Personality as a Brand

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Jason Houck

When we all meet someone the personality they entail says a lot about what kind of person they are. The same holds true for a brand. It is very important as a brand to have personality. The reason this is true is because when people are looking to connect with a brand they look for an aspect about the brand that makes them feel comfortable and want to build a relationship with. Basically, your brands personality is whats perceived by others meaning your audience and consumers.

When developing the personality of your brand ask yourself a couple questions that will aid you in developing the right one that will encompass a positive impact.

Who am I? What kind of results do I want to see?
Is my brand one that everyone wants to connect with or am I trying to target a specific audience?
Does my personality fit my brand identity and is it strong enough to make a lasting impression?
How do I want to be perceived by my customers and audience?
Does my personality define me?
If my brand were human what would be my characteristics?

Once you develop your brand personality, the marketing strategy aspect of your brand becomes somewhat easier to create. Make sure all departments of your brand are working together as a team and agree as a team to make this happen. I have seen many brands fail when trying to develop a personality because they fail to work as a team which leads to a lot of chaos, disagreement and disaster.

So sit down with all departments of your brand and ask each other, “Are we being perceived in a way that makes us successful?” During the meeting with all departments, be sure to develop a set of social media guidelines or principles to help guide employees when carrying out tasks and communicating “as the brand”. If your brand is not being perceived as being successful take into consideration what I have talked about and start developing the visual personification your brand deserves. After all, personality can say a thousand words about who we are as brand.

Does Your Content Have Power?

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Jason Houck

As we all know, content is King and helps define why we blog, use Twitter and Facebook. It is important to create our content to encompass our niche and give your audience the information they are looking for.

A great way to help you decide if your content is being developed in a positive way is to ask yourself , “Is my content valuable with direction?”

Below I will share 6 ways to ensure that your content is valuable and directional.

Make your content powerful and strong enough for someone to want to share it
Use content that is up to date
Stick with content you understand and believe in. No need to impress someone in a fake way.
Use detailed content, paint a picture with words. Just because we know what it means doesn’t mean everyone else does.
Use web links that are informative and reliable
Content that steers someone in the right direction of success

The main point I am trying to convey is when developing content develop it in a way that everyone understands and sees worth in to help give them answers and information they are looking for. If you do this you will gain trust and keep your audience engaged and coming back for more.

Always remember to never step outside your comfort zone in creating content. It’s not who your are and your audience will sense it. For example, If you’re niche and audience revolves around content that helps a grocery shopper become more savvy using coupons, they may not want to hear about how is the best way to please a man or woman in bed.

If looking to expand your content to encompass another topic, ask your audience if it’s something they are interested in. Do this by just asking the question, creating a poll or even creating a blog post.

Don’t get me wrong. It is okay to occasionally share content that you may find funny or relaxing. After all, we all need a good laugh or a day to unwind.

Content is powerful as a King. It not only helps us grow as a person but helps us see success and grow as a whole. Just remember to embrace your power when developing content. If we do, we all become a winner.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Also, feel free to add in a comment what you may think I left out.

Using Video to Enhance a Brand’s Image and Presence on Social Media

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Jason Houck

As a brand, it is important we encompass a positive image and unique presence on Social Media to grow and be of value to others. If your brand is new or having issues with doing so, I am here to share information on how your brand can make that happen.

When promoting a positive image and unique presence, a brand needs to keep in mind it’s about connecting with the audience and customers. By doing so, the brand creates a path for customers to build relationships, spread the word and keeps them coming back for more. One way this is done is to put a face behind who your customers and audience speak and do service with on Social Media. As a consumer on Social Media , this is something I and many others look for to help get a better feel and understanding of who we are conversing with but what some look for doesn’t stop there.

The key to keeping the positive image and presence is to be authentic, original and unique in doing so. This is done by enhancing it through the use of video which takes it above and beyond the profile face pictures you find on other brands websites, blogs and Social Media platforms. By using video, a brand is giving their audience and consumers a look from the outside in and further deepening the connection. There are several ways to make this happen.

Create a short video with enthusiasm from each team member within the brand. No one likes, “Just another boring video” so it’s important to create it with zazz and make it interesting and fun. In this video, state your name, what your position is, and what makes your position fun and enjoyable.

