MAD Perspectives Blog

Yes, it's that time of year to look back and reflect.  I took some time to see which blog topics garnered the most interest this year.  The list does not surprise me.  As B2B companies figure out their use of social media, they are facing questions of where and how to leverage social networks and interact with customers.  With no further ado, here are the top 5 MAD Perspectives blogs of 2012!

#1 - LinkedIn:  Companies are just beginning to realize that LinkedIn is more than a site for networking to find a job.  It is THE site for professional networking to find decision makers, engage in group discussion on industry topics and amplify your B2B brand.  Of course, it is also the site to represent your personal professional brand.  For enlightened companies who empower and value their employees, there is recognition that a powerful LinkedIn profile reflects positively on an employer.  Employees can provide links to key corporate sites.  A profile reflecting the value an employee provides to customers, reflects the culture embodied by the company.

#2 - Planning:  It is difficult to know if you're successful in any effort if you don't have a plan that defines goals, tactics and metrics.  Social media evolved from a individual consumer perspective.  The very nature of social media is immediate and authentic.  How can a company plan to engage socially without losing a sense of unaffected spontaneity?  It is a challenge for B2B companies as their messaging will always be related to their brand and products.  However, defining your audience and their needs will help in developing a plan to provide the right kind of content via the right communication channel.  Know your brand's voice and identify methods to share that voice.

#3 - Strategy:  You might find it interesting that strategy lagged slightly behind planning in interest.  Strategy and planning are closely related.  As we talked about strategy this year, we spoke specifically about how your social media strategy must be closely aligned with your brand strategy.  If a company does not understand its identity and does not have clear business goals, it is impossible to develop a social media strategy.  Your social strategy must be aligned with and support your company's business goals.  These could range from market awareness to customer support to product innovation.

#4 - Social Analytics:  This is a hot topic as we move into 2012.  This space is expanding beyond the ability to monitor and listen to what your customers are saying.  It is taking that data (and there is a LOT of data) and using it to drive planning.  Acting upon data collected is often the biggest challenge for any company.  The social universe gives companies unprecedented access to honest insight, opinions, and concerns.  Through their online activity on both search engines and social networks, customers are revealing their needs, being influenced by the opinions of others, sharing experiences and changing the entire purchasing process.  A critical part of any social media strategy, is defining how to monitor, capture and act upon social conversations.

#5 - Corporate Culture:  This is a carryover from 2010 and continues to be relevant.  Your company's culture directly impacts how employees will participate socially, if at all.  Command & control organizations who are leveraging social networks lack the authenticity of empowered organizations.  Social updates from hierarchical organization tend to revert to push marketing techniques of notifying customers of events, without inviting interaction.  In fact, this likely reflects fear of the unknown at the executive level.  Companies who empower their employees are creating strong customer communities through honest, ongoing interaction.  

2011 has seen more B2B companies adopting different forms of social media.  The pressure is on to show measurable results in 2012.  This  means that strategy, planning and analyzing will continue to be critical for success in this space.  Social media is useful for more than pure marketing, which seems to be the default entry point.  I'm curious to see if companies will utilize social networks for other purposes such as recruiting (Facebook and LinkedIn will fight to the death on this topic), customer support (in more than a consumer centric model) or product development (prioritizing roadmaps).  Broadening the use of social media may reveal the path to measuring its real success for B2B companies.

What's your perspective? 

I’m wondering about the impact of identity when it comes to corporations.  Earlier this year, we discussed corporate identity with our friends at Taylor O’Brien.  As brands define their identity and take that identity into the social arena, we advise a consistency in how they represent themselves.  The question that is puzzling me now, is if I work for a major corporation, am I Peggy Dau or am I Peggy from Company X?  If I am socializing as a business professional, my employer would argue that I am a representative of the company.  Since they provide me with a paycheck, I would agree.

However, in the social arena, Peggy Dau is a unique individual with profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social places.  I tweet as MADPerspectives, which is my consulting business, because Twitter allows pseudonyms.  But, I could argue that MAD Perspectives is a real name – for my business.  The content I tweet as MADPerspectives, is content related to my business and the industries I serve.  It’s an interesting conundrum, isn’t it?!

