Many companies and brands profess to have a good corporate personality. How does your company or brand show that it has personality? Is it evident in your social strategy? These 5 social places show the greatest risk, and the greatest reward, for showing personality for your brand.

Voice & Tone
There is a very thin line between social smarts and social snark. Be mindful when posting across any and all channels, that your voice & tone are the first clues to a user about your brand personality. Voice & tone are the first ways that a user will judge your reliability and trustworthiness. “Fun and pleasant” are not too far from “sarcasm and disdain.” Traditional proofreading tips such as reading out loud, or reading backwards, will help you identify when your brand is too close to the edge.

Trending Hashtags
Be careful when jumping on a trending hashtag. Your company or brand does not need to be involved in every event or hashtag. Arby’s pulled off the “hat trick” correctly last year. They saw the opportunity to insert themselves into the conversation when Pharrell wore an “Arby’s style” hat to the Grammy’s. DiGiorno Pizza did it incorrectly when they jumped to join a conversation about domestic violence without properly vetting the purpose for the hashtag. Join conversations that would be relevant to your brand, for a purpose, ONLY after doing due diligence to explore the source and nature of a particular hashtag. Find a good one? Jump right on in, and continue to participate and engage throughout the conversation.

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Social Images & Memes
Take advantage through visuals on your social channels. You can showcase company events and bonding opportunities such as company picnics or charity 5Ks, and Friday afternoons spent around the ping pong table or company snack bar. Memes (images with words, funny or not) can be another smart way to express personality. A quote or employee pick over an attractive background has proven to be a hugely successful tactic across all channels, especially Pinterest. And post a picture of a dog or kitten on Facebook with a trending hashtag such as #MotivationMonday, and you can’t go wrong. Where you can go wrong? Using copyrighted material to do it. Do due diligence on all content types, especially images.

Your LinkedIn Profile Picture
Speaking of visuals, you have a personal brand and most likely you represent a corporate brand through your employment. Don’t destroy your brand with one, bad photo. LinkedIn profile pictures should be clear, singular photographs of you as a professional. Do not choose a photo that makes it apparent that you cropped the person next to you out, save their one awkward shoulder. Do not choose a blurry photo. Leave the photo of you at the club for your Facebook page. (No matter how good you looked that night!) When thinking LinkedIn, think clean and clear visuals!

Internal Personality Is No Secret
Lastly, as Jeff Bezos learned recently, companies can say they have a great internal personality but not everyone always agrees. More than ever employees are using social media to express outwardly what is happening on the inside of their workplace. Bezos seemed genuinely distressed and surprised to learn that some people felt that Amazon was a hostile environment. He has publicly responded to the articles and social posts expressing the culture problem at his company, and is beginning to look internally to get a real feel for the true state of affairs. If he sees a problem and can begin to affect real change, you can bet we will see the residual effects of these efforts in social the same as we did when the employees were expressing their displeasure. Take advantage of social media to tout your internal culture success, but also make sure you listen to any feedback, without malice, in an effort to hear clearly an opportunity to improve your company personality and brand culture.

Is your brand or company not just a pretty face, do you have a good personality, too? Then, take advantage of these five tips to use your social strategy to share your personality. Pay close attention to our outward personality expressions as well as your internal personality actions. You have the opportunity to create connections with your audience and present your brand as a personable and trustworthy. Take advantage of social media to show off your personality!


A piece I originally wrote for RMI Blog http://www.responsemine.com/blogposts/does-your-brand-have-a-good-personality-5-social-places-to-show-that-you-do/

Repost: Does Your Brand Have a Good Personality? 5 Social Places to Show That You Do!
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