Be Your Brand

by Regan Hillyer

  There are international brands that spend millions of dollars in marketing each year with fewer things on Facebook and no official Twitter presence at all, so the situation you’re in right now puts you in good company for improvement. Still, the Internet is nothing like it was even five years ago, where people endlessly surfed the Web. Many people just don’t look information on the Web in that way anymore. If anything, they surf Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks looking for relevant and recommended content. What that means for you, as a company, is that whether you’re a huge brand or brand-new, people who don’t know your product or service already are unlikely to be your first Facebook fans or Twitter followers. So who will become your first social media brand advocates? Your strongest assets are customers, staff, partners, and vendors. However, to leverage this goodwill, you have to ask them to support the company through social networking and tell them why they should. Explain the benefits of social networking to your current supporters. Tell them why it is imperative that your company move forward with social media initiatives. Describe the ways their actions will help your company in your marketing and advertising efforts and make sure they understand how valuable their participation is in this process.

  THE LIKE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE LINK

  Ten years ago, if you built a website for your company, you didn’t expect thousands of strangers to just visit it, did you? Instead you used other marketing initiatives and assets to direct people to your website and spread the URL or link wherever you could. Sometimes people checked it out, and if they were interested in your content and trusted you enough, maybe they even stayed awhile or purchased your products and services. Or if other related companies found your content useful, it was possible they linked their website to yours, in exchange for you linking back to them. This linking takes place in the hope of creating greater search engine optimization, and more website traffic. Today, the “like” is more important than the “link.” Getting people to your website may help them learn about your company and maybe even buy something, but getting them to like you on Facebook does two things that will contribute to long-term success. First, when people use the Like function, they subscribe to your updates, allowing you to have a conversation with them on Facebook forever, unless you and they scribe. Second, it introduces and endorses you to every one of the user’s friends. The average person on Facebook has 130 friends so with every “like,” you’re exposing your brand to another 130 potential customers, or more. Can you imagine if every time one individual visited your website, she shared that fact with 130 of her friends? (“Hey ladies, I just visited this site. Check it out, it’s so great!”) The same phenomenon is true for followers on Twitter, subscribers on YouTube or your blog, and other social networking outlets, but the numbers aren’t as big as those on Facebook. Also, no network is as organically viral as Facebook’s. Simply put, the more Likes content receives, the more often it will be viewed, and the number of people seeing and accessing the content will grow over time. There are long-lasting effects of the Like in Facebook search optimization: once you acquire a Like on your page, any of that person’s friends will see this during future searches. So if you’re an attorney and one of your clients has “liked” you on Facebook, any time one of his friends searches for an attorney in the future and finds you, your client’s testimonial (“Your friend John likes Bob the attorney”) will be right there waiting for him. If you represent a children’s car-seat company, once one happy mommy customer “likes” your product on Facebook, her mom friends will quickly see her endorsement which proves to be more powerful than any advertisement.

  HOW TO GET THE “LIKE”

  How do you get people to actually “like” you? No matter well your brand is currently established, you’ll need a proposition to your customers, staff, vendors, and partners regarding some sort of benefit they receive from your fans. Consider the following two different calls to action: you. Like us on Facebook now at Facebook.com/Brands versus Ask us your social media questions anytime at Facebook.com/Brands. The first one is totally brand-centric. Why would you possibly read that and decide to “like” our company unless you already knew us, loved us, and trusted us? The second call is consumer-centric and is likely to generate a lot more action, not only from people who already love us and trust us but also from casual first-time customers and maybe even prospects. Did you know that you can’t ask questions or post on a company’s wall unless you already “like” it on Facebook? You probably hadn’t thought about that, and neither did all of the people who just clicked the Like button in order to post their question. Whatever you can do to encourage activity on your Facebook page will in fact encourage Likes, without actually asking for them. For instance, Oreo asks customers on their packaging: “To dunk or not to dunk? Let us know at Facebook.com/Oreo.” They’re encouraging people to share their opinions, and not just telling to “like” Oreo’s online. More than 17 million people have “liked” the company on Facebook. The value proposition might be different for each constituency. For example, you may want to invite your own staff to “like” your page with the incentive that they can post questions to the CEO, some of which will receive responses. For customers, however, you may invite them to access a discount surrounding people for joining you and then customers with that value proposition, or others at every opportunity, can be converted customers into fans, and that’s where things begin to get interesting. Why should people “like” you on Facebook or follow you on Twitter? What’s in it for them that’s of value? How can you summarize that in a short, easy-to-understand call to action? The answer is, it depends on your business or organization.

