Don Roy, Ph.D.

Vulnerability: A Desirable Personal Brand Trait

An important aspect of brand management is proactively monitoring image and reputation. How a brand is perceived by others is influential in determining its standing in the marketplace. Whether a product brand or personal brand, meticulously overseeing for what is communicated about our brand is vital to maintaining trust with others… or is it?

Why Vulnerability is a Desired Trait

I would have argued strenuously in favor of obsessively managing a brand to “protect” it until hearing a statement in a podcast that called this belief into question. Best-selling author Ken Blanchard was interviewed on Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership podcast about his latest book, Trust Works! The book teaches how to assess the level of trust others have in you as well as discussing “trust busters” that diminish a leader’s effectiveness. The idea that brand management is about striving for perfection is debunked by a statement Blanchard made about how others perceive leaders:

“People admire your skills but love your vulnerability.”

This statement resonated with me. I think of branding as being “always on”- our guard is up to minimize chances of something being said or done to harm our brand. Yet, the reality is we cannot prevent missteps or mistakes- we are humans, not machines. Vulnerability is a state in which we all are in from time to time; it makes you no less effective as a leader if vulnerabilities are revealed. In fact, your brand can benefit when you reveal traits with which others can relate.

Vulnerability is Part of Your Brand Story

Stories bring out unique qualities and help paint the picture that is your brand. Revealing vulnerabilities and your efforts for dealing with them does not portray an image of weakness. Instead it conveys authenticity. We work hard to build credibility by developing expertise and building trust. But, underneath all of our brand building efforts remains a person with weaknesses. We don’t have all the answers; in fact, we are rarely the smartest person in the room. Share your humanness rather than obsessing with control in a futile attempt to project a perfect identity that does not exist.

Dealing with and overcoming vulnerability can be a captivating brand story, and one that is more credible than a facade of perfection.

Note: This post was first published on this blog August 19, 2013

One to Grow On: Be You

Note: This post is the first in a new series that will post each Monday that focuses on one idea for personal growth for the week. I hope you enjoy and find useful.

We have witnessed to a monumental week in the United States. Decades of controversy about the Confederate flag reached a tipping point following a hate fueled shooting rampage at an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina. And, the United States Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is legal, a milestone for many couples who have sought equal treatment from their government. The summer of 2015 will be one that is remembered long after it gives way to fall.

Take a Stand

As the events of the past week unfolded around the country, I observed that many corporate brands and individuals who rely on their personal brand for their livelihood took a stance on these issues. Not surprisingly, stances taken were not universal, although many brands and people took public positions on no longer recognizing the Confederate flag as an historic symbol and in favor of granting same-sex couples the right to marry. What struck me about these public proclamations on sensitive social issues that it could be argued that it was unnecessary for brands and people to weigh in. After all, these issues may have nothing to do with their day-to-day business, right?

The corporate and personal brands that took a position on the Confederate flag and same-sex marriage should be lauded. They used their platform to speak up for what they believed was right, regardless of which side of the issues they took. Did they take a risk of turning off people and even losing customers or clients? Yes, they did, but they also resonated with customers and non-customers alike who share similar views.

Be You to be Authentic

The advice for growth this week is simple: Be you. Will your brand be universally embraced? Of course not- some people will think you are too liberal, or too conservative, or too irreverent, or too stuffy, or too something else. You cannot be all things to all people, and once that reality sinks in you can focus on being yourself. When it comes to your personal brand, don’t be concerned only about what is best for business. You must also focus on what is best for you, achieving authenticity through congruence between your personal values and values that guide your professional work. When you do that, chances are you will find opportunities to align with others who share your values and beliefs.

Be Different: Have a Career Development Plan

Image Credit: Flickr- Extra Medium (CC License)

If you take car trips to new or unfamiliar places, a map is an essential travel accessory. Whether it comes in the form of an atlas, a fold-out map, or a smartphone app, we need a map to plan our journey. What are the different routes that can be taken? Which route is the shortest distance? Is there a route that will be more memorable than others because of scenery or attractions along the way? If you are driving from Dallas to Denver, you probably would not just hop in the car and start driving in a northwesterly direction. You need a plan to get where you are going or you will likely never get there.