Give your audience and consumers a look into the daily life by showing them around your companies work environment in a different video. Put them in your shoes. After all, they are your brand and fuel your success and growth.

Create an additional personal video of the person responsible for managing the Twitter account. Basically, the person tweeting and engaging. If more than one individual tweets from the account, make sure each one has a personal video. Tweet the video link at the start of each day or when the account is changing users. Include in the video the person’s name, a relevant greeting and the question, “Is there anything that I can help you with today?”

Thank your consumers and audience weekly in a video. Give a shout out to people on Twitter that follow you, people that have liked your brand page on Facebook. Make it personal, show gratitude and let them know they are never forgotten.

Post all videos on the brands YouTube account, landing page on Facebook and Twitter as I discussed above. As far as the team video, post it on the brand’s website as a welcome.

By using video, the brand is raising their profile, promoting a positive image and enhancing brand value for others. This connects the brand with their customers and audience in a unique way and shows them the brand has took the time to create it for them. Basically saying, we care about and value our audience and consumers. I understand this might be time consuming but by investing in this time it is sure to create a remarkable ROI as many customers are looking for this type of aspect in a brand and sharing what the brand is doing.

So is your brand ready to enhance their image and presence by being unique, authentic and make a lasting impression through the use of video?

How To: Make Your Brand POP with Awesome Online

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Jason Houck

The way a brand manages it’s online presence on Social Media is critical. If the brand is managed poorly, they experience no growth and a decline in business. In comparison, if a brand is managed successfully, success follows with their audience going global about how great and unique the brand is. Resulting in increased sales and likeability. Below, I am going to share with you tips how to manage your brand online successfully through Social Media.

Create a personal and memorable experience. Interact with your audience daily to ensure they know you acknowledge them. Surprise with a “Thank You” and “How is your day going?” Respond to all negative and positive feedback publicly. Show them you care and value them.
Handle customer complaints in a timely manner. Be ready with an answer to a question and solution to a problem. Do this by coming up with possible questions that may be asked or possible problems that may arise. Then activate a plan into action to be ready.
Let your audience know they are your brand. Ask what they want to see. Then listen, respond and deliver. After all, a brand with no audience results in no brand and no sales.
Work together as a team. Collaborate, hear all ideas and assign each person a task accordingly. Always have a back up person trained to handle online management in Social Media in case others are sick.
Make your online presence FUN. Let your audience know you are relaxed and inviting. Tweet and post humor, offer contests. Great aspect to have to show that you are friendly and ready to take the brand to relationship building.
Plan ahead for the week. Have a backup strategy plan in place. Do this by creating a weekly agenda to help the brand stay on task and moving forward. It is important to always think ahead.
Create content that defines the brand as a valuable resource and engages. Ask questions for feedback, share articles that answers commonly asked questions. Keep it relevant and to the point. Never confuse!

Brand Management on Social Media becomes a difficult task for some brands as they don’t take the time to adapt to where new media is today. Brand success begins when the brand works together behind the scenes planning to create an experience unlike any other. The main focus I am conveying here is give your audience reason to connect, share, build a relationship and go viral with your brand. The key ingredient to online brand management in social media is engage but do it in a unique and authentic way. Make the brand POP with awesome.

How is your brand handling online brand management in Social Media? Are you making it POP?

The Verizon Wireless Switch

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Jason Houck

As many of you know, I live my passion on Social Media promoting others, whether it be brands, individuals or blogs. Today, I wanted to take a unique approach by you weighing in with your thoughts. Are you a current Sprint or AT&T mobile customer? If so, are you looking for a reason to switch to Verizon Wireless?

I am not a current Verizon customer but hope to be in the near future. The reason of this post is to gain thoughts from current Verizon Wireless customers on why a person should switch if he or she is currently with another provider. Is it the coverage, packages, phone selection, data speed or the new announcement of offering the iPhone 4S?

If so, I invite you to weigh in with your thoughts as a current Verizon customer on why others should make The Verizon Wireless Switch.

All you have to do is tell me in a comment or tweet me at @JasonPromotesU with your reason and I will add your tweet to the post for others to see.

Let the exposure and persuasion of The Verizon Wireless Switch begin.