Three Tips for Building a Stronger Brand

You can't reflect too early or too often on the meaning of your brand, which can change at the chirp of a Tweet. "'Brand' is one of those words," Chris Garrett notes in a recent post at chrisg.com: "It is associated with woolly thinking at best, and BS at worst." Yikes!

Fortunately, Garrett has put together a primer on how to think about your branding in order to get more positive exposure across the social landscape—and help boost profits. We hash it out a little here.

Your brand's strength is reputation. We'd go so far as to say your brand is your reputation, but Garrett distills it well. Your brand, he notes, is "whatever is said about you when you are not in the room." And that includes chat rooms!

Associations rub off. Some people smell like a rose, others stink. Brands are the same. When forming partnerships with other companies, take a good whiff of their brands. Stinky or sublime? The aroma will cling to yours, so be cautious when considering a hookup, he warns.

The best branding is honest and clear. The promises you make to customers are revelations about yourself and your offering. "Most people who do not get a grip on this have mixed messages and incongruent behavior," Garrett points out, which is dangerous. Vague ideas about your product or service increase the likelihood of disappointment when the outcome doesn't match the client's or customer's imagination. Resist the compulsion to over-promise: Be honest and clear. You'll win a lot more keepers that way.

The Po!nt: Rep is brand, brand is rep. A brand's not just about pretty logos and a slick tagline (although those help). Much of branding is about being a good steward of reputation and ensuring that people get what they expect. (If you can add a cherry on top, all the nicer!)

Looking for great social media marketing data? MarketingProfs reviewed hundreds of research sources to create our most recent Social Media Marketing Factbook (May 2010). With 140 pages and 102 charts, it is full of relevant social media marketing stats and trends. The Social Media Marketing Factbook is Part 5 of the complete Digital Marketing Factbook (our 296-page full report).

happy morning

"Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it."

life

"

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. "