Online Media: five ways to Increase brand relevance and authority
Author: yinkaolaito
Yinka Olaito is happy,excited and passionate Communications & Media specialist, Trainer and speaker. Yinka Olaito helps Profits and Non-profits with effective communication and positioning for premium service delivery and returns. Yinka Olaito also has special interest in Development Communication and has consulted for noted UN Agencies. Yinka Olaito is the CCO of Michael Sage Consulting(Communication/digital media), African Child Education Right Initiatives(NGO) and Content Director, Africa Development Talk( online Platform for discussion on Policy, Governance, development across Africa) and Africa Foundation for Young Media Professionals
Every brand desires to be great. But real greatness has price tag. We know there is nothing like overnight success. Every real overnight success has several nights of doing without sleep (in-between). Social/Online Media has become part of our brand communication tool. No serious brands have any need of long preaching to appreciate this. You may be a little way behind If your brand is still thinking of whether or how to incorporate this platform. That is in no way suggesting there is no hope.
Increasing global brand relevance and authority is no child play. Becoming relevant in a local league is no mean job. It becomes an additional task for brand to consider possibility of global relevance. As difficult as this may seem, global relevance is now made possible by online media. We do believe there are five key areas brands need to consider in order to excel in this regard. This list should not be considered as exhaustive but they may be the foundational bocks upon which the super structure is built.
Build thought leadership: Leading the market starts with a perception built on having a great value to offer above others. Thought leadership is a continuous process of giving out relevant value in different platforms. One best way to build thought leadership is through sharing of highly relevant and useful content. Content sharing is heavy work, especially in Africa. Africans’ reading culture is a little way behind the western world. Relevant content is a product of research and readiness to share without a demand for instant reward. But if this is done in god conscience and consistently, the reward may be invaluable
Empower the stakeholders: Brand relevance and authority is no longer a solo race. It takes the effort of others working with you to achieve meaningful goal. Brand must build empowered stakeholders who believe strongly, understand what the brand stands for and are willing to propagate the brand to their own diverse community
Being comfortable with relevant channel use: No single platform has all the magic today. Ability to use multi-channel communication platforms to reach the target is very essential. This necessity place a demand on brand to be comfortable using every relevant channel.
Be a facilitator and not the owner: being a facilitator is the best position a brand can take today. If every conversation is owned by you; there may be an uneasy calm among the community members. Being a facilitator is different from being an owner. The role of a facilitator is to simplify issues. The earlier we realise this better for the brand.
Strategy, strategy and strategy: Nothing works like strategy. When you do not have a predetermined goal post and rules for the game, every corner will look like it. Never forget to illustrate what a goal post look like before you start playing. Doing this well will demand a strategy and workable plan that suit you and everyone involved in the journey.
What is your opinion?
