The Three A\'s of Social Media Branding

Bob Cargill
Copywriter, Creative Director and
Social Media Marketer

September 22, 2009

 Introductions
 Social Media and Social Media Marketing
 The Three A’s of Social Media Branding
1. Ability
2. Affability
3. Availability
 The Social Media Branding Tool Kit
◦ Blog
◦ Twitter
◦ LinkedIn
◦ Facebook
 Other Social Media Tools – Flickr, YouTube, etc.
 Social Media Branding Role Models
 Resources and Questions

“Social media is the use of
electronic and Internet tools for the
purpose of sharing and discussing
information and experiences with
other human beings.”

Source: Wikipedia

“Social media marketing is a form of
Internet marketing which seeks to achieve
branding and marketing communication
goals through the participation in various
social media. Most programs involve some
form of building an idea or brand
awareness, increasing visibility, encouraging
brand feedback and dialogue as well as
possibly selling a product or service.”

Source: Wikipedia

Don’t underestimate what it takes to be proficient in social
media. It doesn’t take years of schooling to write what
you’re doing in 140 characters or less, but it does take more
than a modicum of talent to earn the respect and reputation
that you need to be successful on Twitter and other social
media properties. The fact is that the most acclaimed
practitioners in this space are specialists, authorities and
knowledge leaders not just online, but in their physical lives
as well. They are visionaries who are renowned for their
expertise wherever they go, people who are able to
articulate their thoughts such that they resonate with, if not
inspire, the masses.

Skills alone will only get you so far in social media. You
need to humanize your brand identity. Those who are most
popular in social media are those who have the best
“bedside manners,” the most engaging personalities. They
are amiable and congenial, generous and kind, people who
are as good at listening as they are teaching, as humble
and humorous as they are confident in their abilities. They
are people like Chris Brogan, Paul Chaney, Joseph Jaffe,
Steve Rubel, Ann Handley, Beth Harte, Yvonne DiVita,
Susan Hanshaw and Sarah Merion, among others.

Like a physician on call, to be appreciated by your
constituents in social media is to be open for business
practically 24/7. No, you’re not saving lives, but you are
demonstrating that you are responsive and attentive to
those who want to connect with you. It’s one thing to
establish a presence in the blogosphere as well as on
Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. But if you want to be
looked up to as the real deal that you are in this space, you
have to be on the grid more often than not and be prepared
to lose a little sleep.

•Co-author, “Trust Agents”
•President of New Marketing
Labs
•His blog is ranked #3 in the
Advertising Age Power 150
•Approaching 100,000
followers on Twitter

•Over 800,000 results for his name in Google
•Author of the bestselling career book, Me 2.0: Build
a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success”
•Founder of the Personal Branding Blog, the #1 job
blog by Careerbuilder in 2008

1. Do you believe in the two principles of social media,
authenticity and transparency?

2. Does your company’s culture allow for, if not encourage,
entrepreneurialism and innovation?

3. Are you comfortable with inclusive, informal dialogue
among all levels of employees and between your
organization and others, possibly even detractors?

4. Do you understand that to be successful with blogging
and other forms of social media communications, you
need to listen, engage and become an active, generous
member of the “community” at large?

5. Are you prepared to devote the time, energy and
resources to creating quality, relevant content on an
ongoing basis, which you will commit to sharing – for the
most part, unconditionally – with the social web?

1. Transparent
2. Authentic
3. Engaging
4. Responsive
5. Extemporaneous
6. Conversational
7. Succinct
8. Considerate
9. Selfless
10. Generous

Either you’ve already
developed a strong brand
and using social media to
extend it is easy, but
risky…

…or your brand is weak
and using social media to
strengthen it is a
challenge, but necessary.

1. Be real before being virtual.
2. Know your baseline.
3. Start with the basics.
4. Connect real with virtual.
5. Enhance and maintain.

“A New Marketing Commentator” was the first blog ever
to receive an award – a Gold – from the New England
Direct Marketing Association at its 2006 awards show.

