Few business leaders these days can ignore the impact that social media has on their organisation, but how many don’t really understand how to interact or engage with it? Quite a few I’d wager. Yet social media is an open connection to the largest community in the world, and as such our social media personality can have a significant impact on us, and our company’s reputation, it’s sales and ultimately, its survival.
Lets take Twitter, for example. Does it really matter that we use some funky obscure handle that makes us look a bit fun and quirky? Well, actually yes it does, the simpler our profile name, the better.
- To build your brand successfully you need a twitter handle that is going to work for your particular circumstance. For example, if you’re trying to build a strong personal brand then focus the handle name, avatar and bio on yourself. On the other hand, you could use your company name before your own name, which will not only build the company brand but will put a personality to the company name.
- Make the most of your profile picture. Research shows that customers are more endeared to a company if they can associate a real person.
- Write a bio that matches your branding, based upon your skills and interests.
- A Twitter background that matches your website can help to create a more consistent brand. You can also use it for contact information or products.
- Build up your reputation by regularly tweeting your knowledge or links to your area of expertise. The more you tweet about your topic of interest and knowledge then the more people will remember you when they need your expertise.
Ultimately, branding and marketing is about the long haul, you can’t set up a twitter account and leave it to do it’s thing, it needs investment of time and active participation, and only those who do that will see the real benefits.
