Social Media Branding
Albert BarraAugust 13, 2018 · 2 min read
The more time I spend working in and around social media, the more I realise that, rather than marketing, what we are doing is branding.
Our obsession with immediate sales—perfectly understandable, on the other hand, given the stagnation we are experiencing—is leading us towards behaviours and strategies that hinder the achievement of meaningful results for our businesses. Then, when we fail to achieve those results, we think social media are not useful. In reality, the problem is that our strategy fails because our approach fails.
There are several fundamental characteristics of social media that determine our ability to market through them.
It is a user-dominated environment. This means that the rules, whether explicit or implicit, are defined by the user. Its natural mode of interaction is conversation, which means messages flow in both directions, rather than one-way as in traditional marketing. The connection structure is the network, creating multidirectional relationships based on the willingness of its members, which are entirely dynamic and segmented.
These are just some of the characteristics of social media, but they are fundamental to marketing because they define its environment and rules of engagement. In this context, the concept of “marketing” takes on a different meaning, as it loses some of its attributes—the product of a very specific environment and strategy—in favour of an approach more focused on presence, the ongoing creation of value and branding.
Indeed, social media redefine our ability to communicate and engage with users/customers. It is no longer relevant to talk about the product, but about experiences; we can no longer broadcast messages, but must open channels for conversation. Ultimately, we can no longer believe that the market is willing to listen to us simply because we want to say something. We must now be relevant, consistent and able to create value in everything we do, beyond the product. Communication and conversation are now part of our product; they are our product.
Businesses are organisations that manage information, not just products or services. Only from this conviction will we be able to build strong branding and make the most of social media as valuable environments for businesses.
It is a user-dominated environment. This means that the rules, whether explicit or implicit, are defined by the user. Its natural mode of interaction is conversation, which means messages flow in both directions, rather than one-way as in traditional marketing. The connection structure is the network, creating multidirectional relationships based on the willingness of its members, which are entirely dynamic and segmented.
These are just some of the characteristics of social media, but they are fundamental to marketing because they define its environment and rules of engagement. In this context, the concept of “marketing” takes on a different meaning, as it loses some of its attributes—the product of a very specific environment and strategy—in favour of an approach more focused on presence, the ongoing creation of value and branding.
Indeed, social media redefine our ability to communicate and engage with users/customers. It is no longer relevant to talk about the product, but about experiences; we can no longer broadcast messages, but must open channels for conversation. Ultimately, we can no longer believe that the market is willing to listen to us simply because we want to say something. We must now be relevant, consistent and able to create value in everything we do, beyond the product. Communication and conversation are now part of our product; they are our product.
Businesses are organisations that manage information, not just products or services. Only from this conviction will we be able to build strong branding and make the most of social media as valuable environments for businesses.