Social Media Strategy for Personal Brands

A few weeks ago I changed my Twitter username from '@nickwestergaard' to '@westerad.' (If you would like step-by-step instructions on doing this check out Rick Butts' post here.) It all went very smoothly but I did have some ask me if the change meant that my Twitter voice would be changing. I was taken aback by this at first but in the end this prompts a larger discussion of what happens when a person becomes a brand and how this impacts the increasingly social and personal nature of online media.

Truthfully there was no greater thought to it other than this — I was going to a have a custom Twitter shirt made and I applied our old in-house style rule of trying not to require folks to spell out 'Westergaard' so I truncated my username to our URL de plume 'westerad.'

The question of where the person ends and the brand begins can often seem like a tricky one. How do I answer my business phone that is also my cell phone? "This is Nick." I thought that over waaaay too long. Questions like these are further exacerbated by social media where you have even more opportunities to expose your brand to the online community. However, most of these tools have either personal applications, professional applications, or some combination thereof. You need a strategy on how to tackle all of this and what voice to use. As a brand working through this as well, I will share our strategy with you on the off chance that it may help you define a strategy of your own:

Facebook — My profile is for me personally, not so much Business Nick. Same goes for our other team members that are on here. To have a calculated WA presence here, we have created a Facebook fan page.
MySpace — Nothing for WA here yet. I can't get a gauge on the on-going value of MySpace especially as it relates to business use and professional networking. For artists or bands, no contest. But business ...? Thoughts?
LinkedIn — Individual team members can create their own profiles with links from the bio pages of our website.
Twitter — Right now I straddle the line of tweeting both for our business and for me personally from the aforementioned @westerad account. I try to make it a mix of article forwards, insights, retweets, personal notes, etc.
YouTube — We have a WA channel showcasing our video, radio, and TV work.
Flickr — We have a WA photostream showcasing our branding, print, and online work.

I'm not saying this is cast in stone for us or even that this is a prescription for success for your personal brand. But rather, that defining your personal/professional brand's roles as they apply to social media is paramount to success in this new space.

P.S. Soon we're going to launch a redesigned WA website that better ties together all pieces of social media outlined above — including this blog. More later.

Photo credit Matt Hamm via Flickr

Favorite Things: Helvetica & Viddler

In the video above I offer up some of our favorite things. Favorite branding things — not so much like Oprah favorite things (though I would love to give you a car). Here are some of the sites referred to:

• Brand New: Kraft Foods, Smiling at You
  
• Classic logos set in Helvetica
  
• Helvetica: A Documentary
• Viddler: Best video player ... ever
  

Cheers.

Tending Your Garden

Today I made an analogy about social media that I think might hold some water. I was outlining a comprehensive social media strategy and the client rightfully asked what all it would entail as far as time commitment, money, etc. As I walked through each new media channel I said that managing social media is like tending a garden.

It's true. Maybe you start with a plan or maybe you just plant some seeds here and there and eventually it leads to a full fledged garden. Either way you usually end up doing some heavy lifting up front planting your seeds (building your profile page, uploading photos, connecting with friends/fans). Early on you keep a very watchful eye on your seeds to make sure they have what they need to start growing. After awhile, they start shooting up (your first 100 friends, subscribers, etc.). Eventually, they take off and you are left with general watering and pruning (status updates, posting new video). And like a garden, you end up enjoying the fruits (or vegetables) of your labor.

Don't make fun! I like metaphors. How is your garden doing?

Photo credit steveocee via Flickr

Bridging the Generational Gap

Recently, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who works for a local social services non-profit that I am on the board of. I also do some ad-hoc marketing consultation for them as well. I was struck at the profundity of a simple statement that she made about their organization as we discussed a website revision and social media opportunities that could be leveraged. She said, "Our organization is led by baby-boomers, staffed by Gen X-ers, and caters largely to millennials. And that's not always easy to navigate." At first, I merely thought it was a striking analysis of their organization. Then I took a step back and realized that this paradigm could be applied quite broadly — to clients, communities, the government, and maybe even your business.

And yet later when I shared this with my frequent sounding board, Mike, he replied with an even more sobering analysis. In short, he said that the technical gulf that is growing between these groups is becoming wider by the day. As new media gains more and more traction with the younger demographic the other end of the spectrum complains of "getting it" less. It's not enough for folks to just "know how to do email" anymore. The internet is becoming — scratch that — already is the hub for connecting with friends, shopping, getting from point A to point B, etc. for a growing majority of the public.

It's a different form of revolution when compared with other emergent media through the years. With the advent of radio and TV you, if you could afford one, you got one and turned it on. It was a socioeconomic divide. No special skills or training were required. And while you think the same may hold true for new media — just login and manage your account — talk to the other end of the spectrum. They increasingly feel that they don't have the skills to understand how to do all of this. And granted, they don't have to as it's not at the epicenter of life for their generation as it is for those younger. But what if they own a business who's target market is a younger demographic? If so, then bridging this divide is critical.

