Social Media Branding Guidelines How to Make Your Brand Memorable

Social Media Branding Guidelines How to Make Your Brand Memorable Have you ever noticed that sometimes brands will look and sound different on social media than they do on their blog or website? Social media can sometimes be an afterthought that is tacked on to a company’s strategy long after their original brand guidelines have been built. Instead, brands should have forward-thinking social media guidelines that help create a cohesive voice and experience across all of their social channels. In this post, you’re going to: Learn how to build out actionable social media branding guidelines.  With our downloadable social media branding kit, you’ll be able to put the advice from this blog straight into use by creating actionable guidelines that will show you step-by-step how to create a more memorable social media presence. Learn to cohesively combine your social media presence with your overarching brand guidelines.  You may already have your brand guidelines established, but how well do they really transfer over to your social media profiles?Often times, social media becomes an afterthought tacked on to a marketing strategy at the last minute. You’ll learn how to move those overarching guidelines seamlessly onto your social media profiles so that everything from your website to your Twitter profile creates the same experience for your customers. See examples of how brands are creating familiar experiences across their entire online presence.  Learn from the best and make it yours. We’ll show you examples of how brands are making the most of their social media profiles by creating great, cohesive profiles. How to Build Social Media Branding Guidelines That Will Make Your Brand MemorableDownload Your Social Media  Brand Style Guide  + Voice And Tone Templates Before you continue reading this post, download our social media branding kit. This kit has two different pieces that will allow you to flesh out your social media branding guidelines: Social Media Image Style Guide to keep your visual content on-point and on-brand every time you post. Voice and Tone Brainstorming Document to ensure every post captures the voice of your brand. Pretty slick, huh? Getting Started: Move Your Brand Voice And Tone Over To Your Social Media Channels Aren’t voice and tone the same thing? Not exactly. Your social media voice refers to what you sound like on your social media sites. Are you funny or sarcastic? Witty or professional? Your tone, on the other hand, refers to how you say things. For example, if I were to say I need an email sent, it doesn’t mean much; however, if I were to yell that same phrase, it would trigger a much different response because my tone changed. Recommended Reading: The Best Social Media Copywriting Guide to Be A Social Work Ninja Everything Good Comes In Threes, Right? For the first part of this brainstorming process, I want you to think about three adjectives that could describe your business. Think about a popular brand like Under Armour. What three words would you use to describe that brand? Athletic, powerful, and dynamic are what I think of. For example, take a look at one of their recent Instagram posts. This campaign was directed at their audience reminding them that women can be so much more than a pretty face. The photo is incredibly dynamic, displaying the power of the woman in the photograph. Pretty capable of conquering this. #ImPretty Create your own statement like this. Hit link in bio. A post shared by Under Armour (@underarmour) on Mar 15, 2017 at 7:38am PDT In case you are really stumped, here is a list of descriptive adjectives to help you get started: In your brainstorming document that you downloaded earlier is a spot where you can record all of those adjectives in one place. Once you pick a set of three, hold on to them, you’ll need them later. Develop Your Voice The second part of your brainstorming session is to think about how your brand sounds across the different points your customer accesses your company. How do you sound on your website? How about your blog? If you have a set of brand guidelines that your company operates by, I would pull those out. More often than not, a company will define their voice and tone within their branding guide. In that section, a general definition should appear of what the brand should sound like as a whole. If you don’t have brand guidelines developed, look at your website and blog. What do you sound like? Are you funny? Witty? Serious? Seeing how you already talk with your audience can help you develop your voice for social media. For example, MailChimp has published their content style guidelines online, which contains a short paragraph describing what the voice of MailChimp  should sound like. MailChimp continues that development and begins to describe how that voice is going to come across online.  They are: Fun but not silly Confident but not cocky Helpful but not overbearing These defining characteristics help MailChimp figure out exactly what their voice is and what it isn’t. Now you’re going to do the same thing on your brainstorming worksheet. Write down ten â€Å"We are this but not that† statements that will help your company achieve your defined voice. Your voice is fun but not what? You are not rude but instead, you are ... what? Fill in that worksheet with all the do’s and don’t you think your company voice will need. Develop Your Tone The next step in your social media branding process is to create your social media tone. How do you want to come across to your followers? Sarcastic like Wendy’s? Introducing Wendy’s new Strawberry Mango Salad. Because you probably don’t have a private garden with all kinds of fresh ingredients. pic.twitter.com/ZaH3pamfkO - Wendy's (@Wendys) June 6, 2017 Feel-good like Disney? Or professional like Microsoft? Follow along with our #MicrosoftEvent in Shanghai starting at 11AM GMT Tuesday, May 23 by clicking the link in our bio. A post shared by Microsoft (@microsoft) on May 22, 2017 at 2:16pm PDT There are unlimited options, which means that you’ll have a more cohesive presence and experience if the voice on all your channels