Content Weapons Primer: Signature Management

The term Signature Management has been around for quite some time, and it has become prevalent especially in the domain of the military. You were probably thinking, I thought it had something do with my e-signature on documents or something similar right? Simply put, Signature Management is an set of methods that help you avoid being detected. It also includes a variety of measures that can be used in order to adjust the signature based on the electromagnetic spectrum. That’s the textbook definition. Well me being me ladies and gentlemen, can’t let that one go in the modern age where everything is going through its own evolution. Remember back when we discussed Newsjacking and Leveraging Internal Influencers etc. In a lot of those instances you will want to ensure at least a minimum form of Signature Management is in place. In the domain of Content Weapons, I am using it as follows. Active measures to be the sponsor or generator of content without actually appearing in or pushing the perception that you are the creator. It’s the management or minimization of your organizational fingerprint on certain forms of content for the purposes of conveying an organic relevance to your message and not forced, paid or implied.

Content Weapons like this are further explained in the book #contentweapons by Michael Stattelman

Learn how to lead “Next Practices” initiatives like this in Meta Leadership also by Michael Stattelman

Why do you need Signature Management?

One of the main advantages of Signature Management is that it is already and has been in use by a wide variety of governments and organizations already as stated earlier but in the context of back-door operations to avoid detection by any electronic systems, such as radar for example. While you don’t have the same issues as those in life or death combat situations, you are trying to avoid the open perception by human radars and bullshit sniffers. Doing that is not always going to be easy, but with dedicated efforts you can use Signature Management in a myriad of ways to deliver what you want without the target audience even aware that you had anything to do with it and these types of results as a whole are extremely powerful.

Is Signature Management expensive?

Designing such a solution can be very expensive, but most of the time you can rely on solutions that are most of the times obvious. In most cases a smart person charged with signature management will put external resources as tests in situations that SM is necessary. Utilizing age old processes like focus groups etc to show content to and then ask open or targeted questions to gauge the level of visibility or direct involvement they perceive.

What steps can be used to reduce presence identification?

There are a multitude of factors you can use here. The following is a basic list but feel free to add to or mix and match:

1) Logo size and transparency or No logo.

2) Tag lines that sound similar but are not exactly verbatim.

3) The use of background music with certain highs at the point of speech that speaks to identification.

If you want Signature Management to work, you have be intentional with your efforts testing and refining so that you get it to the point that it can be as accurate and effective as possible.