The challenge for companies is to define their identity and set clear guidelines for how their employees who are representing the company in social networking, understand the voice, culture, image that the brand wants to reflect.  Companies by their very nature are somewhat anonymous.  Sure, we understand what Apple, Coca Cola and Proctor & Gamble stand for, but do we really associate with individual employees?  Do we want to?  Do employees want to be recognized and associated with their employer as the engage in social networking.  For social media mavens, representing their respective companies, this is an opportunity to build their personal brand as they represent the corporate brand.  However, customer support teams may prefer some protection of their identity – not because they don’t provide excellent customer support, but for reasons of safety or career aspirations.

Corporate identity has taken on new meaning in the authentic, transparent and spontaneous social community.  Can a corporation be transparent if it doesn’t reveal the real names of its social networkers?  It is authentic when tweets come from @BronxZoosCobra?  Are “push” marketing tweets from consumer and high tech brands really spontaneous?  In fact, they are an extension of an overall marketing plan to increase brand and product awareness – reinforcing brand identity and consistent messaging, but perhaps losing authenticity.

It’s a new world and our identities are tied to the context in which our networks know us and the perspectives they have of our personal and corporate identities.

Welcome to the final blog post in our six week blog series on Brand and Social Media, with UK brand agency, Taylor O'Brien.  We've learned a lot and hope that you have too!

One of the primary reasons for corporate adoption of social media is to expand the reach and awareness of their brand.  Our series on brand and social media has shared insight on the definition of brand and social media, understanding the importance of a cohesive brand strategy that incorporates social media, and the value of your corporate identity.  As companies consider which social media platforms to utilize, they need to keep identity, voice and customer in mind.

The big 5 social media networks: Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube can help increase market awareness, but they can also create unexpected challenges.  As you consider how your brand incorporates social media into its strategy, keep the following thoughts in mind. 

     - Are my customers using this platform?   Each network's demographics are shifting as adoption increases.  Which social media channel maps to your desired demographics and what kind of information does your demographic desire?

•      - What kind of content best represents my brand and does the platform support that content?  Each social network was created with a different intent.  Understand these intents and aligning it with your brand strategy is critical to achieving social media success.

•      - Is it worth the effort?  What are you goals for using social media?  Understanding that it takes time to build your audience, are you committed to the effort?

Welcome to week 5 of our 6 week brand and social media series delivered in cooperation with Taylor OBrien!
   

Do you recognize this brand?

by:  Christina Brusendorff

 

So far in this branding and social media series we have discussed and outlined the concept of ‘brand’, brand strategy, social media and the role which social media has within the branding arena as well as given tips on how to approach it.

This penultimate post will focus on tying up the series from a branding perspective as much as is possible - plenty more could be said about the thriving world of branding. However, the aim of this series was to bring a clear and concise initial introduction to branding and social media so it’ll finish by presenting the concept of corporate identity.

Corporate identity is the personality of the business reflecting its culture and values. It’s what makes it individual and at times gives it its competitive edge.

To determine which aspects of the identity to emphasize through the brand, strategically match the business’ strengths with the needs of the market and external environment to discover the business’ unique selling point(s). Assess a business’ current values, its history and heritage as well as its future. Like a person, a business will grow and develop its identity and story.

In most businesses this identity is represented visually, vocally and experientially through the brand – hence why it is sometime termed brand identity. A brand provides you with the tools necessary to communicate this persona whether through tone of voice or engaging designs.

We previously talked about how a brand which is aligned with business strategy drives not just profit and market share but also influences and inspires a company’s work force. It does this by creating a clear vision and identity for the business which is often summarized in what is formally known as brand guidelines.

Such a document will outline what the brand stands for, its vision and identity but more specifically it states the rules about what the brand looks and sounds like. While these documents are important, and crucial to creating a consistent brand persona, corporate or brand identity is more than a simple document.

It is the essence of the business, what makes it individual as well as relatable.

From a communications point of view it is a tool which helps a business tell its story, express its personality and makes it recognizable.

Brands such as Orange, Coca-Cola or Apple are instantly recognizable through their look, feel and tone of voice. All brands should aspire to achieve such a level of recognition and consistency across their touch points and communication channels whether this be offline or online.
 

From a social media perspective brand consistency, recognition and personality will make a business stand out. The viral nature of this tool also means that great design as well as informative, engaging and entertaining messages will be shared.

Building a strong internal corporate identity through the creation of an inspiring brand will not only lead the business but will also develop and clarify its proposition externally.

Great brands possess a compelling truth, a vibrant identity and a powerful promise.