are on the same page. The best thing to think about when you’re creating your tone is â€Å"how do you want your audience to read your social media messages†? Let’s continue looking at MailChimp. They break down their tone by saying that they are informal, meaning they're not afraid to share a joke every once in a while, but they should always be clear in their social media posts. So how do you create your tone in your social media branding guidelines? First answer the following questions, on a scratch paper or in your brainstorming document. How do we want our audience to read our social media messages? What is the tone of our typical message? What is the tone of our more infrequent messages? Are we going to include slang or popular jargon? What are the feelings we want our customers to have when they read our posts? After you’ve answered these questions you can begin to fill in the pre-set paragraph in your voice and tone brainstorming document. Feel free to edit, add or remove text as needed. We’ve also included a short example for a fictional company to help you get started. Before we continue on to the next step, it is important to mention a key factor when it comes to social media tone. The tone of your social messages is going to vary much more than voice. Your tone can change at a moments notice, whether you’re responding to an angry customer or a national disaster. Keep this in mind when you create your social guidelines document. Define Your Voice and Tone This is the last part of your voice and tone brainstorming exercise. Now that you know what your voice and tone sound like, it’s time to define them in one short, all-encompassing sentence. For example, MailChimp’s voice is defined by saying that it is human, friendly, and straightforward. Your sentence could contain the three adjectives you came up with earlier or summarize what you think are the most vital goals of your company. It’s all up to you. That’s all you need to do to transfer your original voice and tone guidelines to your social media accounts. That wasn’t too bad, was it? Let’s move on to images and videos. Social Media Branding Guidelines How to Make Your Brand Memorable Have you ever noticed that sometimes brands will look and sound different on social media than they do on their blog or website? Social media can sometimes be an afterthought that is tacked on to a company’s strategy long after their original brand guidelines have been built. Instead, brands should have forward-thinking social media guidelines that help create a cohesive voice and experience across all of their social channels. In this post, you’re going to: Learn how to build out actionable social media branding guidelines.  With our downloadable social media branding kit, you’ll be able to put the advice from this blog straight into use by creating actionable guidelines that will show you step-by-step how to create a more memorable social media presence. Learn to cohesively combine your social media presence with your overarching brand guidelines.  You may already have your brand guidelines established, but how well do they really transfer over to your social media profiles?Often times, social media becomes an afterthought tacked on to a marketing strategy at the last minute. You’ll learn how to move those overarching guidelines seamlessly onto your social media profiles so that everything from your website to your Twitter profile creates the same experience for your customers. See examples of how brands are creating familiar experiences across their entire online presence.  Learn from the best and make it yours. We’ll show you examples of how brands are making the most of their social media profiles by creating great, cohesive profiles. How to Build Social Media Branding Guidelines That Will Make Your Brand MemorableDownload Your Social Media  Brand Style Guide  + Voice And Tone Templates Before you continue reading this post, download our social media branding kit. This kit has two different pieces that will allow you to flesh out your social media branding guidelines: Social Media Image Style Guide to keep your visual content on-point and on-brand every time you post. Voice and Tone Brainstorming Document to ensure every post captures the voice of your brand. Pretty slick, huh? Getting Started: Move Your Brand Voice And Tone Over To Your Social Media Channels Aren’t voice and tone the same thing? Not exactly. Your social media voice refers to what you sound like on your social media sites. Are you funny or sarcastic? Witty or professional? Your tone, on the other hand, refers to how you say things. For example, if I were to say I need an email sent, it doesn’t mean much; however, if I were to yell that same phrase, it would trigger a much different response because my tone changed. Recommended Reading: The Best Social Media Copywriting Guide to Be A Social Work Ninja Everything Good Comes In Threes, Right? For the first part of this brainstorming process, I want you to think about three adjectives that could describe your business. Think about a popular brand like Under Armour. What three words would you use to describe that brand? Athletic, powerful, and dynamic are what I think of. For example, take a look at one of their recent Instagram posts. This campaign was directed at their audience reminding them that women can be so much more than a pretty face. The photo is incredibly dynamic, displaying the power of the woman in the photograph. Pretty capable of conquering this. #ImPretty Create your own statement like this. Hit link in bio. A post shared by Under Armour (@underarmour) on Mar 15, 2017 at 7:38am PDT In case you are really stumped, here is a list of descriptive adjectives to help you get started: In your brainstorming document that you downloaded earlier is a spot where you can record all of those adjectives in one place. Once you pick a set of three, hold on to them, you’ll need them later. Develop Your Voice The second part of your brainstorming session is to think about how your brand sounds across the different points your customer accesses your company. How do you sound on your website? How about your blog? If you have a set of brand guidelines that your company operates by, I would pull those out. More often than not, a company will define their voice and tone within their branding guide. In that section, a general definition should appear of what the brand should sound like as a whole. If you don’t have brand guidelines developed, look at your website and blog. What do you sound like? Are you funny? Witty? Serious? Seeing how you already talk with your audience can help you develop your voice for social media. For example, MailChimp has published their content style guidelines online, which contains a short paragraph describing what the voice of MailChimp  should sound like. MailChimp continues that development and begins to describe how that voice is going to come across online.  