  Here are several real calls to action from clients to help you think about why people should like you:

  Share your feedback with us at Facebook.com/VerizonFiOS.

  Win prizes and join the conversation at Facebook.com/1800Flowers.

  Free support quitting smoking at Facebook.com/NYCquits.

  Connect with other moms like you at Facebook.com/striderite.

  Join the conversation at Facebook.com/UnoChicagoGrill.

  Get some at Facebook com/NYCcondom.

  It’s not about you, it’s about your customers, and just like the Web quickly became too big to tell people to visit your website without telling them why, Facebook is too big to tell people to “like” you without telling them why—even your customers.

  It’s essential to develop that value proposition and then integrate it into your communications with customers and prospects. In essence, getting the “like” approval is essential for everyone but even more important for smaller businesses and new organizations which can utilize such free social media. Don’t get anyone in your circle of influence to “like” you. Just don’t do it without creating value for whoever the audience is. You’re not going to get likes from anyone without giving him or her a valid reason. On the other hand, you’re also not going to get “likes” from anyone without reminding him or her to “like” you. Give them value and opportunity, and your vendors, you. Your staff, and friends will join you. Where should you tell customers to “like” you? Provide potential followers and fans with value propositions to “like” you in as many places as possible.

  Here are a number of places to consider integrating the call to action to your customers:

  On your website.

  On e-mail: send out as a company email.

  On every staff person’s e-mail signature.

  On every business card handed out.

  On every brochure you print.

  On every receipt you hand out.

  On every piece of snail mail you send out.

  On every inbound phone call to your company.

  On every outbound phone call from your company.

  On packaging (as in the Oreo example).

  On in-location signage.

  Some of these more antiquated techniques, snail mail and brochures for example, are given new vitality and purpose both for you and yo
ur consumer if you can connect them directly to your online social network.

  SALES NOW VS LIKE NOW

  The typical e-commerce site features dozens, hundreds or thousands of products for sale, many of which are often pieces of text and graphics on such a site which have been carefully optimized to drive as many “clicks” to the cart as possible, attempting to maximize immediate sales. If that same e-commerce site were optimized for people to share what they “liked” by clicking the Like button on as many products or categories as possible? This function would create a permanent record of each visitor’s interests. Then, friends of the visitors could go to the site, see the exact products their friend indicated he “liked”, and could then buy it for him for a birthday, holiday or whatever reason. As a company, you’d get fewer immediate sales but you’d set yourself up to significantly increase your “conversion rate” (percentage of website visitors who buy your products or take further actions) in the future. Wouldn’t you be more likely to buy something for your husband or your wife online if you saw he or she had already shown interest in it by “liking” it online? Professional Services: Like as the New Referral Websites for doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, and other service professionals are set up now to convince you to call them—to take action now—but what if they were set up to generate Likes? If every professional took the time to say to all of their current clients, you are satisfied with our services and would like to let others know about your exceptional experience with our company, “please like us on Facebook,” or “Ask us questions on our Facebook page,” they’d instantly begin creating a valuable network, not only growing their exposure but also building a clientele who highly trusts them.

  BRAND RECOGNITION AND BUILDING CREDIBILITY

  You need to be seen on credible websites relevant to your industry — like CNN, Forbes, etc. Once you’re featured in these media sites you can use those logos as credibility on your website. A press release is a good way to do this.

  GETTING SEEN ONLINE

  You could be the best coach, consultant or speaker in the world, for example, but if no one sees you and knows who you are, you are not going to have a big impact in this world. Getting seen online in this day and age is vital. Hire a SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) professional, unless you’re a computer expert that understands back links and how important it is to get SEO right. Your Google ranking and what comes up when people search your name is all CRUCIAL to your credibility and good SEO work will mean that your clients can find you easier.

  ENSURE YOU BECOME A BEST SELLING AUTHOR

  A best selling book is what you need to build credibility. Once you have established your brand and product, you might want to write a book and sell this on an online superstore. Ever wonder how to sell your book on Amazon? Amazon is a site that sells a variety of things users can buy such as health and beauty, apparel, kids’ stuff, home and garden, electronics, digital downloads, games, movies, books and even groceries. How to make money selling on Amazon is easier than you think. Not only can surfers online buy these items brand new, some of the items can also be bought through individual sellers. If you want to capitalize on the high website traffic and name brand of Amazon in order to make some additional cash, there are a few ways you can sell absolutely anything.

  When it comes to how to start selling your book on Amazon, the first thing you need to do is to sign up for an account on Amazon. If you are a first time user to this website, then providing the right information about yourself in terms of demographics is the first thing you need to do. Your login is automatically your email address.

