brand writingbrand ideasSuccess in anything demands the application of right knowledge. Today by default, many brands are now content providers. They are all trying to contribute to the discourse and online conversation. Many are still confused why they are not getting enough value for time invested. I have come to the conclusion that anything that is worth doing is worth doing well. When it comes to social media, I think we should not forget that the social we have placed more emphasis on also has media at its end. Inability to understand why the proponents of social media placed the media at the end requires a rethink. That is if any brand must make a head’s way in contributing intelligently to the conversation and the target audience.

While I am not advocating that every brand must go to journalism school, but I do think there are few lessons to learn from getting basic knowledge that will differentiate a brand from others in their various attempt to package right content that will get attention from the target audience and communities. I have come to agree with Jay Deragon when he wrote ‘given value today is fueled by communication’. Communicating effectively also has rules that must be obeyed. Hence in a bid to drive creative, compelling content, the regular media usually give greater concern to five Ws plus how.

So if we agree that social media is exchange of communication between people, real people, then there is need to understand and apply media principles in a social way. Whatever that means to an individual. In my opinion, since social media places exchange of creative content at the bowl of social and not institutional for, there is nothing bad if within the ambit of social arena, we can still follow the tenets of regular media so we can achieve result in a faster way.

For instance if we first consider what we intend to say, when to say it, where to say it and why are we saying what we are saying and to whom; it will help us to get social media priority right. It will guide our planning, strategy, execution, monitoring of impact as well as evaluating the result. I guess the above will also add a lot of flavor, energy we need to put into the exchange, value and in shaping right perception of our brands. No one is talking of perfection here. I need to add that so that someone out there will not be discouraged and abandon the whole process.

As we grow in venture, conscious effort should be made to move from an amateur to a professional. Come to think about this, if someone you met ten years ago as a relationship officer meet you on the road again today in the same old suit, shoe, will you believe he has made an progress? We all expect people to grow and increase in value. The same should guide our behaviours as content provider in whatever platform we operate in.

The more we move ahead as an active player in social media, the more we must understand how to stand out from the packs. The noise level will continue. Understanding the five Ws and how of social media will help our efforts much better than ignoring them. It will place us at a better advantage of knowing what counts and what does  count. I have started working hard on these. Where are you?

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