Do you know yours?

This is the fourth blog in our 6 week series, with our colleagues from Taylor O'Brien, on branding and social media. 

Your brand strategy has a unique vision and identity.  You identified this strategy by aligning your brand with your business goals, accounting for both cultural identity and customer knowledge.  As you define a social media plan to support your brand strategy, don’t forget that social media is a means of communication.  It brings with it a high degree of immediacy and interactivity.  It allows you to communicate more directly with your customers.

Social media reinforces a need to be responsible, understandable, reliable and genuine.  This is why a social media plan is so important.  You are serving your customers with the information and content they need.  Here are 6 key components of social media plan that supports your brand.

1. Objectives – What do you want to achieve and how will social media help you fulfill those goals?  How are these objectives related to your business strategy? Are they focused on sales, market awareness, customer service or other core business topics? Defining objectives will help you determine what content is needed and which social platforms to use. 
2. Customers – Who are they?  Where are they?  What content do they need or want?  Depending on your customers role (i.e., buyer, influencer, executive, technologist) they will crave different types of content.  Any plan must consider the customer’s need and supply the content needed to the relevant platform and device. 
3. Integrate – How will social media support or expand your overall marketing strategy?  Social media is not a stand alone marketing effort.  It must be aligned with other online and offline activities.  An integrated plan will identify resources (people, content and time) needed to achieve your objectives.   Social media can draw attention to events, reinforce messaging, personalize your brand, capture customer insight or input, create stronger customer bonds, manage your reputation and drive sales.  Social media, perhaps more than other forms of marketing, becomes your online voice.  It must reflect your brand and your culture. 
4. Metrics – How will you measure success of your social media strategy?  All other aspects of your marketing plan have goals and metrics – social media is no different.  Your metrics must support your objectives and can also be tied to your overall marketing plan.  Early stage metrics are usually related to followers and web traffic.  Later stage metrics can include measures of influence, leads, sales, product development or support.
5. Policy – Who will engage in your brand’s social media efforts?  How will they engage?  A policy can be considered the “rules of engagement”.  It is your opportunity to remind employees on how you want to represent your brand.  It is also the means of communicating your goals for social media.  A critical element of any plan or policy is to determine how your brand will address negative comments.  They are bound to occur and it is important to establish guidelines to help your social media constituents understand how to address them.
6. Engage! – Most importantly interact, share, communicate and respond!  Social media is a customer engagement medium.  Be informative and be informed!

Social Media has the ability to expand and personalize your brand in ways not previously available.  It is an opportunity for all brands, be they consumer or business centric, to communicate frequently and openly.  It is also an opportunity for customers to express their likes or dislikes.  Be prepared for both the positive and the negative.  Understand your brand voice, align your social media efforts with your brand strategy, educate your employees on your goals and engage with your customers like never before!

What’s your perspective?

This week we continue our Brand and Social Media series, with our colleagues at Taylor O'Brien, with a disucssuion about aligning your social efforts with your brand.

by Christina Brusendorff

Brands have become an integral part of business from both and external and internal business perspectives. We discussed how consistently delivered, relatable brands have an intrinsic link to business performance. Accessing this value is dependent on brand strategy being aligned with business strategy.

In broad terms this fundamental aspect of branding ensures that the brand promise is grounded in the strengths of a business, reflects the vision and the direction of it and supports business objectives.

A clear and aligned brand strategy clarifies, communicates and enforces the vision, key messages and identity externally as well as internally.  From a corporate branding perspective a truly aligned brand allows a business to more easily create a competitive employer brand, attracting not only the best talent but also the best suited candidates.  These brand strengths also allow a business to more easily engage its work force, build commitment and create brand advocates.  This in turn helps create a more consistent service and fell throughout the business that will help improve its performance and drive revenue.

The marketing mix through which a brand chooses to communicate and engage with their target audiences is diverse and continually fragmenting.  In such an environment brand strategy becomes increasingly important with brands needing to take an integrated approach to communication.  This involves employing diverse channels well aligned to the message, the audience and the brand.

From TV advertising to social media, serious thought needs to be given to the combination of platforms used, how these suite and complement each other, what is communicated, how consumers are engaged through these and, most importantly, what is the ROI (whether financial or attributed to some other value).

