Do our social media choices define our style? A friend of mine does financial communications and is all about LinkedIn – it’s more formal, less chatty and all about business connections. A produce market client swears by their Facebook page where they put up daily deals and what’s fresh. Another is a ‘Yelper’; she loves the short reviews. Twitter of course sings for brevity, not much for looks. Everyone should now get on board and learn how to embrace these mediums because it’s become the way of the world.
If properly planned out, it is possible to use social media and have a defined brand and style. Most company logos need to be adjusted to fit the pre-determined pixel sizes instead of just slapping it up there and getting partly cut-off. The tone and voice of the posts or tweets need to be defined and consistent. The best way to do this is to set up a style guide or make sure one person is responsible for postings. The communications need to be regular and frequent. Nothing looks worse than seeing that the latest post is from 3 months ago. The photos need to reflect the company’s brand and always stay professional (no happy hour photos!)
With so much communication happening through these new online channels, is there a place for print? Print has just become the vehicle to drive customers online. Something printed still stands out more amongst the clutter and glut of email and social media posts. A nicely designed printed invitation in a sparkly envelope is still the best medium for parties or weddings. But now the RSVP can now be an online reply instead of mail-back card.
A magazine ad can promote a company’s social media sites for special insider offers. Direct mail campaigns can use variable data to personalize customer’s names and drive them to unique landing pages. And who doesn’t like to get something personally addressed to them in the mail? Imagine if holiday cards become links to Facebook family photos or family blogs sites instead of the yearly letters? It’s starting to happen but something just gets a bit lost in translation, it’s less personal and more public.
Doesn’t there still needs to be a balance? It can’t go all online, can it? As designers and marketers, we can embrace what should go online – timely communications and customer engagement campaigns. Let’s create digital brands that best fit these mediums but still produce some lovely printed pieces that drive social media traffic for our customers.
