

Give them a reason to listen: Post Relevant Content

I see far too many companies posting about irrelevant content just to keep up with random trends. I worked with a car dealership that posted an “I hate Mondays” meme every week on Facebook. The social media manager thought it was funny but it sent the message that the company is lazy.

Ask yourself if the trend is just random or can it add value to your social media strategy? Sometimes that answer is yes, it can add value. On National Dog Day there were many companies posting about their employee’s dogs or dogs that were brought into the office. It gave the reader some insight into the company and engaged employees.

Jumping on a trend will get you visibility to a wide audience which may happen catch the eye of your target market. Get creative and route the trend back to your topic of influence. Don’t avoid trends, but do consider if it is worth posting, or better yet worth reading from your target’s perspective.

Tailor your content to where they are listening: Understand the Platform

There are dozens of social media platforms available, but you don’t need to be on all of them. In my opinion there are 3 core platforms that are beneficial for healthcare IT companies: Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Other notable platforms are Instagram (if you have the right content), Pintrest, and Google+.

When choosing which platforms you want to use for your company’s social strategy make sure you understand each. If you are not using the platform yourself I recommend starting your own account.

Using the platform daily helps you understand what type of content is being posted and what content is working. Then it is easy to see what type of content you and others like to see on each different platform.

Each platform is unique and while one person might be on multiple platforms it doesn’t mean they go to each to look for the same thing. LinkedIn is used for professionals and companies looking to connect in a professional way. Typically LinkedIn is where you want to have a formal voice where Instagram is where people look for visual content. Think about what type of content you want to see and interact with on each platform to help tailor the company’s account content.

Engage with the right people: Find the Industry Influencers and Connectors

Finding the right people can be difficult. Start by growing which accounts your company will follow. Vendors, publications that run positives stories about your company, and other industry leaders of interest are a great place to start. Don’t forget to check out what accounts your competitors are following!

Always thinking from the viewer’s perspective, build up your accounts to be perceived as prestigious to others when they come to view. Follow only legitimate accounts that are leaders, active influencers, and clients or users. You will find accounts will begin to follow yours back as long as you are posting good, relevant content.

Starting a following is where the nerve-wracking guesswork beings. No reason to get nervous yet; in fact you probably already have a following. Email lists, followers on other platforms, and employees are all potential followers that are already engaging with your company in a different way. If you are nervous about asking your email followers to follow yet another place to get your content, remember that they already said they like you. Prove them right by continuing to feed them content that is relevant and beneficial for them.

Growing your company’s profitable social media audience is important but typically a little slower. Since you are already posting good, relevant content and using trends wisely you will see some followers trickle in. Gain more visibility by posting or sharing others content. Tag them in your posts along with using hash tags. Try using search terms to find people talking about problems your company can fix and join in on relevant conversations.

Social media is not a monologue or the old school marketing tactic of talking at your audience. Now we have the chance to engage through dialogue with our audience in real time. Capitalize on this opportunity to drive profit through a profitable social media audience rather than attracting loiterers.