As we mentioned on Monday, if people trust people and are less likely to trust companies the personal brands of people, possibly within a company are really worth exploring. They can portray a personal and trustworthy message and become assets to that company. Look at the Halifax man, Howard Brown! A usual employee of The Halifax Bank becomes a superstar! (As much as we immediately took a dislike to him, everything he stood for was ‘the man next door’). It will be remembered for years to come. Unfortunately.
So, to create and manage the essence of who you are online is what we are trying to achieve here. We have talked about being present, online. Obvious. When the Internet started to become widely used at homes in the UK, I was most definitely one of the people that saw, immediately, how this could change my career. I was managing myself as an artist and one of the hardest things to do was networking and finding the contact details of the right person. God did this change! What I am saying is, it is us up you how involved you get with social media and online branding, but in my opinion, you should be as present in that world as the real one and if you are really good at it, the two should cross over!
So, establish that we are packaging you up and managing expectations and impressions of who you are, from others points of view.
We all know how it feels to get a brand new haircut, maybe we were a little brave, (if you get my drift) and you walk into a room with all your friends and wait for the reaction. This is going against everything your mother told you about ignoring what people think of you and the really clever people know what they are going to say before they say it. This gift allows you to portray your brand in the way you wish it to be portrayed. It’s worth it, as we mentioned the other day, that David Ogilvy – god of all advertising history says, to research research, research. You can never do enough. Use focus groups, surveys, anything you think will enhance your pre-empting powers.
Once you are out there, you have to stay involved. How many people do you know that started a Facebook page and then forgot about it?
Obviously this is a no no! So keep your online presence consistent and stay involved in the brand that really, is no longer yours but your publics. You are the mere driving force that enables the public to form a relationship with it.
It is possible for a social media site to overtake a product. Look at the DVD release of Bridesmaids, back in 2010. Their Facebook page has become a law unto itself. Even though the film is now readily available to all who want it, the wall has some 30,000 strong returning members that interact daily.
Hats off!
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