They are: Fun but not silly Confident but not cocky Helpful but not overbearing These defining characteristics help MailChimp figure out exactly what their voice is and what it isn’t. Now you’re going to do the same thing on your brainstorming worksheet. Write down ten â€Å"We are this but not that† statements that will help your company achieve your defined voice. Your voice is fun but not what? You are not rude but instead, you are ... what? Fill in that worksheet with all the do’s and don’t you think your company voice will need. Develop Your Tone The next step in your social media branding process is to create your social media tone. How do you want to come across to your followers? Sarcastic like Wendy’s? Introducing Wendy’s new Strawberry Mango Salad. Because you probably don’t have a private garden with all kinds of fresh ingredients. pic.twitter.com/ZaH3pamfkO - Wendy's (@Wendys) June 6, 2017 Feel-good like Disney? Or professional like Microsoft? Follow along with our #MicrosoftEvent in Shanghai starting at 11AM GMT Tuesday, May 23 by clicking the link in our bio. A post shared by Microsoft (@microsoft) on May 22, 2017 at 2:16pm PDT There are unlimited options, which means that you’ll have a more cohesive presence and experience if the voice on all your channels are on the same page. The best thing to think about when you’re creating your tone is â€Å"how do you want your audience to read your social media messages†? Let’s continue looking at MailChimp. They break down their tone by saying that they are informal, meaning they're not afraid to share a joke every once in a while, but they should always be clear in their social media posts. So how do you create your tone in your social media branding guidelines? First answer the following questions, on a scratch paper or in your brainstorming document. How do we want our audience to read our social media messages? What is the tone of our typical message? What is the tone of our more infrequent messages? Are we going to include slang or popular jargon? What are the feelings we want our customers to have when they read our posts? After you’ve answered these questions you can begin to fill in the pre-set paragraph in your voice and tone brainstorming document. Feel free to edit, add or remove text as needed. We’ve also included a short example for a fictional company to help you get started. Before we continue on to the next step, it is important to mention a key factor when it comes to social media tone. The tone of your social messages is going to vary much more than voice. Your tone can change at a moments notice, whether you’re responding to an angry customer or a national disaster. Keep this in mind when you create your social guidelines document. Define Your Voice and Tone This is the last part of your voice and tone brainstorming exercise. Now that you know what your voice and tone sound like, it’s time to define them in one short, all-encompassing sentence. For example, MailChimp’s voice is defined by saying that it is human, friendly, and straightforward. Your sentence could contain the three adjectives you came up with earlier or summarize what you think are the most vital goals of your company. It’s all up to you. That’s all you need to do to transfer your original voice and tone guidelines to your social media accounts. That wasn’t too bad, was it? Let’s move on to images and videos. Social Media Branding Guidelines How to Make Your Brand Memorable Have you ever noticed that sometimes brands will look and sound different on social media than they do on their blog or website? Social media can sometimes be an afterthought that is tacked on to a company’s strategy long after their original brand guidelines have been built. Instead, brands should have forward-thinking social media guidelines that help create a cohesive voice and experience across all of their social channels. In this post, you’re going to: Learn how to build out actionable social media branding guidelines.  With our downloadable social media branding kit, you’ll be able to put the advice from this blog straight into use by creating actionable guidelines that will show you step-by-step how to create a more memorable social media presence. Learn to cohesively combine your social media presence with your overarching brand guidelines.  You may already have your brand guidelines established, but how well do they really transfer over to your social media profiles?Often times, social media becomes an afterthought tacked on to a marketing strategy at the last minute. You’ll learn how to move those overarching guidelines seamlessly onto your social media profiles so that everything from your website to your Twitter profile creates the same experience for your customers. See examples of how brands are creating familiar experiences across their entire online presence.  