Career Maps: A Rarity

The map analogy came to mind as I read an article on Careerealism in which results of a reader survey about career development plans. It was a simple, one-question survey in which readers were asked “Do you have a career development plan in place?” with the obvious answer choices of “yes” or “no.” Results of the survey may surprise you (or they may not):

: Image Credit: Careerealism (http://www.careerealism.com/poll-career-development-plan-need/)

Two-thirds of workers do not have a career development plan, a map that outlines a route to their destination. Reflecting on this statistic, I identified three reasons why such a large number of professionals do not have a plan: 1) No destination, 2) no chosen route, and 3) no mapping skills.

No Destination

A map is not as useful if a destination is not known. Simply put, where are you wanting to go? One reason for not having a destination is the inability to answer the question of where do you want to go. Setting goals or objectives is crucial to managing a professional career like a brand. You need milestones to reach, or you will remain where you are. In today’s dynamic business environment, five-year goals may be more challenging to set and attain, but they still serve a purpose of orienting you toward where you should be going. Complement long-range destinations with intermediate milestones such as two-year and one-year goals that are intended to move you closer to the five-year destination.

No Route

Some people may have a destination in mind for their career, but they have not laid out the route needed to take in order to get there. This scenario sounds more like a dream than a plan. The idea of setting a route to reach a five-year, two-year, or even one-year destination can be intimidating, particularly if your destination is a great distance from where you are now. But, remember the answer to the question “What is the best way to eat an elephant?” The answer is “one bite at a time.” Applying the concept of the 3Ms of personal branding (Meaning, Makeup, and Message), think about how focusing on each of these areas can contribute to advancing your career and moving you toward your destination.

No Mapping Skills

One characteristic of a map that we take for granted is that someone has already done the hard work for us by creating and publishing the maps. All we have to do is figure out how to read it and decide on the route to take. When it comes to your professional career, the same luxury does not exist. No one has designed your career map… because no one other than you can and should do it. You must be willing to determine a destination and plot a route to get there.

Even those commitments are not enough- sharpening your mapping skills is a must or your career journey will inevitably encounter dead ends and wrong turns. One of the most effective techniques for becoming more proficient at mapping is to learn from others. Whether you seek out a mentor, network with other professionals, or commit to a daily discipline to learn, you can have significant impact on career management by becoming more confident and experienced in mapping your journey.

Be Weird and Plan

Financial planning expert Dave Ramsey says when it comes to personal finances, normal is being broke. In professional career management, normal is not having a plan. Be weird and set a plan for where you want to go, how you will get there, and what fuel and supplies will be needed for the journey.

The Three Roles of Personal Branding

Building a brand is work that is never completely finished. But, the fact that branding is an ongoing process should not discourage you from managing your professional life as a brand. Any skepticism about the benefits of personal branding can be addressed by asking the classic question “what’s in it for me?” Although great brands are remarkable because they are not about the brand owner as much as having an outward focus on customers and community, understanding the personal benefits that a well-developed brand can have for you serves as added motivation to embrace the role of Chief Marketing Officer for Brand You.

Three ways that actively managing your brand will provide benefits include:

Provides cues about brand values and quality
Expresses brand personality
Tells unique stories that are your life experiences

Your brand either possesses these traits or it does not- which state do you prefer?

Provides Cues

One way in which brands benefit us is that they serve as mental shortcuts, giving off signals about what to think about a brand or associate with a brand when encountered. Think about product brands that possess distinctive cues:

Michelin = Safety
BMW = High performance
Campbell’s Soup = Good-for-you food

We glean a great deal from these small bits of information, using cues like these to make broader judgments about the quality and capabilities of brands. Likewise, building a personal brand can lead to creating brand cues that immediately connect one’s professional brand with a desirable trait. For example, Gordon Graham is a professional writer known as “That White Paper Guy,” a reference to the genre of research report writing that he does. Graham has earned this brand association by having written more than 170 white papers for business-to-business technology companies. Of course, many professional writers write white papers, but Gordon Graham owns a distinctive position among writers and the clients for whom they write white papers as an authority.

You may not be at a point in your career where you are an authority or known for a particular skill or ability, but that does not mean you cannot use personal branding to develop cues associated with your brand. Your actions and habits can serve as cues to others encountering your brand that signal what they should think about you. Seemingly simple behaviors like arriving to work and meetings on time, always meeting deadlines, and volunteering to help with projects can create cues of “dependable” and “focused.” Wouldn’t you rather have colleagues describe you to managers who have not met you in these terms rather than “indifferent” or “inexperienced?” Use your brand to send positive signals on your behalf.

