Twitter is not the salvation of your branding. There. I said it. Even though I spent a lot of time on Twitter in the last 3 months, writing a novel and a short story Twitter will not save your business from the lack of a story. But it can help you tell your story.
First, you need to find your story. Having people monitor and manage your brand on a social network site (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, for instance) are necessary parts of any social media plan. These mediums are the connective tissues of interactive culture, no matter if it is friendship, branding or business. A compelling story, however, is the brain. Your story guides all of your social media efforts. Social media is like having an amazing vehicle. It will take you anywhere. Your story is the thing that guides your vehicle. That means people, not machinery.
This is where it gets tricky. Social media is really just people talking with each other online. No one wants to be friends with a corporation. They want to have a relationship with people. That’s why Ford’s Twitter page has names and faces attached – real people, not the corporate mission statement. Considering that 78% of people trust their friends versus your ads, social media is the main conversation for your story. Your customers are part of that story now and in most cases, they are telling your story better than you – certainly faster. Since 98% of your future customers (Millenials) are in a social network right now.
Should you write a blog? Should you post videos on YouTube? Should you comment on movies on Flixter? Should you be on Facebook? What would you tweet about every day anyway? If you have your story, you have the cohesive glue that holds all of your messages together across all of your media, social or traditional. At the end of the day, most people will still rather check their Facebook to see what their friends are doing, not what your company is doing. So you must make it interesting. A good story lays that foundation.
Stories have plots and characters and conflict. That last one there is usually an issue. Often, companies that are used to traditional branding (and even savvy social media practioners) want to avoid conflict at all costs. Conflict means something has gone wrong. The branding landcape is a place where wrong is not welcome.
Try to imagine a movie or a book or a TV show without conflict. Wouldn’t be much of a story, would it? Conflict does not have to be your CEO caught in a three-way love tryst with a politician and a suspected terrorist. It can be a real life struggle to make it against the odds. It can be a person inside your company who did something extraordinary to help a customer. As long as the conflict is in the context of your overall story, it works, so don’t fear conflict, use it.
Stories have heroes and villains. So do brands. Luke versus Darth, Dorothy versus the Wicked Witch heroes and villains pull people through the story. Without contrasts what do we see? Nothing. Again, think about your story in relation to the plot of a movie you love, no matter if it is, from The Notebook to Inglourious Basterds.
When you have your story, you can tweet and follow and network – and make your brand as powerful the friendship between two people.
“Once upon a time…”
Tags: Advertising, Branding, Internet