One of the toughest things about cracking the social-media nut is figuring out the right voice to use for your brand persona. To do that, you need an immediate sense of who your brand is. Like people, brands have personalities, and understanding their personalities helps define a proper marketing tone.

Lucky for us, Rishad Tobaccowala of VivaKi has developed a useful exercise for figuring out your brand's perceived identity and personality. He suggests you begin by choosing a few key words that best describe your brand, under the following three categories:

1. Niche. What makes your brand different, and what attracts folks to its niche?
2. Voice. How does your brand "express" itself?
3. Story. What story sits behind the formation of your brand and its ongoing role in the marketplace?

Keep the list you form, then have a select group of your most dedicated users perform the exercise as well, Tobaccowala advises. You'll find your brand persona lies somewhere in the themes that repeat themselves among the lists that you and your users create, he notes.

To make the exercise a little tougher, try narrowing each column down to three words. To make it harder still, try to finish with just one word that defines your niche, voice and story, he advises.

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