Expresses Personality

In addition to sending immediate associations via cues, brands can be developed to express personality traits. This characteristic of branding is almost awkward for some people to embrace. How can something that is not a living being (like a hammer or an auto insurance policy) have a personality? The answer is actually quite simple: We associate human personality traits with objects and intangibles. Jennifer Aaker’s research into brand personality traits found that a vast majority of brands are described by one of five personality dimensions:

Sincerity
Excitement
Competence
Sophistication
Ruggedness

Do these descriptors sound familiar? They should because we use similar language to describe people that we encounter. Projecting a distinctive personality holds even greater significance in personal branding than for products or services. Why? You are the brand, putting the “person” in brand personality. Personal interaction is very influential in forming business relationships. Even when one company is buying from another company, the relationship is usually carried out by people representing both firms. Human nature is to prefer to do business with companies (and their people) that we trust and like, emotion-based states that can be influenced by how our personality is perceived.

Tells Unique Stories

All brands share the characteristic of possessing unique stories- providing a backdrop for a brand’s existence, its successes and failures, and how it connects with people who come into contact with it. A distinctive brand story is powerful in that it can create brand awareness, differentiate a brand from competition, and build customer loyalty. Think about brands that have risen to cultural icon status. It is not because of reaching a certain dollar level in sales (people do not care about that); it is because they have stories that people find interesting or worth associating with.

The inspiration for creating Starbucks is a very powerful story. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz fell in love with the coffeehouse concept on a trip to Italy in 1983. He wanted to bring that experience back to the United States, giving people a place to gather for conversation and be a part of a community of people who also appreciated the experience. Schultz was so inspired by his experience that he opened his own coffeehouse, Il Giornale. A few years later, he bought a small coffeehouse chain called Starbucks. Today, Starbucks has more than 18,000 stores in 62 countries

Starbucks is a great brand not only because it has great products, but it also has a brand story that resonates with people. Brand storytelling is not only applicable to personal branding; it may be more relevant than telling the stories of product brands. Why? Your brand is defined by the stories that you have lived. What you have done, who you have known, and how you have handled life situations have shaped your personality, character, and achievements.

Think About Your Brand

Take control of your brand by clarifying the cues, personality traits, and story lines you want others to glean from their interactions with you. Although a brand is based on perceptions people have about it (or you in the case of a personal brand), you have some sway in how your brand is perceived by managing the cues, personality, and stories associated with your brand.

What is a Thought Leader? (Infographic)

“Become a thought leader.”

“Strive to achieve thought leadership.”

“Build your personal brand by being a thought leader.”

Most personal branding experts are apt to dispense advice like the above statements to people who want to position themselves as a useful resource who adds value to others. Thought leadership is a means to that end. Identifying thought leaders in a field is not too difficult. When I think of marketing thought leaders, names like Seth Godin, Chris Brogan, and Mark Schaefer come to mind. More difficult tasks are grasping what it means to be a thought leader and determining what it takes to arrive at that destination.

The meaning of thought leadership is laid out in the infographic below.

“Think” and “Lead”

One of the most striking notions of what it means to be a thought leader is that being smart or an expert in your space is not enough. While thought leaders certainly can be characterized as intelligent, what sets them apart is their courage to take a stand or even take action for principles about which they feel strongly and are unwavering. Moreover, a thought leader exhibits leadership by being able to rally a group of people (i.e., their tribe) to affect change among them. An example of this distinctive characteristic of a thought leader is career expert, author, and speaker Dan Miller. His 48 Days community numbers more than 15,000 people who look to Dan for guidance and help each other as they look for career fulfillment.

Follow the Leaders

You may be on a personal journey to become a thought leader in your field. Keep in mind the characteristics of a thought leader given in the infographic as you work to carve out a distinctive position. Use this information to assist you in finding thought leaders you should follow, learn from, and rally around. I cannot think of a single thought leader who woke up one day with a Thought Leader badge pinned to his or her chest. The status is earned through years of work (often in obscurity), clarifying your values and core principles with a willingness to act on them. In the meantime, enjoy the journey.

