To be successful in marketing, especially in the position of consulting others on their marketing and branding practices, it is essential to stay on top of the trends. But even for expert branding consultant Simon Mainwairing, there is always a learning curve involved with diving headfirst into new technology. However, after seeing the Twitter explosion following its use in finding lost luggage (if only it were the end all cure for this bothersome task), Mainwairing knew that in order to stay relevant, he would need to cast aside all fad qualms and join the social media masses. He emerged onto the social media scene with Facebook and has since expanded to become an active “Tweeter” and blogger and finds maximum use of his blog, understanding that, “you can’t share the nuance of your thoughts in under 140 characters.” After the unfortunate break-in of his home inextricably following his introduction to the location-based social media platform Foursquare, however, he is very conservative with his online activity and is cautious to shield his personal life and family from his social media involvement.
His blog, which features an average of three original posts per week, receives up to 20 comments per post, which he takes the time to personally respond to and engage his readers in conversation on relevant topics. Also, his Twitter account (which has 28,413 followers) has received up to 300 retweets on some of his more popular tweets and his Facebook holds a place in the News Feeds of 2,170 friends. Like many other busy professionals on the cutting edge of the social media trend, he uses Tweetdeck and Hootsuite to streamline his postings but in terms of content he is, “the sole architect,” writing all of his own blogs and comments, which is, “very time consuming, but there is no excuse not to have time to write a post.” This dedication to his ideas is what makes Mainwairing the branding thought leader that he is today.
While brands have long employed the use of charitable endeavors to improve their corporate image, Mainwairing believes that many are disingenuous if these efforts since many are not consistent with the brand’s purpose. He believes that, “a brand cannot engage effectively through social media that just talks about itself.” He mentions that often brands run into trouble when they set out on their social media experience when they are still unsure of their purpose and therefore are unable to effectively do outreach that is consistent with that purpose. He maintains that social media is not just a passing fad and that the landscape of business marketing is forever changed by its presence. In the long term, he expects that, “consumers will engage brands in data trading—brands will pay for their attention—consumers will offer their personal information.”
If this idea of a brand’s invasion into the personal lives of consumers is alarming to you, ask yourself this: How much of your social media content incorporates branding? From posting about a new favorite restaurant, “liking” the clothing company that makes your hip workout wear or posting the pictures from the concert of an up-and-coming band you attended last weekend, you are unintentionally plugging all of these brands and allowing them access to your input as a consumer. So make way: social media for branding purposes is only in its emergence and you, the consumer, are a main contributor.
To find out more information about Simon Mainwairing please visit his blog: The Business of Social Media Transformation.
And be sure to follow him on Twitter.
