The social media brand battle heats up
Who should ‘own’
your brand in the social media space?
By Craig Rodney
Managing
your brand in the online and social media space is a daunting enough task, but
when you add in the complexities of the franchisee and franchisor relationship,
you soon find that there does not appear to be a ‘right’ answer to the question
“Who should ‘own’ your brand in the social media space?”
In
very basic terms, should a brand have a single presence on Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, etc, or should each franchisee be allowed to create their own
profiles to represent the brand?
Unfortunately,
the answer is not that simple because a brand, in the online social space, is
the furthest thing from a corporate logo. Your brand is the collective of
everything people say about you – their feelings towards you, their collective
experiences and, importantly, their engagements with your online personality. Whether
you like it or not, conversations about you and your products are happening all
the time and they are not always pleasant. You have to be present and participate
– not engaging is brand suicide.
With
such a big responsibility and the reputation of your brand at stake, we have to
tackle the question head on – is it the franchisee or franchisor who should control
the brand in social media? Sorry, but again there is no clear answer. What I
can do is highlight the aspects to consider when making the decision.
Centralised Control
Consistency
is critical. Your brand should have a pre-defined personality, character traits
and quirks. It normally takes a while for a brand to settle into a personality
that works well, so start small and build up to it, but remember to always be
consistent.
You
want to be true to yourself and appeal to your target market. Keeping the
correct tone and sticking to your message is vital in promoting a centralised
control approach to social media. This means that the franchisor should control
the brand’s social media presence. This does not however mean that the franchisee
does not have a role to play, and we will discuss the role of the franchisee
later on.
Consistency of
Service
Providing
services to existing and prospective customers is a primary concern for brands
with an online presence. People will ask questions and advice, compliment you
and berate you. Consistently responding within a reasonable time with high
quality answers is vital to your online success.
When
franchisees are allowed to create their own profiles, a company may end up with
hundreds of profiles, most of which are not kept up to date. This may result in
customers posting a question online and then not receiving an answer because
the franchisee is no longer maintaining the profile - not an ideal situation.
Local vs National
A
strong argument for allowing each franchisee to establish and manage their own
social profiles is that it enables franchisees to create local relevance for
their customers. They can attract a loyal following and share specials, events
and locally relevant news. Having this type of contact with customers is
powerful.
A
single brand profile representing an entire country is unable to provide the
same level of granularity and relevance. It can only really deal with national
issues that speak to the customer base as a whole. This may cause franchisees to
feel disempowered and left out in the cold.
When
tackling this question, regardless of which way you decide, a decision must be
made. Non-decisions create a situation where franchisees are creating all manner
of online brand profiles with no strategy and no care for looking after it.
This leaves franchisors frantically trying to pull everything together to give
customers a consistent social media experience.
Tips for doing it
right
Regardless
of the direction you decide, the following is vital in ensuring the success of
your social media adventures.
1.
Put it in the contract
Once
you are decide on your path, put it in writing. Define the responsibilities of
each party and make it binding. When push comes to shove, you need to take control
of your brand, shut down rogue social profiles and ensure that franchisees are
sticking to the plan.
2.
It’s all in the strategy
Develop
the strategy in partnership with all the relevant parties so that all parties’
interests are represented fairly. If the strategy only favours the franchisor
you can be sure the franchisees will actively work against it. This will
deliver consistency and ensures that everyone is working towards the same
goals.
3.
Education is key
There
truly is no limit to the amount of training you can do. When you are building
your social presence in partnership, is it necessary to educate everyone
involved around the opportunities in social media and the ‘rules’ for achieving
your objectives.
4.
Single access vault
That’s
just a fancy way of saying that no matter which profiles exist, the franchisor
should always control the usernames and passwords. This protects the brand from
a situation where a franchise has gone out of business, their Facebook page is
still running and attracting complaints, but the franchisor is unable to access
it either to respond or shut it down.
Personally,
I am nearly always in favour of a single brand presence, created and controlled
by the franchisor. It’s markedly easier to develop a personality, ensure high
quality content, manage the queries with speed and consistency and market a
single point of contact. It’s both cheaper and more effective. This does not
mean it is always the correct way. In certain situations, ceding control to the
franchisee is more effective at achieving the defined objectives, but it does
make it harder to deliver an amazing social experience for everyone who comes
in contact with your brand.
Cerebra
+27 11 465 5709
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