The 4-D Personal Brand

Brands may have originated out of a need to identify the owner or maker of an object or product, but the role of brands in marketing today has expanded. Instead being a single-dimension concept, brands now fulfill four key roles or value-added functions:

Brands communicate identity
Brands project an image
Brands make and fulfill promises
Brands engage with individuals and groups to form relationships

The default role of a brand has been to communicate identity (think brand name and logo). However, to build a distinctive personal brand the other three roles of your brand will need to be discovered and defined.

Brand = Identity

Brands are usually thought of in terms of the use of a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature to uniquely identify a seller’s product. In personal branding, your name is your brand. Be proud of it and use it to your advantage. Dale Carnegie powerfully and simply captured the significance of a name when he said that “a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Also, brand elements such as the name, logo, and colors serve as mental shortcuts that associate a product with its owner. An unusual or distinctive name can be a plus for the identity dimension of your personal brand.

If you have a common name or feel that is not distinctive, you need not research what is required to legally change your name! For example, a LinkedIn search of the name Michael Johnson returns more than 26,000 results (Michael- if you are reading this do not worry- this is not a deal breaker to building your personal brand). Fortunately, not all 26,000 Michael Johnsons compete in the same industry or for the same audience. Tactics that could be used in a situation like this to develop an identity associated with your brand include differentiating by using your middle initial, use a nickname (if you have one that positively reflects your personality), or create a visual association like a logo that appears with your name in your messaging (e.g., on business cards, in your Twitter background, and on your blog).

Brand = Image

Another role a brand serves is that it is a representation of thoughts or mental associations people hold for an object or person, which is brand image. A definition of brand image that acknowledges the role of a brand for projecting an image is that a brand is a customer or user experience represented by images and ideas. The thoughts and perceptions that one has for a person or object, known as brand associations, influence the image developed. Formation of brand associations that comprise image does not require product usage or experience. You may not realize it but people who come into contact with you or are part of your target market have associations about you that shape their image of your brand.

This characteristic of a brand is a reason why branding requires you always be “on.” Actions and behaviors are observed by others and play a part in forming perceptions of your brand. We can unintentionally send negative brand messages if we are not consistent in how we project our brand in the various environments in which we interact with others (work, school, church, social groups, etc.). Brand image resides in the minds of others; the audience that you interact with determines image through the perceptions they hold of you. Those perceptions can be based on past experiences with you, existing knowledge about you, and knowledge obtained from other sources such as your social media profiles.

Brand = Promise

Brands represent a promise of action that will benefit a customer. People value brands because they stand for intent to deliver value. Promises made by brands can be explicit or implicit. Explicit promises are statements of action such as a guarantee. Performance standards are spelled out and it is up to the brand to meet those standards.

Understanding that a brand is a set of promises is essential to building your personal brand. Some brand promises are explicit such as you meeting (and even exceeding) commitments. Simple actions such as having a report ready by your boss’s 5:00 pm deadline or volunteering to help set up a room for a meeting can communicate your brand’s value. Brand promises take on great significance through developing brand associations that give meaning to a brand. Promises are highly correlated with brand identity (how we desire to be perceived). Thus, coming up with promises you want your make through your brand is important for positioning the unique value your brand possesses.

Brand = Relationship

Exchanges between buyers and sellers may be business relationships, but one’s decision to buy from a business is often guided by the same criteria applied to personal relationships. An individual may choose friends or associates based on whether he or she believes a person can be trusted. Also, the likability of that person can influence a decision to forge a friendship. Similarly, consumers tend to enter into business relationships with companies and brands that they trust, like, or perceive to be similar to them.

Managing your personal brand as a connector is vital to establishing relationships with clients, colleagues, and community. Perhaps the most important personal branding tactic for managing the relationships around your brand is networking. The term networking may not be clear when you are given advice to “build a network of contacts” or “network with others.” This uncertainty about networking can result in paralysis, not building your brand through networking because of the ambiguity of what you should be doing. Let’s clear the air- networking can be reduced to three words: “building good relationships.” Whether it is done face-to-face or online, the aim of networking is to begin and build relationships with people who have shared interests for potential long-term mutual benefit.

Managing Your 4-D Brand

The four roles of a brand- identity, image, promises, and relationship- are complementary pieces of a personal brand. If any one of these cornerstones is weak, the strength of your personal brand will be limited. To manage your brand means to manage these four roles.

