Using Facebook and Twitter to Increase your Branding.

What are some of the ways you can brand yourself, your services, and/or your business?

I have said it time and time again, not having a workable bottom line and not marketing will kill your business. Branding is part of marketing and is very important to the success of your business.

I know a gentleman who ran a modeling agency; he ran a paid advertisement of one of his models in the paper each week, called the ‘girl of the week’. He also took his models to lunch often and used the opportunity to hand his cards out to the parents of young girls who fit the demographic of his modeling agency. He has ceased handing out his cards, doing lunch with the girls, and the newspaper ads have also stopped, and his business is starting to die.

The way to help your business survive is to put yourself out there. The face of branding has changed; it is online now, as it has shifted with the times. You can now do in two days what used to take two years to do as far as exposure of your brand goes; the trend has shifted branding.

A little while back a client brought me an article they found in a magazine about a company called A Dog’s Life. The company sells dog treats and every month people submit pictures of their dogs in hopes of having their pet chosen to be on the packaging next month. Every month, the dog with the most votes is on the package, and less than 1% of the submissions win. Even though the chances of winning and having your dog on the package is so slim, thousands of people tweet to help their dogs win and the company gains exposure to thousands of people. Also, 25% of those who enter and don’t win pay an extra $3-$4 for a customized bag and they purchase multiple bags and give them to others. The power of multiplication makes this form of branding effective and efficient for the company.

How can you create that kind of hubbub over your product, service, or business? How can you use Twitter and/or Facebook to increase your branding? Companies like Coke still spend millions on advertising because the more familiar people are with a name, the more people trust it, and the more likely people are to buy it. Once people see things repeatedly they remember it and are more inclined to purchase it.

So, how can you improve your branding? Every six months, do something to leverage your branding, product, or service. Ask your followers to vote on your new logo, ask them questions or gather opinions about a new service you’re considering offering; leverage the power of Twitter and Facebook.