The way we do business has changed dramatically with the advent of social media. It’s now possible to find yourself “talking” to the CEO of an organisation, who previously you may have tried in vain to contact by phone or email.
With this comes the relaxing of the formal tone that we used in business for many years. This can have both pros and cons. The upside is that it becomes quicker to build relationships – key in doing business now – and giving people that “know, like and trust” factor that is so important online, where recommendations come by word of mouse.
The downside is that you may go too far, being over familiar with someone you have never met, using slang or worse bad language, and damaging your personal and business brand.
How your social media profiles, website and blog look all give indications to the personality of you and your business. Do you want a formal corporate brand or do you want to be more relaxed and approachable. You need to think carefully about the design elements of your profiles – even background colours can make a big difference to how you come across.
When I build websites and social media profiles for my clients it is really important for me to get a “feel” for their business and the key individuals before I start to look at templates, layouts, images and colours. Only once this is done do I start to think about the copy on the site, deciding on the tone needed to reflect the business and ensure they reach the right target market for them.
Personality and target market are also important in determining which social media tools you use. For those wanting to target or connect with professionals and corporates LinkedIn is the best place to create a presence. Facebook for me is younger, more fun and less formal, it’s where a company can let there hair down a little and let their customers see inside the business. Twitter, I think, sits between the two.
Think carefully about your profile – do some research at other sites and see which ones you want to have a look around and which you are immediately turned off by, and try to work out why.
If you would like some help in designing your online brand,profile raising, social media profiles or website, contact me for a chat – I’d love to help.
