Authenticity

You're Doing It Wrong
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Umm… You’re Doing It Wrong

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If you have a habit of following people on Twitter, waiting till they follow you back, then promptly unfollowing them… YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG.

Two days ago, I was followed by two different digital marketing “experts.” I checked out their profiles, and they each seemed interesting, so I followed them back. The very next day I was unfollowed by both of them.

I hadn’t tweeted anything “controversial” in the 24 hours they were following me, so I knew that wasn’t the reason for the unfollow.

Then it dawned on me – these people only followed me to get me to follow them back. LAME. That’s not how any of this works!

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The Brand Integrity Equation
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The Brand Integrity Equation

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When you hear or see the word “brand,” what do you think of? A logo? A slogan or tag line? A character? That’s what many consumers would think of.

Now, put on your MarCom hat – what do you think of? Brand identity, brand promise, mission, vision, logo, colors, tone-of-voice, visuals, taglines, personas, marketing touchpoints…

Sure. But that’s not all. A brand is made up of the sum of ALL its parts, not just the ones that marketers focus on. Brand identity is delivered to consumers through an organization’s products and services, its sales team, its pricing, its product development, its customer service, even its fine print.

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Psychology Behind Marketing – The Culture Filter
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Psychology Behind Marketing – The Culture Filter

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PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) defines public relations as “a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” Marketing, as defined by the American Marketing Association, is “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

As a MarCom professional, the goal on both fronts is to build a meaningful, valuable, and mutually-beneficial relationships. In order to do that, you need to gain a deep understanding about each audience with which you are trying to connect. You need to understand what each segment cares about, what motivates them, and what inhibits them. This relationship building, when done correctly, requires a reversion back to the very basics – communication that is rooted in trust and cooperation.

Recently I was perusing some psychology articles in my feed, and two disciplines jumped out at me: Anthropology and Sociology. They got my MarCom wheels turning…

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Happy Independence Day - Flag flying on the Hutson House
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Marcy’s 10 (actually 11) Rules for the Workplace

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Every year our fabulous boss sends out a special It’s-Independence-Day-YAY!-And-We’ve-Hit-the-Mid-Year-Point-YAY AGAIN! email right before we head out for a our time off for the 4th of July. Marcy’s father was a distinguished World War II veteran and a history teacher, so these communications serve to honor him while simultaneously preparing us to enjoy our time off and get ready to take on Qs 3 and 4.

It is with her permission that I paraphrase and share this year’s “Annual 4th of July Message.”

The 4th of July is quickly approaching which means it’s the MID YEAR point. A time for summer cook outs, fireworks and the celebration of our nation’s 239th birthday! As always, it’s my opportunity for a history lesson combined with some reflective thoughts on our work.

In past communications, I’ve commented on different branches of the military, our operating beliefs/philosophy in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the struggle that resulted in the Gettysburg Address, and our country’s Pledge of Allegiance. Last year, it was the power of visual symbols and how they evoke emotion and stability during times of change and turmoil.

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Can’t Buy Me Love! Wait, Yes You Can. But DON’T.

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Have you ever been following someone on Twitter or Instagram (who is NOT a celebrity) and noticed a huge spike in their number of followers from one day to the next?  I have.  It’s weird. Does such an increase make me, the follower, think that what you have to say suddenly got more interesting or credible?  Nope.  Do I suddenly find you to be more important?  Nope.  Especially when a quick check of who the influx of followers are provides all the evidence I need to see that most (if not all) of this newly found flock are fake accounts rather than real people.

Here’s a look at the follower numbers for an account that buys followers periodically.  You can clearly see the days that purchases were made and days that Twitter does massive fake account deletions.

Followers for Twitter account that purchases followers

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