“Markets Are Conversations.”

The Cluetrain Manifesto
The End of Business as Usual
By Rick Levine, Christopher Locke,
Doc Searls, David Weinberger 2000

“The essential lesson is that every
day it gets easier to tighten the
relationship you have with the
people who choose to follow you.”

Seth Godin
Page 35
Tribes

1. Instructional – Write about your specific area
of expertise and, ideally, include a few outbound
links to corroborating material found elsewhere.

2. Informational – If you have any news to share,
whether it relates to the organization you work for or
is just something you've heard about in the industry,
blogging about it is a great way to spread the word.

3. Entertaining – All work and no play can make
yours a very dull blog. So every once in a while, find
something amusing or even comical to feature in
your posts.

4. Reviews – Whatever books, magazines, articles
and, yes, blogs you read...if they could be of
interest to your constituents, they're worth your
candid critiques.

5. Analysis – List the pros and cons of an important
industry trend or development and give readers your
take on its merits (or lack thereof).

6. Opinion – Express your honest feelings about a
topic or issue that would be of interest to your
colleagues, clients and anyone else who is reading
your blog.

7. Diaries – Give readers an idea of what you do
during a typical day on the job. Or tell them how
you and your team pulled off – from start to finish –
a successful initiative. Authenticity and
transparency will add to your credibility and help
build your own personal brand.

8. Findings – If you have numbers, charts, graphs
or any other information that will help your audience
develop and fine-tune their respective skill sets and
"best practices,“ don't hesitate to share.

9. Interviews – Put on your journalist's hat and
pose a few questions to a notable industry expert,
then post the Q&A on your blog.

10. Accolades – Offer kudos to award-winners and
knowledge leaders, even if they're competitors.
Flattery will get you, well, maybe a new friend in
the one who you praise.

11. Questions – Take a strong position on a hot
topic or issue and ask your readers whether they
agree. Some bloggers, such as SMM king Chris
Brogan, frequently close their posts with a question
or two, which invariably results in a number of good
comments.

11. Case Studies – Real-world examples, whether
your own or not, help illustrate and reinforce your
blog's value proposition.

13. Multi-Part Articles – If one post alone won't
do your topic justice, consider breaking up your
thoughts into a series of posts, bringing readers
back for more time and again.

14. Polls – Conduct a survey on something topical
and reveal the results down the road.

15. Lists – Finally, you can simply add up all the
reasons for doing something – anything – and turn
your list into a long post like this one.

•Wrote for “Laid Off and Looking,” a
Wall Street Journal blog
•New Director of Marketing and Social
•Media at Second Time Around
•Produced successful social media
program, “ShopUp”

•Nationally-renowned job-seeker
•Uses LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Blog,etc.
•Conducts Find-a-Job Giveaway Contest

“Twitter is a free social networking and micro blogging service
that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates
(otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up
to 140 characters in length.”

Source: Wikipedia

Twitter is often referred to as micro-blogging and therefore
benefits users in many of the same ways as blogging…

 Thought Leadership
 Reputation Management
 Search Engine Optimization
 Yes, Branding….

 Determine Your Objectives – Branding, Conversation,
Traffic, Sales
 Develop a Plan
 Identify the Owner(s)
 Listen and Learn
 Reach Out to Others
 Share Your Knowledge
 Be Yourself
 Make the Commitment

1. News and Informational
2. Educational

3. Questions

4. Status Updates

5. Retweets

6. Links to Articles, Events, Resources, etc.

7. Random and Personal

8. Replies/Conversation (DM and @ Messages)

9. Broadcasting Live Events

10. Promotional

*And More

Some folks use their Twitter accounts mainly to
disseminate news and information, whether it’s about their
own organization or not. For instance, I’ll often write
tweets about what I deem significant industry
developments and trends. I’ll read something interesting
then share it with my followers, doing them the service – at
least that’s my intent – of identifying must-read stories.

