The new meaning of "brand", savvy social strategy, and targeting locally
Branding isn't just for digital artists
Alright, so you ARE going to need a digital artist to create your logos and the look and feel of your website. But that is far from the entirety of what "brand" is. During my internship at Dell over the summer, I had the chance to participate in a discussion led by Karen Quintos, the CMO, and she stated:
A brand is a promise you make and keep to your customers.
The pros at Entrata agree: a brand comprises not only the flashy signage for your company but also how people experience the company overall. Google describes it like this:
The new era of branding is spilling out onto the web. Reviews about company interactions are everywhere, from Amazon to Yelp. Great companies like Autozone are teaching their customers how to use them as a trusted adviser to their car problems, while others like "Rockauto.com" are behind the times in only offering products at low prices. In the 21st century, branding is measured by engagement and participation, not by sales alone.
Social matters, and maybe not in the way you think
Rand Fiskin, SEO expert extraordinaire, recently ran a series of online tests and found something pretty odd:
Even when participation is low, the outlier businesses are more active on at least one social channel than their peers.
In English: websites performing better relative to their peers seem to have an abundance of posts on social media. It doesn't even matter if participation (like reviews, user dialog, etc.) are greater on another site, search engines view activity as the most important ranking criteria when weighing social factors.
This doesn't negate the need for branding, however. If two sites are social-media-workhorses and are always posting new content, the one that interacts with its customers will win out. Especially if the site is creating content about real customers and their experiences with their products or services. Google rewards human-ness! So be human!
Even when participation is low, the outlier businesses are more active on at least one social channel than their peers.
In English: websites performing better relative to their peers seem to have an abundance of posts on social media. It doesn't even matter if participation (like reviews, user dialog, etc.) are greater on another site, search engines view activity as the most important ranking criteria when weighing social factors.
This doesn't negate the need for branding, however. If two sites are social-media-workhorses and are always posting new content, the one that interacts with its customers will win out. Especially if the site is creating content about real customers and their experiences with their products or services. Google rewards human-ness! So be human!
Google My Business: The Best Free Tool You've Never Heard Of
Have a website? Own a business? Not heard of "Google My Business"? Cancel your plans for the next 15 minutes and follow these steps; they'll make a world of difference to your professional endeavors:
- Go to https://www.google.com/business/
- Verify your business location (search to see if it already exists first: Google hates duplicates)
- Populate your listing with details, like the appropriate business categories
- Add professional pictures. The more the merrier! Don't forget to add:
- A caption
- A URL
- A phone number
- An address
- A geo tag
- Enabled location sharing
- Detailed file name
- Create a YouTube channel and add it to your business
- ???
- PROFIT!!!
In A Nutshell
Think about your business as a whole and what you want customers to say about you. Get online to see what they are saying, and bridge the gap in service or product quality to get to your ideal state.
Get active on social. Make a goal to post things frequently. Involve your customers in the conversation.
Start using Google My Business. Take a boatload of pictures of your company, its product, and its location. Create a YouTube channel and make a goal to create content frequently there as well.
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