Content, channel and audience all roll into the best outcomes

Ask Asaba Joan Generous Isabella which is tougher: social media manager, content creator or influencer marketer. The consummate professional just shrugs.

“Personally, none is tough, but all are challenging,” she said. “They are different roles that require different expertise. The common thing in all of them is content, channel and audience.”

In addition, all of these elements are essential for brand management, which Isabella knows well. She has lots of experience in developing, managing and implementing digital marketing strategies as a social media marketer with Runis Media.

During an Africa Tweet Chat, Isabella talked about all that goes into successfully managing a brand.

Managing a Brand Lets You Bring Together Many Colorful Threads
Every element adds strength greater than the sum of its partsmedium.datadriveninvestor.com

Brand management makes you keep on your toes. If you lose grip on your brand, others are ready to fill in the gap — often in not pleasant ways.

“It’s rather challenging as one has to constantly learn and adapt while steering a brand in the right direction,” Isabella said. “Additionally, one is required to do research every now and then to create strategies that will create the right perception. Staying on top of trends can be hectic.”

Collaboration not only adds to your resources — two heads being better than one — you also gain advocates for your products and services.

“To start with, collaboration helps create an emotional impact between a brand and its customers,” Isabella said. “That in turn fosters profitable and lasting relationships.

“For example, if Runis Media is able to talk to its customers and engage with them constantly, referrals will be generated in the long run,” she said. “If there are any offers being given, they will be customers for life.”

Keep an Open Ear

Brands stay relevant with their audiences through social listening. Unless you know what people need and want, your marketing is just a shot in the dark, wasting time and effort.

These tips have been working for Isabella:

• Create, innovate, disrupt and engage.
• Improve the product portfolio.
• Simplify processes such as purchasing to easily adapt to the current needs of your customers.
• Prioritize customer centricity.
• Offer seamless experiences.
• Identify and state your unique selling proposition.
• Attend to customers’ inquiries immediately.
• Stay true to your brand purpose.

Be the disruption to fight disruption
Understand change as you prepare for a very different futurebecominghuman.ai

“‘Disruptive’ basically means trying out new and daring stuff that haven’t been tried out before,” Isabella said.

She believes these are must-use tips for any social media brand manager:

• Set guidelines for how a brand should be represented both to internal and external customers.
• Engage and bring your colleagues on board.
• Communicate any changes in brand materials or assets.
• Develop and encourage teamwork.
• Stay up to date with information in the related industry.

Oncoming Trends

Certain social media trends will change how brands are managed in the coming years.

“There will be more and intense focus on e-commerce,” Isabella said. “There is the rise of social audio such as Twitter spaces plus more use of digital identities like avatars via Snapchat.

“Ticketed spaces will lead to integration of payment frameworks for creators,” she said. “Then there are new video tools. Platforms such as TikTok have shown that video is highly appreciated and more engaging than text.”

A Crisis is Not the Time to Tell the Public ‘I Don’t Know’
Be prepared for the day when you have to respond to adversitymedium.com

There are invariable bumps in the brand management road, amplified even more during a crisis.

Reviving brand reputation after a crisis depends on the nature of the problem. If a self-inflicted wound, that’s really an uphill battle to reestablish trust and credibility. If caused from outside, you have the chance to show how you can answer people’s needs, including your own.

“Assess the severity of the crisis,” Isabella said. “What caused the crisis? Keep tracking the situation. Capture other metrics that may impact the brand such as sales performance.”

Follow a Strategy

She suggested these crisis-management steps:

• Communicate the impact of the crisis to stakeholders after having a clear picture of the situation.
• Pull out your media communication strategy on how to help shape public perception.
• Have strong internal communication since employees are the best brand ambassadors a brand has during a crisis.
• Your social media response plan should have been already written out.
• Be honest and transparent.
• Reinstate trust and brand values as a way of assuring customers of the brand’s commitment to them and measures the brand has in place to ensure success moving forward.
• Plan ahead so something similar doesn’t occur again.

Healthy Brands Grow from Positioning
What do people think when your brand comes to mind?medium.datadriveninvestor.com

It has been said that “a brand built on conversation is a caring brand.”

“Afrocanfit Fitness is a brand I engaged with during lockdown,” Isabella said. “They sent out a competition to help them draw engagement toward their brand. At the end there would be a prize.

“I joined the competition but wasn’t so sure they would live up to their end,” she said, “Well, they were shocking. When I was announced winner, they kept communicating with me via Twitter and Instagram until the day when I got my prize.”

The award was well branded with a beautiful note.

“They connected with me emotionally,” Isabella said. “To date, I still give them the engagement even without expecting anything in return.”

About The Author

Jim Katzaman is a manager at Largo Financial Services and worked in public affairs for the Air Force and federal government. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.