Effective Branding Using Social Media

Last time we left off with a bunch of rambling about all the things everyone has already told you.  “Get online”, “Social networking matters”, “You don’t exist if you’re not on Facebook”, etc.  It’s one thing having an account/profile on various social medias so you can finally let it be known to the world that “…some movies are so bad that they become awesome? Mean Girls 2 is not that kind of bad. It's just awful.” (pulled that off Facebook 1 minute ago).  Using social media effectively enough to gain leverage in a crowded marketplace and grow your business is something totally different.  We’ll start off here with a few tips for effectively branding yourself or your company on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  Hopefully as the future head of a Professional Athlete Branding company, getting out to athletes, agents and the fans in this day in age could not be done without marketing through these social medias. 

We’ll start off with Twitter, the baby of the bunch in terms of how long it has been around.  Let’s face it.  Twitter does not give you detailed information about a person or company.  Twitter is meant to give people brief updates about yourself or your company.  You have to become a master of hooking your “followers” with one-liners.  At first I was skeptical about this site.  I thought it was a waste of time to blurt out random updates about your life.  I was naïve.  Many companies have figured out a way to use this site to their advantage.  What I like about Twitter is that you can focus your followers on important news you or your company would like to advertise.  Be selective in using links.  On other social media sites it is sometimes difficult to find updates on a page if you don’t know you’re supposed to be looking for them.  With Twitter, if you have a new YouTube video, Facebook group, an addition to your resume or job postings on LinkedIn, let people know through Twitter.  Here is where you make good use of a one-liner like “Check out the new video [YouTube link]”, “Join this cool group [Facebook link]” or “New position available! [LinkedIn link]”.
  
Are you with me so far?  On Twitter, get good at one-liners and selective-linking.  Lastly, Twitter is great for quickly putting out a spreading fire, correcting last minute mistakes and creating interest from a guerilla marketing approach.  For example, if you catch on to any bad press directed towards you or your company, you can post your full response to the matter on another social media site like Facebook, but send the link out through Twitter.  “____ is only a rumor… here’s the real story [link]”.  The quicker you smother the fire, the easier it is to repair the damage.  Also, if there is a change in plans in regard to your schedule or location or if you simply want to create a buzz, Tweet something like “Jake’s Pizza Shop in 1hr.  First 20 people eat free!”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyIlxE0m7dw


Ahhh, and now we discuss the mighty Facebook.  You don’t exist if you’re not on Facebook, yet there are so many people on the site you probably won’t be missed if you’re not on it.  Any person, company and apparently even goldfish and dogs can have profiles.  How is anyone ever going to find you or your company on this massive site?  You’re going to have to put in the legwork to get noticed.  First, make your profile and make it interactive.  Add pictures, videos and music, discuss interesting topics, etc.  Next, create “groups”, “events” and “fan pages” and let your friends/customers know about them.  Gain new friends/customers by joining similar or related groups, events and fan pages.  How do we do this more efficiently?  When you join a group that is made up of people who are discussing similar topics that are also being discussed on your page or in the group(s) you created, leave captivating comments followed by a link to your page.  It is very easy to gain new friends/customers from groups with similar interests.  


Also, along the lines of goldfish and dogs having their own pages, you have the ability to create fake profiles/avatars.  It’s often called “Stealth Marketing”.  Facebook’s entire advertising campaign is focused around the idea that people are more likely to buy into a product if a friend instead of the company’s advertisement recommends it.  Take the time to create a few fake avatar profiles.  Have them all join these different groups, fan pages, events, etc.  They can all leave unique comments in one discussion with each of them leaving a link or recommendation for people to check out your page/group.  If 5 fake avatars in a discussion with 25 actual people leave a trail back to your page, there’s a very good chance that a few of those 25 people will believe there is something interesting at your page that they are missing out on.  When using Facebook, create an interesting profile, join/create various groups, fan pages and events, and make a few fake avatars to secretly market yourself or your company.    

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7LTEFCH54g

LinkedIn.  If you are a college student nearing graduation like myself, this is the place you absolutely need to be… unless of course you have your dream job already waiting for you when you walk across the stage.  My recommendation, even if you have a job lined up, it never hurts to keep an open mind or have more than one option available at your fingertips.  LinkedIn isn’t designed to get your message out to the masses like Facebook and Twitter.  However, LinkedIn is extremely effective in making sure that your message is getting out to the right people.  Since LinkedIn is the professional version of the social media platforms, you can bypass the profiles for people’s pets and the ridiculous deconstruction of the English language to get to the real professionals.  First, make your profile your resume.  It is already laid out there for you in the profile template.  


Make yourself look as professional as possible on this site.  Your writing should be grammatically correct and in complete sentences.  You’re not setting out to be cool here, you’re setting out to sell yourself as a professional.  LinkedIn has groups too.  Join them.  Because the site is meant for professionals, you have plenty of successful businessmen who believe they are experts on various subjects (and in many cases they are).  If you have a cool business idea (protect it first obviously), post in on a group page and ask, “Is this a good idea?”.  The feedback, depending on the group, may be overwhelming.  


There was recently a group I came across with a post made by a marketing employee for the Dallas Stars.  The organization was looking for suggestions to help fill 5,000 empty seats per game.  The conversation is still going on and there are hundreds of creative marketing ideas on that one topic.  There is so much priceless advice just sitting there free for everyone’s viewing from very successful people.  Take advantage of it.  Also, whether you are looking for a job yourself or posting jobs you need filled, LinkedIn is the new hot spot for career searching.  As I mentioned in my first blog post, more than 80% of company’s these days look for candidates on LinkedIn.  Where other sites make it very easy to befriend other members, LinkedIn is a bit trickier.  You need to know the email for some members, and with others you need to be introduced through another member who is already friends with the person you are trying to connect with.  When you’re out shaking hands in the real world, take down names and emails and find them on LinkedIn when you get home.  It’s also worth your while when you connect with someone on LinkedIn to look through their connections (if they show them) and see if there’s someone else they could potentially introduce you to.  For LinkedIn, make your profile a professional resume, join and comment on group discussions, look for/post jobs, and have your connections introduce you to other connections.