How Authentic is Your Social Brand?

Monday, 04. 5. 2010  –  Category: Enversa Companies

You open your Facebook or Twitter account and begin to scour the recent posts of your friends for interesting news.  As you scroll down the page, you see the following assortment of posts sprinkled amongst a pile of article links:

Sunshine makes me happy!

Eating pancakes.  Yummy.

So sleepy.

Sigh.

It’s exciting stuff, that’s for sure.  I mean, the great Pancake Movement certainly appreciates the support.  But what value does this bring to those reading?  With posts like these, it becomes difficult to justify that there is any value.  And if the goal of social networking is to stay connected to those you know, how are you supposed to have valuable contact if you are trivializing the relationship?

Before your feed is removed from view and your posts viewed by a handful of polite contacts, here are a few ways that you can make sure your social brand is authentic, and therefore more engaging and relevant.

Personalize Your Content: Social media is about personal communication.  Therefore, above all else, your voice needs to be personal.  Now, when talking about personal content, I don’t mean that you have to provide a running commentary of your life in real time.  Instead, look to share content that resonates with your tastes and viewpoint.  It may be about something in your personal life, such as a visit to a local shop or a movie you just watched.  But it can also be sharing articles you have written, or news stories online that resonated with you.

Don’t Just Post Links: Referencing other online content can be a great way to enhance your social brand.  It shouldn’t, however, be your only way to interact socially.  Nothing waters down your social activities more than a series of links that could have been posted by anyone.  If you decide that you can’t help but share other stories with your contacts, be sure to add a personal slant to the content in your post.  Share why you found it important to post, or what your stance is on the topic provided.

Know Your Boundaries (and Therefore Your Audience):  In the social media world, many people have a tough time deciphering the tone of their dialogue.  Is this professional?  Is this personal?  Likely it is both.  But like any other brand, your audience needs to know the parameters of you.  How often do you post?  What kind of content do you bring to the table?  How reliable is your information you provide?  The boundaries you set are often as important as the content you provide.

Filter, Filter, Filter: All the horror stories are out there about how some illicit pictures and posts online cost someone their job or their marriage.  Now this may seem to fly in the face of being personal, but quite the contrary.  If it could damage your brand personally or professionally, think twice about posting it.  Perhaps now is not the time to post that dirty joke.

Consistent, Not Overwhelming: There is nothing worse than getting tuned out, which is exactly what people do in real life to the person who just can’t stop talking.  No one should dominate the conversation 24/7.  Therefore, avoid bombarding your followers with post after post.  It gives off the impression that either you have nothing better to do with your time (which is not good to your professional career), or that you are perhaps using software to preload posts—which is worse.  Nothing breeds unauthentic than pre-planning social posts.

There are many ways to participate in the explosion of social media.  No matter what you do, however, ensure that your message if nothing else remains authentic to you and your brand.

David Fleming works for CornerWorld Corporation, parent company of Enversa.

Tags: authenticity, branding, communication, David Fleming, Facebook, Social Networking, Twitter