There are promising signs, though. Facebook's fastest growing user segment is the 30+ set. Over 50% of self-identified Twitter users are between the ages of 30 and 49. The challenge to marketers now is to look for ways to bridge this gap. Create a presence for yourself/your business on the most prevalent social media sites (YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, etc.) because (1) it's free and (2) it speaks to one end of your pool of constituents. As for the other end — the Boomer+ folks who don't know what to make of the "SpaceTubeBook"? Help them out. Have a social media 101 mixer at your business. Get some snacks and work through new media together. Or simply do write ups on each type of media in your email newsletter.

If you do this right, you'll not only do them the service of educating them about new media. You'll also position your brand at or near the hub of their online networking.

Photo credit: akahodag

Staying in Touch

I don't always agree with my state senator Chuck Grassley. But for a couple of months I've been thinking that he does a very effective job of communicating with me via new media. As a constituent, this makes me feel — dare I say — close to my elected official. What is Senator Grassley doing that's so special? For starters he is an almost prolific user of Twitter. He updates just the perfect amount. Sometimes personal (We had 25 people at Christmas dinner at our New Hartford Farm) and sometimes professional (Came bk DC aftr holidays. Today meet w Gov Vilsack as new ag secy. His confirmation shld b easy) but never too much and the real kicker is I think it's really him Tweeting. Unlike others who farm out their Twitter stream I think the Senator is really writing these updates (either that or a very effective surrogate).

But it doesn't stop there. Yesterday he voted against the stimulus package then immediately Tweeted his vote and told his followers to check his YouTube channel for why he voted the way he did (see the image clip above). He also blogs, publishes an email newsletter, and has a MySpace page. So he gets several forms of online media and is effectively linking them together to communicate efficiently and effectively with his constituency.

Take this to another level and consider that Senator Grassley is 75 years old. Not necessary the high tech millennial that most people envision when they think of the the typical web 2.0 user. Consider this — we live in a world where the Pope has a YouTube channel and the White House blogs.

Online media is quickly overtaking other traditional forms of staying in touch with those who want to hear from you. One can't simply respond to email any longer and call that good enough for online communications. You need to harness all high-traffic online outposts (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.) and feed them relevant updates. Not only will your audience listen more but they will also share your messaging more with others. Whether you are a politician, church, or small business, this is where the conversation is moving.

Your audience is listening. How are you staying in touch?

Taking Social Networking Offline

Westergaard Advertising is proud to be a sponsor of the Iowa City Twestival (Twitter + festival). This is a local "tweet-up" that is part of a global initiative harnessing the power of the Twitter community to raise money for Charity:Water — an organization working to bring clean drinking water to the 1.1 billion people without it. The Iowa City Twestival will be held in the North Room of the Iowa Memorial Union at 7 PM this Thursday, February 12th. More event details can be found here.

In addition to seeing what happens when you take social networking offline, you can purchase raffle tickets with a chance to win several cool prizes including a chance at a custom "Follow Me on Twitter" T-shirt from WA. However, we must give the appropriate props for this idea and the template to self-described creative superfreak Ted Murphy.

Hope to see you at the Twestival! I'll be wearing my shirt.

"There's a Fan!"

Sorry to get you excited. I have no cool way to tie Harry Caray into an advertising blog post. Don't get me wrong. I really think it could be done. Harry was on the mind as I was creating a Facebook Fan Page for Westergaard Advertising (Fan Page = an FB page for a brand to encourage user engagement with said brand). I found myself at the computer slurring in my best Will Ferrell/Harry voice, "There's a fan!" And besides, what can I say about Facebook that you don't already know? Some quick takeaways:

• Today there are more than 150 million active users.
• Though the under 30 bracket makes up the largest percentage of current users, the fastest growing segment are those over 30.
• The average user has 120 friends on the site.
• More than 3 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide).
• More than 15 million users update their statuses at least once each day.
• More than 3.5 million users become fans of pages each day.
• Facebook offers several levels of advanced targeting for marketers to utilize.
  
• It's another Web 2.0 touchpoint for your brand that features people having fun, catching up, and sharing — a very casual time to offer up a relevant message. (Please note, I said relevant.)
  

So if you are already on "the Face" we'd love you to be a fan. Just login and search for 'Westergaard Advertisng' or simply follow this link. Do you have a Fan Page for your organization? We'd love to know about it? What kind of conversations are your fans having? If you aren't on Facebook yet — give it a try now. You owe it to yourself to see what the buzz is about. It's Friday! Catching up on social media is 'research' anyway, right? Not a waste of time. Cheers.

