Copyright (c) 2010 Enzo F. Cesario
BrandSplat
http://www.Brandsplat.com/
While using single marketing tools can be revolutionary and
powerful, combining multiple tools really brings out the best in
each tool. Wheels are tremendous things, air conditioning is
wonderful and everyone loves a comfortable seat, but simply
having all three isn’t the same as having an automobile.
The same holds true of an online branding campaign. If you treat
it as a bunch of distinct tools, you will gain some effort from
it, but not as much as if you combine all these elements into a
distinct and coherent system that meets your branding needs. Each
tool can accomplish a different task, of course, but they all
must be used in the service of brand promotion and name
recognition if the campaign is to succeed.
Part of good online branding is building an audience for your
blog. This requires an operation within a campaign… its own
system of efforts built into the larger structure of the campaign
as a whole. In order to do this, you must take advantage of tools
such as Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks if you
want to build your audience steadily and profitably.
Method One: The Blog
This may seem obvious, as there isn’t a lot of point to doing
promotions without something to promote. However, the content you
promote must be worth promoting if you want to succeed. There are
many sources promising to take any content out there and promote
it successfully. These people are known as hucksters. For every
one in a million story of someone’s blog about stream of
consciousness writing, one can find hundreds of failed blogs.
Therefore, focus first on producing solid, quality content. The
audience can wait – the Internet isn’t going anywhere, trust us.
Make sure the blog’s author is passionate about the subject and
committed to a regular update schedule. Build up a posting buffer
of a full week consisting of topical but timeless pieces such as
opinion articles or reviews that won’t necessarily be dated
immediately upon release. On the other hand, be ready to quickly
adapt a story and post a quick update if something in the news
pops up that affects the topic of your blog. Above all, make (and
keep) the content entertaining, insightful and consistent.
Method Two: Twitter
Twitter is a natural second step for a cross promotion effort.
The format is perfect for providing a link and a short message
about the blog, as well as for getting the information in front
of your whole Twitter audience quickly.
The key here is to develop the ability to summarize in clever and
topical ways. Do not make the mistake of simply putting up a
link. That’s a waste of time – people have interests that
they’re already pursuing, interests that you have to interrupt
to get their attention.
Develop a talent similar to lede writing from print journalism.
Find a way to quickly punch in the important who/what facts that
you want to get across.
If your blog post is an interview with a local author, include
his name, the fact that you interviewed him and his book title
along with the link to the interview. If your post is a news
story about something touching on your brand’s domain, consider
something such as “for fans of…”
Also, take advantage of habit-building behaviors by updating your
Twitter feed at the same time every day. In the first case, this
will get people used to checking it at the same time. In the
second, it means unscheduled announcements will seem that much
more noteworthy.
Method Three: Facebook
While people still have the broad perception that Facebook is for
teenagers looking to find friends on the web, its real strength
lies in the fact that it can easily combine various media into
“snippet” packages for people to observe.
If your blog has a video component, you can link the video on
your Facebook page. This allows people to watch the video and
follow the link to your page at their discretion.
Additionally, you can post the first excerpt of your new blog
entries on Facebook, giving people a teaser of the relevant
information without spoiling the whole story.
Finally, Facebook has the ability to bring groups and hobbies
together. If you find a group on Facebook that seems to be a
natural audience for your brand – and do not force this, ever –
consider joining up.
Method Four: Remember All-way Traffic
It’s been said before, but it cannot ever be stressed enough:
The web is not a one-way street, and it is not even a two-way
street. It is an all-encompassing omni-entity that can and will
spread word about the things it loves and the things it hates to
every corner of the globe. You have to be willing to cooperate
with this effort, or your brand will be mocked and dismissed.
Participate in the communities you join, don’t simply join and
throw blog links at them. Join the discussions, share ideas,
comment on others’ videos and provide links in your blog to
pages you like.
If you prove yourself a good neighbor on the web, people will
notice and you will benefit. If you simply try to take advantage
of communities for your brand without cooperating in the effort,
then you have no business using the web for your brand.
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Enzo F. Cesario is an online branding specialist
and co-founder of Brandsplat, a digital content
agency. Brandsplat creates blogs, articles, videos
and social media in the “voice” of our client’s
brand. It makes sites more findable and brands more
recognizable. For the free Brandcasting Report go to
http://www.BrandSplat.com/ or visit our blog at
http://www.iBrandCasting.com/
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