New Report: ‘Honesty’ Valued Above All Else on Social

A new report from the Q2 2017 Sprout Social Index takes a closer look at brand personality. This is what we frequently refer to on the BuzzPlant Blog as brand “voice.” Last fall, we spent a great deal of time thinking about the question, “how are you supposed to sound personal… human even… as a brand?” Why We Make Voice Documents Having a brand voice or “personality” that’s real and authentic is tremendously important. A whopping 86% said they want honesty to be a behavior they see from brands on social. Close behind were “friendly,” “helpful,” and “funny.” You know what didn’t matter too much? But for the majority of brands, trying to be snarky or trendy is going to fall flat. Facebook Is STILL King Clients often ask us, “What social platform should I be on?” The first answer is always, “The one(s) your audience is on.” In the majority of cases, that includes Facebook. 83% of consumers prefer brand personality on Facebook. Sprout asked consumers if they found certain brand behaviors on social cool or annoying. Responding to questions is an absolute must, however, as 83% of consumers thought this behavior was cool. What do you like to see brands do on social?

Author: Bob Hutchins / Source: Business 2 Community

Turns out, honesty really is the best policy – and Sprout Social just released the data to prove it. A new report from the Q2 2017 Sprout Social Index takes a closer look at brand personality. This is what we frequently refer to on the BuzzPlant Blog as brand “voice.” Last fall, we spent a great deal of time thinking about the question, “how are you supposed to sound personal… human even… as a brand?”

Why We Make Voice Documents

Having a brand voice or “personality” that’s real and authentic is tremendously important. Before we get down to strategy, we spend days – sometimes even weeks – working on voice documents with new BuzzPlant clients. Establishing the brand personality (which may very well already exist) and putting it down on paper for everyone on the team to reference is a tremendously important part of the marketing process, informing everything from launch strategy to how to handle customer questions.

As the folks at Sprout put it, “Brand personality is what connects your product to its consumers. It reflects what your brand stands for and should be the bloodline that runs through all of your marketing and creative initiatives.”