The age of digital communication has greatly expedited the pace of marketing campaigns. Now, companies are looking for real-time analytics and data that enables them to fine-tune initiatives almost instantly. Additionally, consumers expect faster responses from marketing and sales teams, regardless of whether they are using social media, email or any other digital channel.
At the same time, the speed of digital communication also presents brands with a number of brand management issues. When time is a factor, companies often feel compelled to respond sooner rather than later. So what does this mean to you? Unfortunately, it means your eagerness to respond could result in brand inconsistencies and potentially even damage your reputation.
Difficulties with Social Media Brand Management
Take, for example, Twitter. The social network has a list of trending topics that change quickly based on what people are talking about. You can capitalize on relevant trends by commenting on them, which greatly improves your chances of reaching broader audiences.
At the same time, trends can be misleading. Apple could refer to the fruit or the electronics company, and misusing these trends could create confusion among consumers or lead to more dire consequences. For example, the launch of Duke Nukem, a video game, spawned the Twitter hashtag #AlwaysBetOnDuke, which many consumers misinterpreted as a reference to Duke University and its sports teams.
An even more egregious example of this was an instance regarding the Aurora, Colorado, shootings earlier this year. Celeb Boutique, an online retailer, noted that the term “Aurora” was trending shortly after the catastrophe occurred and tweeted “#Aurora is trending, clearly about our Kim K inspired #Aurora dress,” followed by a link to the product to capitalize on the topic. After a massive backlash, the company realized the error, deleted the tweet and apologized.
You need to remember the importance of brand management consistency and the reputation of your company. Responding to opportunities in a prompt fashion is absolutely pivotal, but at the same time you can’t be so eager that you open yourself up to seriously jeopardizing your business’ reputation. As such, brand management has become even more important in today’s fast-moving digital age, and you should use all the tools available to you to make this task as easy as possible.