Since Facebook and Twitter became the first channels businesses had to learn to master, much attention has been given to the concept of brand management through social media. Now, new social media channels continue to crop up and grab hold of the consumer audience. It’s great for the average user who loves to spend hours socializing online, but for businesses, it’s an overwhelming challenge.
The New Brand Management Landscape
Sam Brennand, marketing manager for Venture Accelerator Partners, says social media has made it clearer than ever that brand management is a two-way street, noting that a brand has always been a function of consumer perception. You have to constantly be in tune and engaged with conversations happening in the social realm in order to enhance or maintain your brand reputation.
The most common problem cited by small-business owners is that there are just too many social networks to formulate an effective, all-encompassing brand management strategy. They don’t have the resources to devote to a full-time social media manager, so they simply give up in frustration. Or they spread themselves so thin trying to keep up that they end up with an inconsistent message and a disengaged audience. In other words, they waste valuable time and damage their brand reputation in the process.
At the same time, social media is a powerful tool for creating magnified value from a single effort. If done right, small businesses can use social media to reach an exponential number of targeted consumers.
Empower Your Consumers
Social media marketing is a common term. Yet Brennand notes that marketing is generally viewed unfavorably on social media. “Traditional marketing messages don't resonate in the same ways on social media and can easily backfire when the rules of communication are so drastically different,” he explains.
The key is to develop a deep understanding of the essence of your brand and exactly what makes your customers tick. Brennand uses the example of Coca-Cola as a brand that did it right. The company’s Facebook page actually wasn’t created by Coca-Cola at all—two enthusiastic fans started it.
Instead of trying to take control and dictate the message, Coca-Cola decided to empower its consumers. Today, the Coca-Cola brand has one of the most-followed and most-successful Facebook Pages in existence. By delivering powerful content that resonates with your audience, your customers will literally become your brand ambassadors. And for a small business on a tight budget, few things are better than free marketing.
Useful Tools For Social Brand Management
Multi-platform social media monitoring tools streamline the process of keeping up with conversations, ensuring that you never miss an opportunity to resolve a complaint, engage a consumer or identify a trending topic for your content marketing efforts. If you want to turn your audience into brand ambassadors, you can’t miss out on those opportunities.
There are a variety of tools available now to help you manage multiple social networks, such as:
Evaluate the features and network integrations before you choose a management tool—some include less-mainstream networks and continually add to their applications, while others stick with the basics. Cost is also a variable, as well as the availability of mobile applications for social brand management on the go. Choose a tool that’s most compatible with your personal social brand management strategy.
When consumers increasingly turn to their social networks for information, recommendations and even customer service, your social presence is a critical component of brand management. Instead of getting lost and overwhelmed, refine your strategy and empower your audience—while making it simpler with a social media management tool.
Angela Stringfellow is a freelance writer, social media strategist and complete content marketing junkie obsessed with all things Web, written word and marketing.
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