We are in the process of creating a social media campaign for a new business and we are developing a special brand voice (or at least talking about what our brand voice/personality will sound like). One of our team members was completely adamant that we focus on making our customers laugh and learn and not be “all about us” when we are sharing information. She likened a brand that is too brand-centeric to be like the friend on Facebook that is “all about her”. Her pictures, her posts, her links – it just starts to look and feel very self-centered.
Brands that are too self-centered are a real turn off. They brag about their benefits. They don’t post photos of their friends. They follow only those that will benefit them. They ignore questions that they can’t seem to answer and post and share only about their products and services.
We agree with the folks at Vocus – original “content” – that is -Facebook posts, Pinterest photos/illustrations, Tweets, Instagram pictures and intriguing blog posts are challenging to come up with on a continual basis, but with enough creativity you can make it happen. Better to not post something too brand-centeric than to strategize and create a list of filters for what your brand will and won’t do on line. If you first develop a general social media strategy with guidelines and criteria for staying the course, you decrease the chances of sounding blah on your blog and narcissistic on You Tube.
Your brand voice should be consumer-centric. Social Media Explorer wrote an excellent article on developing your brand voice. Click here to read more.
