Andrea Rotondi

My career began in brand image and identity and I have worked as an art director in the advertising industry, so these principles are deeply ingrained in my thought processes when working on any communications project. If you are a social media practitioner who has not had any branding experience, I’ve put together a list of tips and things to remember as you create online conversational initiatives. Some of these may seem like common sense, however, I have seen examples of companies that forget some simple rules when establishing Twitter, Facebook or other application profiles and engaging using these media.

1. Identify yourself. Your logo should feature prominently on any profile you establish in the online social sphere. Unless your tactic is to hide the identity of the brand behind a particular initiative, you should ensure that a person who views your profile has no doubts about who they are communicating with. You should also ensure that you are using your brand’s colour palette, fonts and any artwork are in keeping with the style and tone of the brand. Consistency is important. Leave the serendipitous elements of your conversational marketing programme to the people who will contribute content to your profiles, blogs, etc.

2. Content consistency is important. Any content coming from you should be in keeping with the tone and attitudes of your brand. It’s great to help out your customers with free content that is relevant to them. But you must ensure that anything that is coming from you is consistent with what your brand stands for. If you are unsure of the ideals of your client or company, or if you haven’t reviewed the company’s brand profile, set up a meeting with senior members of the organization (the CEO if possible) and make sure you are on the same page.

3. Give them what they want. Part of good branding is knowing who your customer is and being fully aware of their wants, needs, thoughts, hopes, desires and aspirations. Any strategy for social media should seek to serve these drivers and create value for your customers and potential customers. Ensure that all your messaging is consistent with this goal.

4. Get everyone on board. This point has been re-iterated by every social media professional I have listened to at conferences and every blog post I have seen on the topic. It is actually not a new concept in branding. Ideally, everyone in the company is on board with your brand’s mission and attitudes. They are all champions and evangelists, keen on standing for the values that your brand stands for. Now, with the word ‘social’ as the key word in ‘social media,’ this concept has re-entered the spotlight of communications strategy. It really shows when all of your employees are also your brand’s chief aficionados. This one is tough, but well worth pursuing.

5. Back it up. This is also not a new principle. There’s nothing worse as an advertising creative than being handed a brief for a company or product that you know to be inferior in the areas of customer service, reliability or attitude. I used to cringe when I had to come up with an idea for a product that I knew couldn’t follow through on any message I could come up with. What a waste! If your company or client is lacking in the areas of product performance, customer care or reputation, I implore you to work on these areas first. Focus on listening in the social media sphere for the time being and get your house in order. No marketing tactic requires more transparency than social media and it will be a wasted effort to try and sway perceptions or gain followers and customers only to disappoint them with the reality the actual experience with your products and services.

A great example of a company that has embodied these principles lately is Ben and Jerry’s. I practically grew up with this brand and was thrilled to see them launch in Australia recently. They solicited feedback prior to arrival with an outstanding survey of Australian ice cream flavour preferences and have used social media effectively from day one. Their Twitter profile strongly reflects the brand’s image and tactics have included a contest inviting Aussies to “Do Oz a Flavour!” along with distributing free ice cream via roving ice cream trucks and office deliveries. They have no doubt created a legion of brand evangelists ahead of their official scoop shop roll-out.

Over to you. Have I left anything out? How do your social media initiatives showcase your brand?