Begin now by taking inventory of where your brand is for each of these four roles. Then, consider how you want these roles to be defined as you go through the process of determining Meaning, Makeup, and Message for your brand. It is likely that you will commit to change the current state of one or more of these brand roles to get to a state consistent with goals that you have for your personal brand.

Become a Switch-Pitcher

A minor league baseball player who finally makes it to the majors after eight seasons usually does not garner national media attention for his debut, but most players in this situation do not have a skill set like Pat Venditte. The Oakland Athletics called up Venditte to join the team’s pitching staff last week, making him the only “switch-pitcher” in Major League Baseball. A player being a switch-hitter is not unusual, but no pitcher on a major league roster has the capability to pitch with his left and right arms… that is until Venditte was called up. His promotion to Oakland was a long way from where his professional baseball journey began as a 45^th round draft pick of the New York Yankees. To learn more about Venditte’s story, read this article from USA Today.

How Switch-Pitching Relates to Personal Branding

Pat Venditte may be a baseball player, but his story offers lessons for anyone aspiring to build a professional identity to position for career success. Being a switch-pitcher is a unique ability that enhances Venditte’s skill set, making him more valuable as an employee. Whether you are an employee of an organization or are self-employed, building a set of skills relevant to job performance will make you more valuable, too.

We can learn three ways that enhancing our brand Makeup (i.e., skills and experiences) can be beneficial from Pat Venditte’s journey:

Adds value– Being able to pitch with either arm means that Venditte offers greater flexibility for his manager as relief pitchers are often matched against batters depending on which side of home plate a batter hits from. Typically, a left-handed batter calls for a left-handed pitcher to be brought in; a right-handed batter triggers a call for a right-handed pitcher. Venditte’s switch-pitching ability eliminates that decision having to be made, so he can be used in more situations than other relief pitchers. Employees that add to their skill set can enjoy the same outcome, being called on to take a key role in a project because they have developed a broader skill set than their peers.
Adds longevity– One of the hazards of being a pitcher is the tremendous wear and tear on the pitching arm. The repetition, intensity, and force of a pitcher’s motion combine to jeopardize his career length every time he takes the mound. Being a switch-pitcher is like a form of diversification for Pat Venditte. He is not wearing out one pitching arm like his fellow pitchers and could very well have a longer career as he is less likely to overuse a pitching arm like his one-arm pitching counterparts. Similarly, adding to your skill set regardless of career stage keeps you current with skills needed to succeed in your field and minimize the arm fatigue that is career obsolescence.
Stands out– Being a switch pitcher is certainly novel, and Pat Venditte has received national publicity for his novelty. But, if Venditte was a mediocre pitcher with either arm he would not have made it to the major leagues and would not have been sought out by Oakland after his contract with the New York Yankees organization expired after last season. Venditte stands out for is ability (career statistics include a 2.37 earned run average and 10 strikeouts per nine innings). This trait is not to suggest that you become a jack-of-all trades, but a portfolio of complementary skills could enable you to look different than your peers as well as add to your capabilities.

Warm Up Your Pitching Arm(s)

Being a switch-pitcher is such a rare skill that it is unlikely we will see an influx of them in Major League Baseball anytime soon, if ever. You need not develop such a unique niche in order to strengthen brand Makeup. Are there certain skills that you have been interested in acquiring but have delayed on taking action? Would acquiring those skills make you more effective and valuable in your professional role? For example, I am working on becoming more proficient in two skills this summer: HTML coding and Google AdWords. As a marketing professor, I recognize these two skills intersect with courses I teach, and I need to have knowledge in these areas as well as be able to “do.”

Warm up that extra arm and elevate your game by becoming the equivalent of a switch-pitcher in your field.

Two Key Words for Personal Branding Success

“If this business were to be split up, I would be glad to take the brands, trademarks and goodwill and you could have all the bricks and mortar – and I would fare better than you.”

– John Stuart, former chairman, Quaker Oats

What Are You Marketing?

If you have any uncertainty about what exactly is being marketed in the practice of marketing, the quote by John Stuart provides the answer. We market brands- they are representations of products, services, ideas- the value that we create to meet the needs of others. Various accounts of the history of branding put its origins anywhere from 400 to 4,000 years ago. Branding was born out of the necessity to put identifying marks on one’s livestock to indicate ownership. The marketing role of brands shares a similar purpose, with a widely accepted definition of a brand being the use of a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature to uniquely identify a seller’s product to distinguish it from other sellers.

