Sure, brands are really starting to “get” why they need a social media presence. But where do brand managers start in creating the framework for an effective social communications strategy? What I’ve been developing with clients is The Brand Cause and it works. So I thought it might help others to share:

The Why

Developing the brand cause is the guiding force for the content you present through social media platforms. Why would you share that content? Why would you make that announcement? Why would you reply to a blog post or comment? It’s not what you sell: it’s why you’re here, in this particular context, at this particular time.

Social media requires quick thinking and response times. Having your social media strategy aligned under a singular idea allows freedom for the brand’s content creators while keeping everyone on track. The brand cause identifies what is valuable and necessary to your participation regardless of the platform.

What are you doing for me?

One of the biggest reasons to have a brand cause is because it quickly provides friends and followers with a preview of what you will do for them in the space they’re finding you. Of course all brands want to sell more something. But that’s not helping anyone in a social context. Articulating the brand cause in profiles is what makes you practical and appropriate to the user experience.

Where does it come from?

The brand cause is the result of two main components:

Internal stakeholder interviews, analysis

Meeting with the people who are key to the brand in traditional channels and doing a deep dive on what the campaigns have been. Where has messaging succeeded and failed. Where the product or service fits within the discourse of the consumer helps to shape the interior view of what makes the brand relevant.

Listening to the communities

Everyone talks a listening game, but this is what it’s good for right off the bat. Armed with the internal views of stakeholders, go out and test those concepts against what people are talking about, bookmarking, and sharing in the social networks. Follow those conversations, see who the people are, and what they care about. Sometimes it falls right into line with the stakeholder interviews. What you’re looking for, though, are the surprises: the insights you didn’t expect. Many times the customers and prospects in real life act quite differently online.

Deconstructing these two facets to their elements, and then rebuilding them with the context of use and corporate culture in mind will establish what your brand cause is, and move the brand from the potential energy of knowing there should be a social presence to the kinetics of making an effective effort happen.

It also helps to do this professionally. Which I do. Let’s start the conversation about how to make your brand valuable to the people that matter in social media. Either via email ml [at] michaelleis [dotcom] or on Twitter @mleis.

Related posts:

1. The Three Colorful Circles of Social Media Strategy
2. Social Media Strategy
3. Social Media Listening Misconceptions
4. SXSW live: Social Media Marketing Metrics Strategy