This applies to external B2B and B2C communication; Facebook deals, billboards, Twitter and to internal communications; emails, intranets, blogs, posters, events, induction programmes.  But all of them, whether online or offline communication, need to be integrated; cross-promoting and reiterating the core brand.

We believe that success is created by aligning brand business and communications strategy.

What is your perspective?

Christina is an Account Executive at Taylor O’Brien, a creative consultancy based in Manchester.  With a Masters in marketing and a passion for branding and business, Christina builds and inspires brands across a wide variety of industry sectors.

This week we continue our Brand and Social Media series with a disucssuion about aligning your social efforts with your brand.

With all the hype about social media, we may have forgotten that any social media marketing efforts must be aligned with your brand! When leveraging the myriad of social media outlets, it is important to keep the core tenants of your brand in mind. Social media provides you with additional channels through which you can communicate and interact with your target audience. Social media allows your message to be broadcast and shared widely, globally and freely.

With this openness in mind, what do you need to consider when establishing your social media strategy – particularly as it relates to your brand? First, don’t forget what your brand is.  We reviewed this  last week.  Remember, your brand is a promise. Your use of social media should reinforce that promise and provide a level of transparency and authenticity that invites engagement from your target markets. How can social media help?

Social media platforms should visually and contextually reflect your brand.  Consistency of logo, color and voice are important. Of these three, voice is the most critical.  What is the voice of your brand?  Are you fun, knowledgeable, edgy, caring, geeky, innovative. Understanding your voice should drive how you communicate via your social channels. For example, if you are innovative, your social communications should provide insight to market trends that your company is addressing, share your opinions on the impact of these trends and how your company will act to influence a shift in the market.

Now that you’ve aligned your social efforts with your brand and discovered your voice, it’s time to ENGAGE! Do I need to ask why you want to interact with your customers? Engagement with your customers WILL lead to business. It will lead to greater knowledge about what your customers and prospects are thinking and saying about your brand. It will help you become proactive instead of reactive. As you engage, remember what your brand stands for and provide consistency in terms of voice and topic. While it may be fun to share your thoughts on random topics, you are socializing on behalf of your brand. Your tweets, Facebook posts, Slideshare presentations or YouTube videos should be relevant to your brand, your company, your products or your industry.

Just in case you are still wondering why you should consider social media as a key aspect of your brand strategy, check out these data points from Forrester Research and Business Week:

Your brand is your calling card.  Social Media must reinforce your brand. Think about your brand and your voice before you engage – but definitely ENGAGE!

Branding and Social Media are now intrinsically tied together.  In thinking about the importance of your brand and the use of social media channels, we reached out to our friends at Taylor O’Brien for some insight.  As a result, for the next six weeks, our blogs will discuss the importance of brand and the impact of social media. Thanks to Christina Brusendorff of Taylor O’Brien for her wisdom and contribution!

by Christina Brusendorff

Brands were born the day a shop owner first thought to put a name and long on their store front.  Back then they were a competitive tool used to separate a business from the local competition and encourage recognition. Today brands are still employed for such purposes but they perform on a global scale (their reach even surpass the confines of this planet), their use is far more sophisticated and their value has become critical to sales, employment and the financial value of a company.

A brand is often defined as:

The set of physical attributes of a product or service, together with the beliefs and expectations surrounding it - a unique combination which the name or logo of the product or service should evoke in the mind of the audience. - Marketing Institute

While these attributes are all true, it doesn't describe the essence of what a brand is.

In a culture where consumers are empowered through knowledge and choice, engagement is imperative, the construction of brands is prevalent and reality is perception.  Companies need to be more transparent and clear about their offering, value and proposition. A brand helps a business achieve this.

A brand is essentially a promise that a business makes, either to its customers or to its clients, and then delivers through its brand strategy.  Through a visual identity, a clear proposition and strong key messages consistently communicated through relevant touch points, a brand can evoke awareness, loyalty and emotions within consumers, clients and employees.  Such touch points can be anything from an internal publication to a shop floor worker, a TV or radio advertisement or an integrated social media campaign. 

Simply having a rand is, however, not enough. The promise it makes needs to be realistic and grounded in a business' strengths, but most importantly it needs to be aligned to a business' strategy. Only then can a brand hope to deliver its promise successfully.

The importance of aligning brand strategy with business strategy will be explored further in the third part of this 'Brand and Social Media' series.  Next week 'Your Brand and Social Media'

What's your perspective?