Social Media is Branding

[Jason Kintzler]

I read another excellent post by Jason Falls and it provoked this post, which I think offers unique perspective to the question and conversation, What is The ROI for Social Media?

As PR and Marketing pros we're quick to lump social media into our own line item on a spreadsheet. It should be in the media budget, right? I mean, it's another way for my business to reach consumers, right? Well, yes, but no. I believe social media can be better explained/defined/conceived in the context of branding.

Creative Marketing Relations
I'm somewhat of a hybrid in the marketing sense. While I came to the business first as a designer and copy writer, my role expanded into marketing and PR before I eventual wound up as a brand manager. I've built and managed media plans, ad agencies, websites, PR campaigns as well as all facets of creative at one point or another. I bring this up not to pat my back, but to explain that I've been on both sides of the coin.

Recently, I've been zeroing in on a brand positioning project for a 100+ year old brand. I've dissected the industry and examined our customers and am just a few PowerPoint slides away from my conclusion. The overwhelming key piece of the brand puzzle isn't the logo, the colors or the tag line. It's not about who we think we are, it's about who our consumers think we are. And this is where social media comes in.

Social Media is Branding
Ask yourself, what is the ROI on a logo? How about your tag line? You can even drill it down to specific pieces of creative. What is your ROI on a piece of copy on your packaging? These are questions that I'm sure must have been asked somewhere along the way by a corporate accountant.

These things all touch the consumer at some level. Despite their more traditional delivery, things like catalogs, brochures and business cards all helped people shape their views about you or your brand. Such is the case with blog posts, custom web apps and Facebook pages. Each is an extension of your brand. Each touches your consumer, or potential customer. In my experience, branding initiatives have a much better chance of being green-lighted in the marketing budget than an advertising or trade show expense.

Listening Aside
As my friend Chris Brogan would be quick to point out, social media brand engagement requires listening first. This is different than branding, it's more of a consumer research or product development function. Think of it as a research or focus group, but for free. There will never be a numerical value on listening, at least none that my tiny brain can fathom.

If you ask the gatekeeper at your company what is the purpose for a logo or a tag line, chances are the response won't be, "to make money." So, parallel that with the ROI on social media. Will the measurement come, maybe? Is it necessary? Depends on how you define social media's role at your company.

You're in business to make money. You're in social media to build your brand.

Jason Kintzler | New Media Cowboy

[Lynette Summerill]

Great post Jason. Your take on ROI is spot on. Old habits die hard;The trouble with the top-down business model being used to guage social media's value is that quarterly reports don't always tell the whole story. Now if we can just convince the gatekeepers of that.