Defining Your Business Brand
What defines your business brand today? You want to express your brand with positive words and messages, and by images and/or videos that convey the real nature of your purpose, value, and processes. While these are hard concepts to pin down, the first step in articulating your brand is to define the opposite attributes.
Here’s an exercise to try right now. Take out a sheet of paper and write out adjectives that might hurt or damage your brand image. For example, here are some negative attributes you might want to avoid:
• Uncaring
• Apprehensive
• Uncertain
• Disconnected
• Reactive
• Rigid
• Complicated
Make sure that any messages you post on Facebook don’t inadvertently convey these negative attributes. Doing so can seriously damage your brand.
Now write down adjectives that describe your business in a positive manner. Do these terms describe your business?
• Forward-thinking
• Expert
• Clear
• Value-driven
• Concerned
• Together
• Confident
• Energetic
• Innovative
 | FRIENDLY ADVICE |
Identifying and clearly communicating your brand to your staff is just as important as it is to the outside world. Your staff needs to have a firm grasp of your brand in order to generate marketing materials that fit with the image you want to instill in the minds of your customers.
The Least You Need to Know
• Choose a celebrity or role model personality to embody when writing content.
• Make sure all members of your social marketing team are trained in using the same, consistent voice. A hodge-podge of voices weakens your brand.
• Content should always be written based on the demands of the consumer, not necessarily what you think it should be.
• Your posts should contain about 15 percent humor and 15 percent selling. The rest should be valuable information for your target market.
• One of the greatest skill sets you can develop is your customer-service skills.