To be successful on Twitter, you have to be generous in
your sharing of knowledge and expertise. Those with the
most followers are looked up to and depended on for their
ability to teach and to lead, for their willingness to commit
the time necessary to helping others succeed.

Any good conversationalist knows that a great way to show
an interest in people is to ask questions of them. Well, as it
goes with your offline relationships in the physical world, so
it goes on Twitter. Ask followers to introduce themselves to
you or “crowdsource” your next presentation. People love
to give you their opinions, especially on Twitter.

Let your followers know what you’re up to at the moment,
whether you’re about to give a big presentation, get on a
plane, buy a new book, jog a few miles or attend your
child’s Little League baseball game. In describing such
activities, both professional and personal, you’re helping
others get acquainted with you. And more people do
business with those they know and trust.

This is something you can – and should – employ
occasionally as a tactic on Twitter. To retweet is to copy
and paste someone else’s tweet that you like and deem
worthy of repeating, making sure to place the initials RT in
front of his or her handle, such as RT @chrisbrogan. You’ll
benefit from repurposing someone else’s good content,
and they’ll be flattered that you appreciated their tweet
enough to share it with your own audience.

While it’s not necessary to share a link every time you
tweet, it’s a fairly common practice on Twitter. After all,
given the fact that you have just a sentence or two to get
your message across, it’s only natural you would want to
link to supporting material, including your own. I use Tiny
URL to shorten my links, by the way, but there are many
other such tools to help you perform the same task.

To reveal your personality on Twitter is to be successful on
Twitter. To be faithfully followed, it’s absolutely
necessary. You don’t want to be predictable, formulaic or
all business all the time. If you tweet outside of the box
now and then, you’ll pique the curiosity of your
constituency. And maybe even grow on them.

What many of those who are tweeting for the first time
don’t realize is just how conversational this medium can
be. Like instant messaging or an online chat room, Twitter
can be used to communicate back and forth between one
another. Placing the @ symbol before someone’s handle
is the way to reply to him or her publicly, while a direct
message, or DM, is how you would respond privately to
that individual.

Another good service you can provide to your followers is
to broadcast live from industry events that you attend. In
doing so, you’re reinforcing your position as a thought
leader and expert, someone who recognizes the
importance of staying current and cutting edge. Like a
reporter on the scene, you’re also serving as a conduit of
information on behalf of the source, propagating their
interesting content to those who may not have seen it
otherwise. Everyone wins.

While Twitter can be used to toot your own horn, if you’re
perceived as too self-promotional, your efforts will backfire.
Like any other social media channel, Twitter should be
used primarily for listening and conversation, for sharing
generously with others. But that’s not to say you can’t use
it for marketing and sales. Just pick your spots carefully,
linking back to your own content, products and services
only every so often, not all the time.

•27,000+ tweets and 37,000+
followers
•Ranked third on Google
•Pistachio (Laura Fitton)
Consulting (authors of “Twitter
for Dummies”)

LinkedIn is an interconnected network of experienced
professionals from around the world, representing 170
industries and 200 countries. You can find, be introduced to, and
collaborate with qualified professionals that you need to work
with to accomplish your goals.

1. Establish a Profile
2. Join and Start Groups, Sub-Groups

3. Ask and Answer Questions

4. Promote Your Reading List

5. Share Links to Good Articles

6. Post Status Updates

7. Connect With and Recommend Others

8. Conduct Polls

9. Share Presentations

10. Import Blogs

*And Much More

•Named one of “35 unique
•entrepreneurs that are changing the world”
(Rise to the Top)
•Produces and hosts video podcast
•Developing social networking site with
Tony Robbins

Facebook, formerly The Facebook, is a free-access social
networking website that is operated and privately owned by
Facebook, Inc. Users can join networks organized by city,
workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with
other people. People can also add friends and send them
messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends
about themselves.

