How to Maintain Brand Identity When Your Business is Scattered Across the Internet

The explosion of social networking sites has made it easy for business owners to place their company in the thick of things.  Sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter allow business owners to reach out to their clients in a more casual and relatable way.  While these mediums may allow for more personal communication, keep in mind that consumers face an onslaught from marketers and if your messages aren’t reinforcing your brand identity, you’re likely to be quickly forgotten. There are quick and easy ways to create continuity for your business online, even if it spans across a variety of platforms.

• Rely on your logo. Your logo is the face of your business, so make sure it’s out there for people to recognize.  While it may seem like a fun idea to mix things up an use different images for different profiles, it will simply create confusion.  Make it easy for your customers to recognize you.

• Take advantage of the customization features.  Many of the platforms like MySpace, YouTube, Vimeo and Twitter offer you the ability to personalize your page – and this is another great way to reinforce your brand standards.  So while your customer may have found your business page on YouTube, they still can feel at “home” on a page that reinforces the themes, colors and images that represent your business.  Here are a couple of examples of pulling elements together for different platforms:
  • Historic Home Designer, Lynn Taylor: Taylor Made Plans.com, Myspace.com/TaylorMadePlans, YouTube.com/TaylorMadePlans
  • Capitol Recording Artist, Emily West:  Myspace.com/EmilyWest, Emily West on YouTube
  • Local Baking Company, East Side Cookies: EastSideCookies.com, ESC on Twitter

• Personalize your message.  The great thing about the social networks is that you have a very specific audience.  If you’re using an industry-specific networking site, customize your message to that market.  If your audience is in specific area, use Twitter or Facebook to target your message to those customers.
  • East Side Cookies uses their Twitter page and ESC on Facebook page to let customers in Nashville know where they’ve made the latest delivery so they can easily find the freshest cookies in town.

These are just a few starter tips.  Also sure to check out the help sections of the site that you’re using to see what other features they’ve created for businesses to have a more dynamic presence, and if you’d like more assistance, always feel free to contact us at Brady Mills Graphics.