Whether you are an individual about to speak to a crowd or an organization trying to increase brand awareness, connecting to your audience is essential. Knowing your audience, what message you are trying to send, and the most effective channel to send your message, are all critical components when trying to achieve this connection. The various channels that organizations can communicate through is always increasing as technology advances and right now social media platforms are the latest and greatest among these channels. 
While Mr. Burgundy is right, simply creating social media accounts is not enough. The most successful companies use social media to show a more human side of their organization. People are bombarded with thousands of advertisements daily and smart consumers block out these traditional advertisements. What social media allows is for companies to reach potential consumers in a different way and engage with their audience more than ever.
The challenge becomes knowing how to properly use this new-found channel of communication. Companies who treat their audience as individuals, and therefore treat their organization as an individual, have the most success establishing a connection through social media. Instead of focusing on purely sales related messages, social media platforms should be used to communicate any information that is relevant to a given audience, messages should sound natural, and be current in order to really show off that human side.
Denny’s is a company that is a great example of this and has been gaining recognition as one of the funnier and more engaging companies on social media.
This tweet of a viral video and catchphrase, with Denny’s’ personal touch, shows the company’s ability to take something that is relevant to their target audience and apply it to their brand. Denny’s goes even further when it comes to engaging with their audience and actually responds to some of their audience.
While these tweets may be on the more extreme and silly side for many companies, it is perfect for Denny’s and what they are trying to communicate.
There is a fine line between showing the more human side of an organization and being inappropriate, as many companies have found out when there has been significant backlash after an inappropriate post. However, with a properly run social media account, the benefits of using social media to gain new customers and maintain an image of being a thoughtful and relevant organization, vastly outweigh the potential downside.
-Brian Clifford
IMC Hawks Blog 
While reading this article, I couldn’t help but think of the company I’m working for and how we can utilize a social media account. Unlike Denny’s, a franchise, the company I work for is a one-and-only, local shop. We do not have the staff to coordinate a social media campaign as well as all the other marketing techniques that we are newly implementing. I appreciate the insight in how to be successful with a more individualistic, and human approach while on social media. If possible, I will definitely remember this advice and utilize it.
I feel like that Wendy’s got more popular with the snarky tweet that referred to how they keep their meat fresh. With the tweet, it also showed that Wendy’s did and do not wish to slander any other brand, McDonald’s in this case. I think that because they aren’t slandering any other brands, they are getting more respect. The person running the twitter account for Wendy’s is a great individual that knows how to communicate effectively!
I really enjoyed how the blog post discussed how social media accounts are used to humanize the brand or company they represent. It shows me that targeting your audience can be difficult but is extremely important.
Connect to the Audience! This seems to be the general consensus, but what else are forgetting? Does the audience actually want to be connected with in that moment? If I’m scrolling the web doing research about a history project, do i need to be distracted with annoying ads about my favorite video games. Yes i do, but Jesus… I’m a terrible procrastinator.
This is a strong post and I think the tittle was a great choice for your argument. The humorous photos in between the text at times distracted me but with the format of this web page I understand why you placed them in between the text. The example of the Denny’s situation is a strong closing statement and it concluded your argument nicely.
I think it is important to show the human side of a company without being inappropriate because it causes a connection with their customers and shows that they listen to their audience. It is important to understand what your audience is like so that you are relevant as a company and customers will still want to do business with you.
First off, Brian I like your use of memes and videos while talking about social media. These examples both play a part in your article by using them as examples, but they are also just very entertaining. Secondly, I agree with you that there is a very fine line on social that a lot of companies dont aways get right. Another example of a company that has gained a lot of popularity on social media is Wendy’s. I think that it is interesting how even though their tweets were somewhat harsh they still gained acceptance among their costumers. They found the balance between being human and honest but not being offensive or innapropriate. I feel that when it comes to social media a company should really analyze their audience. This will help them to know if their costumers will pay attention to their ad on Facebook or even whether or not people will find their jokes funny.
This is a really important topic, it’s difficult for companies to toe that line between professionalism and personable antics on social media. An interesting faucet is companies that use celebrities to endorse their products on social media; the Kardashians are notorious for putting products on their Instagrams. That brings other factors into the equation, is the celebrity someone we want to be associated with our product? If they become scandalized it could hurt the brand as well.
I think the rise in social media advertising really allows for truly viral marketing. A company can try a crazy ad campaign and it can spread like crazy with social media. This gives less popular companies a chance in advertising because they could get lucky and have and extremely popular ad campaign. It also keeps big companies on their toes, because they always know that their could be a chance a small company could steal their advertising thunder.
I think its cool how this blog talks about the humanization of brands. This way people can connect with these brands because it connects to there ideology and the way that they want to represent themselves. This idea is really appealing to me and I like the way this blog breaks it down.
The way companies are making themselves present in social media started off getting a lot of criticism. I heard lots of people saying that social media wasn’t supposed to be for business agendas, they were sick of the advertising, etc. The more personal and relatable approach many companies have chosen to take was a brilliant move in the advertising world in my opinion. It gets their name out there and in the minds of people of all ages and interests and doesn’t make people feel bombarded by advertising. Wendy’s made the world laugh with their famous sequence of “clapbacks” and while I bet it didn’t illicit a direct response of viewers saying “I’m going to get a Dave’s Hot n Juicy 1/4 pounder”, it did gain them a lot of young people’s recognition and respect. Understanding and being able to interact with people in today’s social media climate can be a vital strength for a company looking for new ways to reach people.
I think the use of images throughout the post were very helpful in conveying the message of the overall article. It helps the audience really connect with the piece and adds some humor throughout as well. Many businesses and brands have been taking to social media lately and I think it is a great way to make the brand more personable. Now people are saying “Wendy’s and Denny’s are so funny” not just “Wendy’s and Denny’s is a good place to eat.” People can make more connections to the brands, not just with the products they have to offer.
It’s always refreshing to see old brands embrace the ever-changing world of social media. So many companies simply have FB, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat pages just to appear as if they are current. For a company to leverage the power that social media possess, they have to fully embrace this culture and learn how to navigate in it.
I could totally relate to this article because I feel like this article has a lot to do with the generation I grew up with. Connecting businesses to everyday trends and life is a great way to keep their relevance. On another note, I feel that the new technology with social media nowadays has really given many businesses that see, “down and out” great opportunities to become popular again by social media presence.