Future Searches

Harnessing Social Media to Build a Personal Brand

The days of customers dealing with faceless big businesses are coming to an end. People like to deal with other people, and even corporations understand that now. Just think about some of the most well-known companies and the names associated with them. The late Steve Jobs was the face of Apple. Bill Gates, to many people, is Microsoft.

Sometimes, the person that represents the brand isn’t a CEO or a manager. Many game developers rely heavily on their community managers. Ask a gamer about Pitch Black Games, and most of them will mention Sanya Weathers, a community manager that has served several companies, and is highly regarded.

Socialising as a Brand

When you’re in the public eye, representing a company, you need to be careful. Social media marketing is not the same as social networking on a personal level. This is something that is easy to forget. You might post about “Lolcats” and your favourite, perhaps slightly tasteless YouTube videos on your personal account, but do you really want your customers to see those posts? Just imagine if you went to Elle Macpherson’s brand page on your favourite social network and saw links to online petitions, games, and funny Occupy Wall Street memes. If your political leanings weren’t the same as Macphersons, there’d be a good chance she’d lose a customer.

Social Media Past Twitter & Facebook

There can be little doubt that social media is one of the most important recent innovations for both the business world and its’ customers. The speed at which it has been adopted means that businesses simply cannot afford to ignore social media platforms.

That being said, there is a problem that threatens to damage all the good work businesses have put into becoming active members in the social media community. While there is no doubt that Twitter and Facebook are the major players, their very dominance can lead to a false sense of security as well as a business’s social media strategy becoming stale and static.

The truth of the matter is that there are a number of other key players that most businesses need to be aware of so that they can ensure they are covering all the bases and not getting a nasty surprise that can have a negative effect on their brand’s reputation.

Linkedin

Probably the other major player after Twitter and Facebook, Linkedin is arguably the most “professional” of social media platforms and is a superb resource for networking. However, even if a business feels that their core audience lies beyond its typical user, it should still maintain a presence, especially if the business provides B2B services.

Google Adwords versus Facebook Adds

Facebook is a social addiction. There is no powerful mean at all to connect and share! We are online all time; while working, travelling, resting…even while weeing & pooing. People spend more time at Facebook than they do at Google. Does it make Facebook a better online advertising channel than Google?

The answer is No. Being the most busy website doesn’t make Facebook the best advertising place. It’s all down to the purpose of the visitors. Facebook users are looking to socialize rather than buying a specific product. Advertising a new product on Facebook; similar to Google Adwords placement-targetted ads, can boost awareness; especially for a specific target group however when it comes to purchasing something, Google search comes to our minds.

Google can have less views however people use Google to find what they need. They perform a search about a topic and are willing to click on links during their visits.  Google users are more likely to be close to the sales stage on the marketing funnel and perform an action. Since Google’s core function is search, advertising your products on Google would bring more sales and leads than on Facebook.