Everyone has different parts of themselves that are showcased in different areas. I’m sure your “party self” and your “I’m in a business meeting self” are two different types of people (unless you work for a party company). While personality diversity is a great tool for being a functional human, it isn’t great for a functional social media presence.
Think of the internet as your virtual storefront and the different social media channels as your different store locations. Part of what makes the Starbucks Corporation so successful is that each store looks the same. Customers from Seattle who are vacationing on the beach in Bora Bora can walk into a Starbucks in Tahiti and immediately know what to expect. This familiarity and brand consistency brings comfort to the customer and builds loyalty to a brand.
This same principle can be applied in the world of social media. If a Twitter user sees that you’ve got a picture of a rock star shredding on the guitar as your company logo on Twitter, then follows your link to the company Facebook where your logo is an aged Librarian buried in a book, they are going to be confused and insecure about the message you are sending about the product or services you are offering. These mixed signals of who you are do not build trust or give security to social media users. This is why it is important to truly know yourself as a company (what do you look like, what do you stand for, what’s your company personality like, what colors do you “wear”…etc…) before beginning the social media journey. In doing this, each channel you utilize will be consistent and every potential customer will know exactly who you are and exactly what to expect when they click onto your page.
Knowing “who you are” as a company is the first step in brand consistency. It may be wise (and probably a little fun) to do a “personality profile” of your company before presenting it to the virtual world. Once presented, a consistent image will promote brand recognition across all social media channels and will have your users feeling secure and comfortable. And everybody likes to be comfortable, right?
