Is your Avatar like Coke, the brand?

As we interact in the real world, we recognize each other by our faces, and then we remember the other person’s name (sometimes). We see someone and say “There’s Joe from accounting”, or “there’s Mary, my advertising guru”.

We do the same on Twitter. We recognize the avatar, or person’s picture, and then look at the post.

As I surf Twitterdom with Tweetdeck, I come across photos of folks that I follow. Their photo (or avatar) generates emotional and psychological responses: “oh, she talks about tech and security”, or “oh, she’s a celeb and I like her”, or “I like his insights on business”.

But when one of my favorites changes their avatar, we run the risk that I won’t recognize them, and thus there is a hiccup in the relationship.

If I follow lots of people and I’m busy, I may lose touch with that person or brand permanently.

If you are trying to establish/reinforce a personal brand (even a corporate brand for that matter), think carefully about the avatar that you choose and whether you need to change it. Wanting to change it is not a good reason.

Think about Coca-Cola. Coke is one of the most successful brands in history and has been around since 1886. Look at the words “Coca-Cola” and the visual representation of them since then. Not much has changed, and for good reason.

Are you maintaining a consistent recognizable online brand?

Are you authentic?

One of the challenges many people face (and may not even realize it) is the challenge of authentic communication. Be real. Be you. Have confidence in yourself (not the wild outrageous sort, but the quiet type.)

Why? Because often in a social media context, we are limited to the written word and we no longer get auditory or visual cues about how the other person thinks or feels, only the content of what they say.

So say what you mean and mean what you say.

When people engage, they don’t want the company line. They want to know that they are dealing with a real person.

So when you create a company pseudonym, don’t say just “CompanyABC”: find a way to customize it with real people’s names (or initials). Use what works for your company, but be real. Be authentic.

Is your company authentic in its dealings?