Building Your Brand Through Social Tools

With the growing power that social networks are gaining, we’re seeing a lot of companies and figures leverage the popularity of these networks to gain exposure for their brands. Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, and John Edwards have all been vigorously spreading their campaign messages on Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Friendster and Second Life. Many companies such as: Apple, Joost, Nike, Adidas, Nikon, Nintendo, just to name a few, have also been using the different social networks to speak to and understand their customers.

Yet many marketers just don’t realize how to use the enormous potential of these social tools correctly. Twitter, MySpace, etc. all constitute channels that marketers can use to communicate with, and better understand their customers’ needs. Yet instead, many marketers view these platforms not as a way to better understand their customers by interacting with them, but as a means of reaching their target audience and spamming them to death with dull content. Whether you are a public figure or a company, here are a few tips on how to market and build your brand correctly using social tools:

1) Create a profile

It’s important to have a profile on a few of the most popular social networks out there. Profiles allow you to share information about your brand, with the rest of the world. Remember to be genuine and open. The more genuine your profile, the more it will appeal to people. Also, the more customizable the profile, the better. Customization allows you to add backgrounds and color schemes that match your brand.

2) Network

Become an active member of the community. Connect with other members. Go through different profiles and see who interests you. Add them as contacts, send them messages, and leave comments on their content. You should also start/join groups, participate in forums and chats that relate to your brand. This will show everyone that you’re really a part of the community, and not just there to promote your brand. Remember to engage in conversation with the people in your community and not “sell” to them. Talk TO them, not AT them. Make sure you read comments that have been left on your profile and react to them. Never be rude to someone even if that person disagrees with your views. Turn debates into something positive.

3) Keep it fresh

In order to get users to remember your brand, you’ll need to actively update your profile, upload pictures, videos, blog posts. Be creative! This will spark a continued interest in your brand and keep people coming back for more. Keep your profile interesting and fresh.

4) Widgets

If you create an exportable widget with content related to your brand, you are encouraging people to place the widget on their profiles or sites, allowing them to expand the recognition of your brand. It’s always better to have a widget which will add some value to those who place it on their own pages, like the MyBlogLog widget for example.

5) Promotion

Promote your various profiles on your main site and offer RSS feeds for them

Simply placing your profiles on every social network isn’t enough. You have to do some PR for them through strategic tagging, linking, and having others point to them, in order to spark the viral potential of your brand.

In conclusion, social networks provide a powerful tool for you to engage with the world. We are living in an age that marketers could only dream of. Never has there been a better time to spread your message to the public. Make sure you do it right.

Thanks to Mandy for the pic.

Technorati tags: branding, social tools, social networks, community, barack obama, hilary clinton, john edwards, twitter, myspace, youtube, friendster, second life, apple, joost, nike, adidas, nikon, nintendo, videos, blog, widget, mybloglog, promotion, rss, tagging