  Click on the button that says ‘Your Account.’ You will then see a ‘My Seller Account’ option. This link is something you need to choose so that you can create your own account as a seller. When someone buys an item that you are selling, Amazon can pay you through direct deposit. For this reason, you will need to set up a seller’s account.

  Select the link ‘List Single Items for Sale.’ This will take you to a website page that requests you to choose the category of your product where your item for sale is included. It will also ask you for your product’s ASIN, UPC or ISBN number if this applies, along with the keyword or the title of the product. Click ‘Continue’ once the appropriate information is entered.

  On Amazon, find products that match your item for sale. If it does not happen to be on sale at the moment in Amazon, you will see a message that says your item is ineligible for sale on Amazon Marketplace selling since it is not currently in the Amazon catalog. You will then need to describe your item’s condition using categories that have been pre-set such as ‘Collectible-Acceptable’ or ‘Used-Like New.’ You can write a comment up to a thousand characters as well as the number of items you have before entering your item’s price. Your zip code will then need to be entered so that buyers can see where their packages are getting shipped from.

  As you begin your path of how to make money selling on Amazon, also click the link indicating whether you are willing to ship via expedited services or are able to ship internationally. Next, review you item for accuracy and click ‘Submit Your Listing.’ All you need to do now is promote your book, allow someone to buy your book and have them make a payment. This is how to make money selling on Amazon. Not only that, selling a book on Amazon solidifies you as an expert. For this reason, it is a good idea to start writing this straight away when you’ve developed your brand. Get it professionally edited. Decide whether to do it in hard copy or digital or both. Start getting your list and be excited about it being released. Launch it for $1 on Amazon and then increase price relative to the content and length of the book.

  PART 3: ACCELERATING YOUR BRAND

  Now you have developed and launched your personal brand and you’re seeing incredible results, we need to crank it up. This section is all about how to grow and accelerate your results within your brand.

  THE LITTLE THINGS MATTER

  Many times it’s the little extra things that matter the most. The truth is, a lot will depend on the specific nature of your brand and your online communities. One thing you can do once you decide to put your brand out there is “listen” to conversations that are not necessarily about your company and respond to questions that aren’t directly aimed at you. Become part of these conversations and get involved in the community related to your company industry, but don’t try to push your organization or a sales pitch onto consumers. This practice is particularly easy to do on Twitter, where conversation with strangers is the norm. So if you’re a real estate agent, for example, you could listen for people asking questions about getting bank loans for down payments in your town and answer these questions with links to helpful online articles. Or if you’re a local bed and breakfast, you might look for people asking questions about great vacation spots and recommend a few colleagues in exotic locations that you met at a trade show. You can provide unexpected value to people on Twitter and Facebook and expect nothing in return, you can create “wow” factors in different ways to promote yourself and your brand.

  Promote moments that collectively will have impact on your business. Those vacation spots you recommended to others on Twitter will eventually have an opportunity to recommend you to their followers, for instance. Or if the articles you’ve supplied about loans are extremely helpful, these potential buyers may seek your assistance when purchasing a home. Best Buy was the first large company to begin delivering unexpected value on Twitter in the form of answering people’s questions. It developed the “Twelpforce,” a group of nearly one thousand employees who were trained to respond to people’s questions on Twitter about electronics products. When one of these hundreds of staff people aren’t on the store floor helping an in-person customer, he or she is helping online customers and answering any questions about electronics products, including products not sold at Best Buy. The big things matter, too, especially for larger organizations. Big things such as contests and sweepstakes can create “wow” moments, as they attract
participants and winners. If you can create contests that bring people closer to your brand or strengthen that emotional connection, then they’ll have long-lasting impact.

  MAKING SELLING EASY

  If you are not showing up and offering your community or your tribe products and services to buy, as we touched on in the last section of this book, you do not actually have a business. Now you have sales coming into your business, it’s time to accelerate your sales and your results.

  Facebook and other social networks have grown immensely in a few short years, and, by definition, they are primarily social channels, not sales channels. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t use Facebook to directly sell, market, or grow your business It does mean that the expectation most people have when they re on Facebook or another social network is that they are there to socialize and connect with others, not to shop. In order to effectively change a social network into a sales channel, you have to make the buying process as effortless and satisfying as possible. You also have to tread carefully: if you push too hard to market or sell, you will erode the all-important trust and likeability you’ve worked hard to achieve. The big question on every marketer’s mind is how to make money using social media. What is the real return on investment of all the time and money spent in the space ROI forms, of course: brand and credibility increased loyalty and frequency of purchase, recommendations, and decreased need for advertising, to name a few.