Data source: Facebook Press Room

Touchpoints Revisited

One of the first posts I wrote in 2005 was about maximizing your brand's touchpoints. This continues to be favorite topic of mine. The above image from Twitter is a great example of maximizing a touchpoint at a very critical time in a brand relationship – the error message. Every now and then you see a business that puts a bit of time into writing interesting error message copy but rarely do you see an equally witty image accompanying it. They have several more of these as well (the owl that comes up saying 'Who goes there?' when there is an identity issue). As I mentioned earlier, this diffuses a potential moment of brand angst with humor. It actually makes you laugh off an error message or warning. In fact, it makes all other Error 404/File Not Found messages seem like you're getting hit in the face with a sock full of online doorknobs.

Well done Twitter. Especially when several online brands are rounding out points of interest in favor of Web 2.0 sleekness.

Post-Game Wrap Up

After careful consideration and watching, well, hours of ads — tweeting the whole time — we've come to some conclusions on the commercials featured in Super Bowl XLIII. There were some hits but largely this seemed like an off year. Whether this was due to the economy or not, the creative seemed off and some of the advertisers an odd fit. Overall, this blogger's choice for best of show was the above offering from Career Builder which will no doubt be earning heaps of adulation in the days and weeks ahead.

What was so special about it? Simply put, it was 1. funny (not an easy feat), 2. repetitious which also made it very 3. memorable and 4. it continued to communicate Career Builder as the premier job search site which, sadly, more folks are probably looking at these days, thus rendering their message incredibly relevant. Were I to narrow it down further, I would probably say that what made this spot effective was it's clever use of repetition. If you'll note, this is a 0:60-second spot. Dean always says that with a 0:60 you use the added time for what's often called a "teaching message" – or telling a longer story. Career Builder did something different. They started with a very basic story which they repeated probably half a dozen times, each time adding a more absurd manifestation of job frustration.

Some other standouts include:

• Most Saavy Use of Media: Miller High Life – a one-second spot?!? Laugh it off but it cost less than all the others but it also generated buzz and had folks checking out the outtakes that didn't make the cut on YouTube.
• Best Entertainment Ad: Hulu – a rare spot from my favorite free TV site. Plus Alec Baldwin as an alien who will scoop my brain out with a melon baller!
• Best Automotive: Hyundai – with their Genesis and Assurance program ads they staked ownership not so much via their ad creative but rather with their stacked up placements early on in the show.
  

And by the way — who else is sick of the stale Go Daddy and E*Trade spots?

Happy Super Bowl XLIII!

Half-Time Report

OK ... So I would say, at this point, that the ads from the first half of the Super Bowl have been lackluster at best. If pressed I would argue that the one from Avon (posted above) best captured and capitalized on the moment. Yep, Avon. I liked it because it spoke to real people right now as opposed to standard snow-globe-in-the-crotch (Dorito's) and obscurely risque (Go Daddy) spots. This ad emphasized a tried and true brand (who does not usual advertise at all much less in the Super Bowl) and strategically positioned it as an answer to these challenging times (I use it to pay my bills). Well done. More later. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter for the second half of the game for play-by-play ad analysis!

Tweeting the Big Event

We're going social for the Super Bowl! Not so much to comment on the game itself – though I'm struggling with being regional and rooting for Kurt Warner while feeling some Steelers nostalgia after meeting Terry Bradshaw at NADA. Rather, we'll be using Twitter to tweet on the Super Bowl advertising highs and lows in real time. So if you're already a follower, be sure to have your laptop or mobile handy for WA play-by-play. If you're not a follower yet, you can do so now. We will definitely have a post-game analysis here on the blog and may even toss something up during halftime.

Social Networking Via One Steak Burrito w/Pico

Check out this photo that I snapped while in line at Panchero's a few minutes ago. Too often people create the obligatory Facebook fan page or start Twittering for their business and then totally forget to promote this new channel across their consumer touchpoints because they assume that friends and fans will automatically flock to connect with them. Of course, adding the little social buttons to your website is a start but your network will grow even faster – especially if your business is retail in nature – if you literally put this announcement between your customer and their burrito. Maximize places where your customers already are.

Pew - Mom and Dad Are Social Networking!

Sorry - I couldn't resist the headline. From the Pew Research Center ... The share of adult internet users who have a profile on a social networking site has more than quadrupled in the past four years -- from 8% in 2005 to 35% now. Beyond this impressive new figure are several other takeaways such as – personal use of social networking is currently more prevalent than professional use. This tracks pretty closely to the Forrester study from last week. You can read the complete findings of the Pew research here. How many profiles do you maintain and how do you use them?

Do You Twitter?

Westergaard Advertising does. I think it's safe to say that everyone is still figuring out this intriguing mobile micro-blogging service that, as John Kenyon of the Corridor Business Journal says, "approximates a modern-day police scanner or back-fence conversation." As we all learn to leverage this tool in 2009, we invite you to follow WA on Twitter.

P.S. Need help getting started and/or creating a branded background and themes? Give us a holler ... or a tweet.