GOT A BORING BRAND? IT'S ALL ABOUT HOW YOU PACKAGE IT
Not everyone can look like Scarlett Johansen or have the ageless charm of George Clooney. Sometimes you just have to invest in a pair of Spanx or a well-tailored suit and work with what you’ve got. It’s all about how you package it. Likewise, not every brand can by like Oreo during the 2013 Super Bowl and pull off the social media coup of a lifetime. If your company doesn’t have an exciting consumer brand, a team of community managers and a million dollar budget, you will need to get creative. For ‘boring’ brands, the key is to come up with exciting content that is funny, topical and unique to your company.
Funny Business
Make your audience laugh and half the battle is won. Shared humour is one of the most intimate connections you can make with another person; it’s an emotional response which goes beyond simply ‘liking’ a product or company. Delivering content with a healthy serve of laughs means posts are more sharable and also makes it easier to talk about ‘boring’ or slightly awkward products.
Hello Flo and BodyForm famously used humour to have a down-to-earth talk about tampons and the results were nothing short of phenomenal. Both brands won over fans on social with ‘Camp Gyno’ and ‘BodyForm Respond’ receiving over 6.6 million and 5.5million You Tube views respectively. General Electric and Impact Branding also use humour to connect with their audience on social. Even ‘dull’ products like energy and marketing services are capable of rustling up a few laughs.
The caveat of this principle is that you must stay on brand and ensure that the level of humour is appropriate. This isn’t a keg party people. Stay classy on social.
Get A Bit Personal
Posting photos from company events and birthdays or sharing funny office quotes is a great way to make your band more personable. Not only is this content totally unique, by offering a look behind the mirrored windows you allow customer to put a human face to your big corporate brand.
Keep it professional but remember that, even in B2B, you are speaking to individual people. This isn’t a job application or a letter to your accountant, you are talking to brand fans and friends. Be conversational and friendly! Don’t be afraid to get a bit personal… just not too personal. Office gossip or that photo of Mike from accounts dancing on the bar last Friday is probably a bit of an overshare.
#JoinTheConversation
Every post doesn’t need to be a sales pitch or a link to drive web traffic. If everyone online is talking about St Patrick’s Day, Christmas or The Grammy Awards, jump on the bandwagon! Your brand does not exist in a vacuum and it’s important to be a part of wider conversations that are happening around you.
Oreo’s timely tweet during the 2013 Super Bowl is the most infamous example of this tactic but there are plenty of other brands who have successfully capitalised on important events or moments in pop culture. The Grammy Awards, America’s Cup, the Royal Tour, Christmas Day or the on guy's quest for a lifetime of free nuggets (check out #nuggsforcarter) all opportunities to find common ground with your audience. Posting topical content also increases the reach of your brand as it is discoverable by non-fans following the hashtag or trend.
