I don’t have a magic bullet kind of tip, but I have experience.

In my marketing/PR book, a “brand” is an image associated with a name. You know – Coca-Cola, Nike, Disney – and for small companies it is very difficult to achieve brand status.

Early last year I acquired a client in a niche sector of a vast industry. He wanted to become known (or, as he put it, he wanted to “make noise”) and his interest was mainly in traditional media and traditional PR strategies. He was not particularly interested in Social Media, even though he had a LinkedIn profile. He saw little or no use in having a company page on LinkedIn, consented to having a blog only if I would post (which, reluctantly, I have done – under my own name) and it took me nearly 9 months (yes, it was like birthing a baby!) for me to convince him his business needed a Facebook page.

Now, 20 months after this all got started, he is an avid Social Media advocate (in the forefront of his industry!) and, among other things, loves his Facebook page. His web developer just congratulated me on the progress we have made, by commenting on my “persistence, patience and consistency”. And when I called a policy type in D.C. on behalf of my client this afternoon, the company name was acknowledged with recognition.

So maybe that’s the tip. Be persistent. Be patient. Be consistent. And give it time!

This is how powerful social media is. This is one of the reasons why I include social media in my internet marketing.

The power of social media is amazing. I totally agree with this -- "The challenge is how to be yourself in the social web while maintaining the value and promise of your brand." Excellent post! :)

A nice and truely refreshing way of thinking of branding! I'm sure we've all heard about how important branding is etc. especially on social media. Its the big thing that kinda got overbloated and marketers now don't know what to make of it. Most don't even know if branding exercises on social networks have a positive ROI or is just turning the cream into churned butter and nothing more.

Thanks for the refreshing views and keep the truth.

One way to use social media as a tool for brand exposure is to make your business/brand relevant and more importantly "a part of the conversation".

Finding creative ways to leverage your brand in alignment with today's topics and trends is important. When your brand participates in social media conversations, it creates visibility, credibility and recognition. Applying this technique consistently, gives your brand a better chance of eventually becoming "the" topic of conversation.

Social media is not just a 2-way conversation. Instead it's an initiate stream of emotions, opinions, fiction and facts. Positioning your brand to be an influential instrument in this never ending social symphony is priceless.

Good one, Toby! And a nice reminder to be patient and persistent. A few colleagues and clients of mine acknowledge the eventual value to them of my (hopefully not too obnoxious) nagging on the subject. I am reminded of the old saying "a constant drip wears away stone" - and I know when I say that some will take it as self-deprecating, but that's ok with me if the message eventually bears fruit. :)

Thanks for the conversation .. as Des says, it's a continuous learning adventure .. and I say on both sides of the fence.

I just realised I was commenting on the contribution by Lyn Sorano - but I know you are patient and persistent (in a nice way) too, Toby!

Branding has always been a two-way conversation. One party (the brand) sent out communications, and the other parties (simplified example) - consumers, employees, investors joined in on the conversation using loyalty/dollars, engagement, and dollars, respectively. SM has made the conversation enriched, faster, more immediate, and much more two-way with more opportunities for all stakeholders to learn, exchange and adapt while building relationships. Integrating SM into the overall brand effort creates more opportunity to gather information and diagnostics on the overall branding effort and its effectiveness in delivering the brand promise with transparency and integrity.

My tip on using social media to develop your brand, is to reveal yourself as "not just a self-promoter" by taking a little extra time to be helpful to those you encounter, and do so NOT just in the niche of your own business. It can help with image-making when you become known as a "good citizen" part of your industry or sub-industry, and not someone focused 24/7 on talking about YOUR OWN self/services/products.

Thanks for the post Toby! I have been following your blog as part of a social media theory class at Syracuse University with @Dr4Ward. Our class hashtag is #NewhouseSM6 if anyone would like to participate in our conversations.

I really think using social media has a lot to do with telling the story of the brand and interacting with consumers or clients. There has to be some level of communication involved in social media. it is not just a way to have a conversation, but also to share ideas and collaborate.

-Chelsea
@chelseaaures