Lyne Noella

Lyne Noella

by Lyne Noella, CEO, WavePlay

Are you trying and failing in your use of social media to get your brand noticed and gain traction in the eyes of the business community potential investors?  Succeeding or failing to leverage your digital brand depends on your approach. The good news is that you have an opportunity to correct what’s not working, starting today. Here are five ways to kill your digital brand–correct any one of these pitfalls and you will begin to see results. Correct all five pitfalls and enjoy the traction that comes from being a digital branding artist.

1. Have no strategy and no media partners. Are you clear about the business outcomes you want from your social media campaign? Does your campaign share and reinforce your brand’s value proposition and key messages? Does your approach cater to the needs of your ideal customers? If not, develop a strategy pointed to your dream customers with information and offers they can’t refuse. Select your social media channels based on the involvement of your customers. Imbed your brand story in every communication to build appreciation of what you have to offer. Invite compatible businesses into a media partner relationship and cross promote events, products and services. Put in place and monitor website analytics–this will help you know what’s working and what is not.

2. Look like a B player. A brand is more than a mark. It is an expression of who you are as a company and what you have to offer. Look at your website–if social media draws prospects or job candidates to your homepage, for instance, will they be turned on or bounce right off? Ask some loyal customers to look at your website, electronic newsletter, and other key marketing communications and tell you what they think. Ask prospects for feedback. Ask marketing professionals for an assessment. Use this information to create a digital brand personality that engages your audience.

3. Hoard your knowledge. Nobody wants to get stuck in the vortex of your sales pitch. Generate interest in your company, people, products and services by contributing to the knowledge and success of the community. Brand your company as a knowledge leader by sharing what you know via public speaking and events, blogging, articles, news releases, newsletters and your website. Disseminate the information and ideas you create via various social media channels–this raises your brand value in the eyes of customers, prospects and others who seek meaty information.

4. Ignore the editorial community. You would be surprised at the number of companies who ignore the editorial community because they are either afraid, unsure of how to proceed, or simply discouraged. If you are creating meaty content that builds your brand cachet in the eyes of the business community, why not support your social media outreach with a public relations campaign? Start by identifying editors with an interest in your space and areas of expertise. Then, send these editors news releases and short emails to share your news, blogs, articles and other information. If what you are sharing is helpful to the editor’s audiences, you will gain free publicity

5. Run out of energy. Ask any athlete: sometimes simply having more endurance than your competitor wins the game. Effective brand promotion requires a tireless and consistent effort, along with continuous experimentation. To avoid a herky-jerky approach to digital brand promotion, put someone in charge of ensuring the development of high-quality content, professional marketing communications, media relations, and consistent social media distribution. Adjust your approach based on market response, analytics reports, and new social media venue opportunities. Create a mini-campaign each month that reinforces your branded offerings and ask your team to share the message via their own social media channels.

Correcting the missteps of digital brand promotion will not only leverage your brand’s performance, it will make your organization richer and stronger, drawing customers, talent, media coverage, partners, and, ultimately, investors.