Source: Wikipedia

1. Establish a Profile
2. Build a Community (Fan Pages and Groups)

3. Lead Conversations

4. Post Notes

5. Conduct Polls and Contests

6. Display Work

7. Deploy Applications

8. Stage Events

9. Share Links to Great Articles

10. Post Video, Audio and Pictures

* And Much More

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paXZADAm3wI

http://tinyurl.com/bobcargill

 Flickr. This is “almost certainly the best online photo management and
sharing application in the world.”
 YouTube. This is a video sharing website where users can upload, view
and share video clips.
 Google Reader. Google Reader constantly checks your favorite news
sites and blogs for new content. Whether a site updates daily or
monthly, you can be sure that you won't miss a thing.
 Google Analytics. Use Google Analytics to learn which online
marketing initiatives are cost effective and see how visitors actually
interact with your site. Make informed site design improvements, drive
targeted traffic, and increase your conversions and profits.

 Yammer. This tool allows you to post short messages (like Twitter) in
the form of one feed that lives in a central location and is exclusive to
those working at the same company.
 FriendFeed. Consolidates all of your social media activities into one
aggregated feed which you can customize and share with others. (Also
known as Lifestreaming.)
 Posterous. Posterous lets you post things online fast using email. You
email us and we reply instantly with your new posterous blog.
 Ning. Allows you to create your own “private-label” social network –
see http://www.amaboston.org/ for a great example of how the tool can
be used

•Best-selling author of 10+
marketing books
•Internationally-renowned new
marketing guru
•“He was recently chosen as one of
21 Speakers for the Next Century
by Successful Meetings”

 Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day
◦ Dale Evans

 Me 2.0
◦ Dan Schawbel

 Join the Conversation
◦ Joseph Jaffe

 Tribes
◦ Seth Godin

 Trust Agents
◦ Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

 Best Social Media Advice from This Site (Chris Brogan)
◦ http://www.chrisbrogan.com/best-social-media-advice-from-this-site/

 100 Personal Branding Tactics Using Social Media (Chris
Brogan)
◦ http://www.chrisbrogan.com/100-personal-branding-tactics-using-
social-media/

 The Social Media Marketing Blog (Scott Monty)
◦ http://www.scottmonty.com/

 Mashable (All That’s New on the Web)
◦ http://mashable.com/

 Micro Persuasion (Steve Rubel)
◦ http://www.micropersuasion.com/

 Personal Branding Blog (Dan Schawbel)
◦ http://personalbrandingblog.com/

 The Top 50 Social Media Blogs of the Year (2008)
◦ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Tools/Top-50-Social-Media-Blogs-
2008.htm

 Top 150 Social Media Marketing Blogs
◦ http://blog.ecairn.com/2008/11/06/top-150-social-marketing-blogs/

 Internet Marketing Secrets and Strategies
◦ http://www.internet-marketing-strategies-and-secrets.com/

1. Ability. The most acclaimed practitioners in this space are
specialists, authorities and knowledge leaders not just online, but in
their physical lives as well. They are visionaries who are renowned for
their expertise wherever they go, people who are able to articulate their
thoughts such that they resonate with, if not inspire, the masses.

2. Affability. Skills alone will only get you so far in social media. You
need to humanize your brand identity. Those who are most popular in
social media are those who have the best “bedside manners,” the most
engaging personalities. They are amiable and congenial, generous and
kind, people who are as good at listening as they are teaching, as
humble and humorous as they are confident in their abilities.

3. Availability. Like a physician on call, to be appreciated by your
constituents in social media is to be open for business practically 24/7.
No, you’re not saving lives, but you are demonstrating that you are
responsive and attentive to those who want to connect with you.

If you have any questions about social media…

Bob Cargill
Cargill123@gmail.com
www.twitter.com/cargillcreative
www.linkedin.com/in/bobcargill
www.facebook.com/bobcargill
www.anewmarketingcommentator.com
978-375-1334

Anytime!!!

The Three A\'s of Social Media Branding

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