Learn from the best and make it yours. We’ll show you examples of how brands are making the most of their social media profiles by creating great, cohesive profiles. How to Build Social Media Branding Guidelines That Will Make Your Brand MemorableDownload Your Social Media  Brand Style Guide  + Voice And Tone Templates Before you continue reading this post, download our social media branding kit. This kit has two different pieces that will allow you to flesh out your social media branding guidelines: Social Media Image Style Guide to keep your visual content on-point and on-brand every time you post. Voice and Tone Brainstorming Document to ensure every post captures the voice of your brand. Pretty slick, huh? Getting Started: Move Your Brand Voice And Tone Over To Your Social Media Channels Aren’t voice and tone the same thing? Not exactly. Your social media voice refers to what you sound like on your social media sites. Are you funny or sarcastic? Witty or professional? Your tone, on the other hand, refers to how you say things. For example, if I were to say I need an email sent, it doesn’t mean much; however, if I were to yell that same phrase, it would trigger a much different response because my tone changed. Recommended Reading: The Best Social Media Copywriting Guide to Be A Social Work Ninja Everything Good Comes In Threes, Right? For the first part of this brainstorming process, I want you to think about three adjectives that could describe your business. Think about a popular brand like Under Armour. What three words would you use to describe that brand? Athletic, powerful, and dynamic are what I think of. For example, take a look at one of their recent Instagram posts. This campaign was directed at their audience reminding them that women can be so much more than a pretty face. The photo is incredibly dynamic, displaying the power of the woman in the photograph. Pretty capable of conquering this. #ImPretty Create your own statement like this. Hit link in bio. A post shared by Under Armour (@underarmour) on Mar 15, 2017 at 7:38am PDT In case you are really stumped, here is a list of descriptive adjectives to help you get started: In your brainstorming document that you downloaded earlier is a spot where you can record all of those adjectives in one place. Once you pick a set of three, hold on to them, you’ll need them later. Develop Your Voice The second part of your brainstorming session is to think about how your brand sounds across the different points your customer accesses your company. How do you sound on your website? How about your blog? If you have a set of brand guidelines that your company operates by, I would pull those out. More often than not, a company will define their voice and tone within their branding guide. In that section, a general definition should appear of what the brand should sound like as a whole. If you don’t have brand guidelines developed, look at your website and blog. What do you sound like? Are you funny? Witty? Serious? Seeing how you already talk with your audience can help you develop your voice for social media. For example, MailChimp has published their content style guidelines online, which contains a short paragraph describing what the voice of MailChimp  should sound like. MailChimp continues that development and begins to describe how that voice is going to come across online.  They are: Fun but not silly Confident but not cocky Helpful but not overbearing These defining characteristics help MailChimp figure out exactly what their voice is and what it isn’t. Now you’re going to do the same thing on your brainstorming worksheet. Write down ten â€Å"We are this but not that† statements that will help your company achieve your defined voice. Your voice is fun but not what? You are not rude but instead, you are ... what? Fill in that worksheet with all the do’s and don’t you think your company voice will need. Develop Your Tone The next step in your social media branding process is to create your social media tone. How do you want to come across to your followers? Sarcastic like Wendy’s? Introducing Wendy’s new Strawberry Mango Salad. Because you probably don’t have a private garden with all kinds of fresh ingredients. pic.twitter.com/ZaH3pamfkO - Wendy's (@Wendys) June 6, 2017 Feel-good like Disney? Or professional like Microsoft? Follow along with our #MicrosoftEvent in Shanghai starting at 11AM GMT Tuesday, May 23 by clicking the link in our bio. A post shared by Microsoft (@microsoft) on May 22, 2017 at 2:16pm PDT There are unlimited options, which means that you’ll have a more cohesive presence and experience if the voice on all your channels are on the same page. The best thing to think about when you’re creating your tone is â€Å"how do you want your audience to read your social media messages†? Let’s continue looking at MailChimp. They break down their tone by saying that they are informal, meaning they're not afraid to share a joke every once in a while, but they should always be clear in their social media posts. So how do you create your tone in your social media branding guidelines? First answer the following questions, on a scratch paper or in your brainstorming document. How do we want our audience to read our social media messages? What is the tone of our typical message? What is the tone of our more infrequent messages? Are we going to include slang or popular jargon? What are the feelings we want our customers to have when they read our posts? After you’ve answered these questions you can begin to fill in the pre-set paragraph in your voice and tone brainstorming document. Feel free to edit, add or remove text as needed. We’ve also included a short example for a fictional company to help you get started. Before we continue on to the next step, it is important to mention a key factor when it comes to social media tone. The tone of your social messages is going to vary much more than voice. Your tone can change at a moments notice, whether you’re responding to an angry customer or a national disaster. Keep this in mind when you create your social guidelines document. Define Your Voice and Tone This is the last part of your voice and tone brainstorming exercise. Now that you know what your voice and tone sound like, it’s time to define them in one short, all-encompassing sentence. For example, MailChimp’s voice is defined by saying that it is human, friendly, and straightforward. Your sentence could contain the three adjectives you came up with earlier or summarize what you think are the most vital goals of your company. It’s all up to you. That’s all you need to do to transfer your original voice and tone guidelines to your social media accounts. That wasn’t too bad, was it? Let’s move on to images and videos.