The Face of the Business

Hello, Im S.T. and I'm dedicated to examining the phenomenon of Corporate Social Media Personas and how they play a part in our current society.

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How to choose a Persona for your business

With so many options to pick from, choosing the right Social Media platform to advertise your company can be a tough choice. Each site has its own set of etiquettes and may respond differently to the same type of persona. Examining these social rules will be helpful to see which would best represent your business, so getting a feel for the audience is key to success.

Generally, each platform has its own interface with some form of account page, posting system, post rating system, post sharing system and commenting system (Nations, 2019. para 13-21). Whether its likes, thumbs up, or hearts, this system shows which posts are more popular. However, each platform has its own nuances to the function. Most sites allow the ‘likes’ on a post to be visible making which accounts liked a particular post open for public viewing, but Instagram dedicates a portion of their notification page to seeing what the people you follow liked. This allows for keeping a certain post off your own account blog while still sharing it with your followers. These nuances in functions should be considered when choosing a Social Media site.

Instagram’s method of sharing posts through it’s ‘following’s likes’ page

There are certain behaviors to avoid when using a Social Media Account. Respecting copyrighted material and site-specific courtesies should always be followed. Most platforms will strike down any copyrighted forms of media, which makes for an unprofessional impression to viewers. It is also crucial to credit to the original creator of any content. Certain acts, for example Twitter’s ‘Quote Retweet’ (a basic retweet with an added comment) is unfavorable with artists, as any ‘likes’ to this retweet will not affect the original post (Jock, 2014). Therefore, a company’s account must take caution not to inspire ill will with the site’s user base.

Twitter striking a copyrighted Nickelback song from Donald Trump’s tweet

Many businesses have accounts on multiple sites, but use varying personas for each. Depending on the platform, some may respond well to a more playful attitude while some sites expect more of a professional tone from a business’ Social Media account (Ramsay, 2010. para 13-21). Of course, while a polite and friendly tone should be maintained across any persona, a degree of casualness or familiarity with social media users can also be appropriate, provided it is used with a friendly enthusiasm in the interaction.

Pepsi adopting a more casual tone with a Twitter user

Examining each site’s nuances, following the platform’s etiquette, and setting the tone for your company’s ‘voice’ will help you develop a Social Media persona that positively and successfully advertises your business. 

Jock, A. (2014, October 8). 5 Reasons Why Not to Retweet Using Twitter's Native Button. Retrieved from https://www.adrianjock.com/native-retweets-bad-marketing/.

Nations, D. (2019, July 1). Serious Question: What Exactly Is Social Media? Retrieved from https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-social-media-explaining-the-big-trend-3486616.

Ramsay, M. (2010). Social media etiquette: A guide and checklist to the benefits and perils of social marketing. Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management, 17(3-4), 257-261. doi:http://dx.doi.org.library.sheridanc.on.ca/10.1057/dbm.2010.24

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Pros and Cons of each Social Media for Corporations

There are different advantages and disadvantages to each Social Media Platform. Each site may appeal to a certain user base, but even within the same site different demographics display different behaviors when it comes to view times and interaction. Finding out which Social Media site caters to your business’ needs is as important as finding out where and when your target clients are logging in.

Some Sites are better suited for professional use than others, such as Facebook where employers regularly checkup an employee’s profile. Facebook is mainstream globally with the working class (West, 2019, para. 4-7) to use both professionally and casually, but younger generations often only have a profile for school or work, making Facebook ads less effective on younger people. Instagram is a photo-based platform with a heavy focus on ‘self-promotion’, which is highly popular with younger generations making it easier to promote ‘brands’ rather than ‘companies’.

Twitter is a more casual site with a strict character limit, making it difficult for business use to share information. However, Twitter and Instagram have a ‘verified’ badge function for confirmed individuals or accounts of ‘public interest’ that lets users know an account is authentic (Lee, 2018, para. 9). This lets users know they’re really following their favorite singer and not an imposter account. This allows a verified account’s entries to be easily searchable and held with more influence.

Knowing who is on at what times is nearly as important as knowing who is using which site. Twitter and Instagram, being very mobile-friendly platforms are often viewed at mornings and evenings; 9-10am, through the day until 6-7pm (Arens, 2019). This corresponds with morning and evening commuting times where one often looks at their phones, whereas Facebook has the most views around noon, corresponding with lunch breaks one can spend browsing their computer.

There are many different things to consider when picking a Social Media Platform to represent your Company. From different demographics to peak post timing, your target audience won’t be able to engage if all your entries are posted on off-peak hours.

 Arens, E. (2019, August 19). Best times to post on social media for 2019. Retrieved from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/best-times-to-post-on-social-media/.

Lee, K. (2018, November 29). How to Get Verified on Twitter: A Complete Step-By-Step Guide. Retrieved from https://buffer.com/library/how-to-get-verified-on-twitter.

West, C. (2019, September 26). Social media demographics to drive your brand's online presence. Retrieved from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/#Facebook.

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What is a Corporate Social Media Persona?

Why are so many corporations, companies and businesses adopting a personality or ‘character’ on their Facebook and Twitter accounts?

A Social Media Persona is created when interactions on a social media site are curated to shape the public’s opinion on the individual or subject. A Corporate Social Media Persona is used to personalize the company or product in the client’s eyes through their content or interaction’s characteristics, making it seem like the company’s logo or mascot is their ‘friend’ that they would favor over a competing brand (Risius & Beck, 2015, para. 6).

This is especially easy for companies which have a mascot, who have a face that can project a personality through the company’s social media account. Writing posts in first person, engaging viewers through questions or conversation threads, jokes and references, and broadcasting corporate status updates all make the company seem more ‘human’ in the viewer’s eyes.

the Wendy’s Twitter account engaging in a user’s fan content

Companies without a mascot have to work a bit harder, often highlighting their individual staff as these ‘personalities’, making even a large corporation or company look like a small trusted group of friends that viewers know by name.  For example, the food and entertainment magazine Bon Appétit has a YouTube following of 4.5 million subscribers, with staff hosting several popular series.

Claire Saffiz of the B.A. Test Kitchen making home-made Pop Rocks for popular demand

Like T.V, YouTube is becoming a viable source of revenue from independent creators and companies alike with the site introducing tiered memberships for channels, making exclusive premium videos for these subscriptions (Gesenhues, 2019). These incentives motivate even a large corporation to invest resources into these seemingly unrelated formats of social media.

The more engagement with the site’s user base, the more ‘human’ the account seems, blurring the lines between advertisements and personal interaction. This allows the brand or company to make themselves more prevalent in the viewer’s life and endear themselves to those even outside of their client base.

Gesenhues, A. (2019, July 12). YouTube offers creators more revenue opportunities. Retrieved from Marketing Land: https://marketingland.com/youtube-offers-creators-more-revenue-opportunities-263701

Risius, M., & Beck, R. (2015, November). Effectiveness of corporate social media activities in increasing relational outcomes. Retrieved from ScienceDirct: https://www-sciencedirect-com.library.sheridanc.on.ca/science/article/pii/S0378720615000622