Today, brands have evolved far beyond their original purpose of being identification marks. Brands build up value in the minds and hearts of people who come in contact with them through usage, advertising, or the influence of other people. This characteristic of how people respond to brands influences behaviors like brand loyalty and making brand recommendations to friends or posting positive reviews online.

Two Words to Ignite Personal Branding

Your brand is the most valuable asset you can develop to begin and advance your professional career. But, you must have a grasp on branding fundamentals in order to begin the process of developing your personal brand. Two words in the previous sentence are crucial to understanding branding:

1. “Begin”- This word is important because you need to know that while there is a beginning to personal branding, there is no definitive ending. In other words, your brand is always being impacted by what you believe, think, say, and do. Crafting your personal brand is an ongoing project- you will never completely mark it off your To Do list.

If the notion of branding being a never ending endeavor is hard to accept, think about product brands. They are always “on.” Similarly, there are no breaks or days off when it comes to marketing your personal brand. Do not interpret this characteristic to mean you will never get a day off if you adopt a personal brand mindset. What it means is that you must be constantly mindful that your brand is being observed, experienced, and evaluated in the marketplace by people who come in contact with you.

2. “Process”- Personal branding involves a series of steps that move you through understanding and building your Meaning, Makeup, and Message. It is not one thing you do; personal branding requires completing many tasks needed to implement the three dimensions of your personal brand (i.e., determine Meaning, understand hard and soft skills needed for Makeup, and articulating Message).

Embrace the Challenge

For some people, the two key words for personal branding success might be so daunting that ditching the idea of building a personal brand seems like an attractive option. You must commit to the process of branding, and the sooner you begin the better. Can you think of a single brand- product or person- that was built quickly and with little effort? I can’t either. If branding were simple and fast, everyone would commit to it… and the strategic benefit of a brand would not be nearly as significant.

Don’t dodge the challenge of building your brand; embrace it by taking responsibility for building your most valuable professional asset. Remember that tangible aspects of a business can be replaced, but brand reputation is earned through your efforts to nurture the three Ms of your personal brand (Meaning, Makeup, and Message).

Why The Google-Twitter Partnership Matters to You

Earlier this year, Google announced a partnership with Twitter in which tweets will be indexed in Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs). The deal rekindled a previous relationship the two companies had in which Google’s search engine crawled through Twitter but only posted a fraction of total content on Twitter. Google/Twitter 2.0 will feature the search engine capturing the entire “firehose” of tweets, estimated to be pumped out at a rate of 9,000 per second. When the deal was revealed in February, indexing was said to begin during the first half of this year. An announcement by Twitter on May 19 shared that relevant tweets were now appearing in Google search results on Android and iOS devices for U.S. users with the desktop version to follow soon.

What’s the Big Deal?

The return of tweets to Google’s search results is a win for Twitter in that it boosts the relevance of the social network. According to Search Engine Land, the percentage of Twitter users visiting the site daily dropped from 46% in 2013 to 36% in 2013. Brands seeking greater exposure might be enticed to intensify their Twitter efforts for the potential payoff of appearing in Google search results. An implication of this motive for brands to be more active on Twitter is that they should be more intentional about the content of their tweets. An SEO mindset will be beneficial to Twitter content strategy , with tweets being optimized to consider consumer search and intent. In effect, the organic reach of tweets is enhanced when relevant content posted on Twitter shows up on SERPs.

Making Your Twitter Presence Google-Friendly

If your Twitter activity has been stuck in a rut or lacking in focus, the indexing of tweets on Google’s search engine should prompt you to rethink Twitter’s role in your marketing communications strategy. Here are three tips for taking advantage of the Google-Twitter partnership and making your Twitter activity work for you in Google’s search engine:

Be Relevant– As mentioned earlier, the Google-Twitter partnership should cause a shift in how content creation is viewed. Tweets act more like a landing page than short, pithy statements or merely linking to other content. What you post on Twitter will need to be optimized to make it appealing to audiences. That approach should have always been used; greater incentive now exists to make content more relevant to users rather than focusing a brand’s talking points.
Be Active– The benefit of Google indexing Twitter content is also proportional to the activity level to which a brand commits. The first step to take is post consistently to your account. A study conducted by VentureBeat of 1,600 brands over a nine-day period found 47 percent of the brands had no activity during that period. Conversely, a study by Simply Measured of brands with 100,000 or more Twitter followers found that a vast majority of them (92%) posted 12 times or more daily. Your tweets won’t be seen if there are none to be seen! But, don’t forget point #1- content must be relevant to be indexed as well as to be valued by searchers.
Be Engaging– The stakes for engaging with followers rise under the Google-Twitter partnership. The more interactive the communication is with your community, it could in turn be shared and favorited, extending its reach on Twitter. These actions could be interpreted by Google as signals that the content is useful or interesting , increasing chances that a brand’s tweets will be seen by more searchers on Google.

Do You Have a Twitter Strategy?

The Google-Twitter partnership means that it is more important than ever to have a strategy for using Twitter. Vanity metrics like number of followers take a back seat to relevance metrics such as retweets, favorites, and user engagement. Despite the promise of impact from tweets appearing in Google search results, some aspects of using Twitter are unchanged.

The main consideration still is whether Twitter is a useful channel for reaching your target market. If your customers and other stakeholders are not Twitter users, then the changes brought about by the Google-Twitter partnership will do little to help your brand. But, if Twitter is already a part of your social media strategy it would be worthwhile to revisit how it is being used and how can the Google-Twitter deal can become a good deal for your business.

Authenticity: A Brand’s GPS

How do you know when you have found the passion that drives your brand? You know that passion is fueling purpose when you are able to observe consistent behaviors and actions in your work as well as through interactions with others. For a personal brand, that consistency also plays out in terms of being the same person across different life contexts- home, school, work, social situations- you cannot nor need not turn your brand on and off depending on your environment. This state of consistency is authenticity, which has been described as a “moral inner voice” that develops from our experience. Authenticity is an admired characteristic in corporate brands and personal brands because when we encounter authentic brands we can be assured that what we see is what we get. An authentic brand does not hide its true character behind mission statements or slogans; actions follow beliefs.

What Does it Really Mean to be Authentic?

How do you develop that moral inner voice that aligns daily performance with principles? Some personal branding advocates mistakenly equate authenticity with “being ourselves.” That works as long as who you are is who you want to be! In contrast, marketing expert Seth Godin believes authenticity is based on doing what you promise, not “being who you are.” Marc Ecko, a pharmacy school dropout turned fashion entrepreneur, has built a billion dollar business through a focus on brand authenticity. Ecko has three criteria for assessing the authenticity of his personal brand:

How truthful am I to myself and others
The emotional impact that can be made on others through actions
How flexible I am to change.

Authenticity is not just a buzz word- it is essential to maintain the brand integrity. Creativity expert and author Todd Henry says that you cannot sustain yourself long term on the approval of others.”You cannot keep up with fulfilling promises that are not in line with your personal values.”

My Favorite Authentic Brand (and Band)

Reflections on the significance of brand authenticity surfaced recently when I took a trip to Atlanta to watch my favorite band, Canadian rock trio Rush, play a show on their R40 Tour. The tour marks forty years of making music that continues to resonate with fans.

Rush’s brand authenticity is evident in three ways. First, the band’s music has evolved over forty years, experimenting with new sounds, but it was never done in the quest to sell more albums. Rush’s evolution was about pushing their creative boundaries. Second, Rush has a passionate fan base that appreciates the band’s music of the past and present (and hopefully future). Rush’s music has changed without being labeled as “sellouts” or caving in to whims to boost album sales. Third and most importantly, the members of Rush are committed to practicing their craft at an exceptionally high level. If R40 should happen to be Rush’s last major concert tour, they are hardly going quietly into the night. Their performance intensity and quality is as high as ever. My goal is to be at the top of my professional game after forty years, just like Geddy, Alex, and Neil.

Authenticity ≠ Popularity

Another indicator of the strength of brand authenticity is that it is not necessarily universally loved or embraced. When a brand remains true to its passion and purpose, it will almost surely run into opposition- “haters gonna hate”- if you will. Your decision to follow a path of authenticity will be rejected by some people.

Returning to the Rush example, the band is not a mainstream musical force. In fact, Rush has never won a Grammy award, and it was almost grudgingly inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. Why? The brand’s passion as evidenced in their music does not resonate with some music critics. In the end, Rush received well deserved career achievement accolades, in large part due to a steadfast commitment to brand authenticity.

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