I don’t think that word means what you think it means

I don’t think that word means what you think it means

February 29, 2016 Uncategorized 0

Recently, I was invited by a company, that shall remain extremely nameless, to help inspire their pointless lackluster social media branding. This is something I do frequently with companies and individuals and usually, these sessions quickly become fun and inspired brainstorming sessions, with everyone excited and frantically taking notes, and I get back as much as I give. Usually, these sessions last for hours, and days later, people from the teams will still be emailing and texting me, and we’re BFF and planning drinking sessions and girls’ nights out.

That is what usually happens. This time however, within about 15 minutes, my face was a mask of horror, and I was keeping one eye firmly on the clock, awaiting the moment I could escape and return back to Planet Earth, since unwittingly, weirdly, somehow, I had stumbled upon the Twilight Zone. I thought I was meeting with a fairly famous company’s social media team of in-house experts…instead, I was stuck in 7th grade, with people who made sure to tell me everything that was wrong with my ideas, even as they admitted that, “…wait, Carlota, does like the Twitter even works on iPhones…like are you sure, since I can’t access my Twitter account! I don’t think the Twitter is on my iPhone.”

Oh. Oh dear. Clearly, we had radically different ideas of what an “elite brand” means, since last time I checked, if you allow disgruntled employees to post frowny faces on your Facebook page, and don’t know how to respond, don’t even know you should respond, um, not sure how exactly that qualifies as anything other than committed incompetence, but hey, as Kanye says, “God bless the fools…all positive vibes!”

More interesting, was that the people in the room knew that there was a great deal missing from their social media presence, they knew that employees were loath to post on the company’s various social media platforms, but they simply couldn’t see that all their rules, regulations and push-back were, when coupled with the demanding workload  of the business, simply the death of creativity. I mean, I was in that room for 60 minutes–probably the longest 60 minutes of my life–and I knew that if I worked for this company, and they asked me to post on their Facebook page, or Twitter account, while simultaneously making it clear that any and all spontaneity, creativity and imagination wouldn’t be tolerated must be approved by people allergic to ideas…next! Who has time for that? The work day is hard enough. Getting your paycheck is hard enough. Who, seriously, is going to look for this kind of extra stress and absurdity?

With that rant in mind, I know there are many other companies that are genuinely interested in creating an online presence reflective of the company’s human brand–the most important brand– and wondering how to do it…so here’s 4 ways companies can encourage employees to get online and boost, organically, their professional social media branding:

  1. First and foremost, understand that the point of being online is to show, not tell, everything that makes your brand unique and worthwhile. You can tell me that your brand is elite till the cows come home…but if, upon visiting your Facebook page, or Twitter feed, all I see is 150 followers and the same 2-3 people liking bare-bones posts, with no organic, passionate engagement whatsoever…um, no. Um, not so much. Um, I don’t think that word means what you think it means. I’m going to wonder is your brand really is so special…or is that your social media team is so fearful and unable to do the hard, committed, compelling work that goes into reaching a worldwide audience? You can still adhere to industry standards, to rules and regulations, while creating an online footprint that demonstrates your employees’ passion for their work. (And if you can’t, plenty of other companies can…)For example, instead of telling me that you had a series of in-house meeting discussing some new business trend, and posting less-than-exciting photos of people sitting in board meetings, with a link to your website(…yawn!), how about you elaborate on one of those trends in your post, highlighting it with some relevant hashtags? That immediate information is much more likely to end with me clicking on and sharing the link, as it will benefit me, and/or my online friends.  When that shows up in my friends’ news-feed, they are also more likely to give it a look, and perhaps share it with their friends. Right there, you’ve created a post that went from being seen by 2-3 (paid) people, to an essential audience of hundreds, or even thousands.
  2. A good rule-of-thumb is to remember that people on any particular social media platform want to stay on that particular platform. Give me specific, unique info on this platform, and then, if I’m sufficiently moved, I might visit your website. But I shouldn’t have to visit your website. I should be able to learn as much as I need/want to know about your brand on Twitter, for example. Companies need to remember that some people love Twitter, or Facebook, or LinkedIn, or any other specific platform, and see no reason to visit other websites. And if your company won’t give them what they want on Twitter…well, someone else will.
  3. Much as we all want our employees to share their triumphs and ideas online, if these same people confide to the social media team that they’re not comfortable being online, call me crazy, but perhaps your team should respect that confession? Even in 2016, many, many people want to keep their lives private. Many employees will go the extra mile for their employer and colleagues in person, but are mortified to see themselves tagged online. If these employees feel that their wishes to remain anonymous are not respected, what negative repercussions will that have, over the long term, on their desire to help the company? You can send out a hundred emails a day asking people to post, and like and share, but the minute that employees feel that their feelings are being discounted…forget it. How is pressuring people to have (judicious) “fun” online(dammit!), in line with your brand’s highly vaunted integrity?  Instead, find the people in any company who want to blog, or post, or share and focus on them. Let these brave souls be a living testament to how the company tastefully promotes its employees and over time, some of the more introverted members are more likely to feel comfortable coming forward.
  4. I can give specific hints for using hashtags, or Google+ video hangouts, or pinning tweets to a company’s Twitter page till the end of time, but the most crucial hint of all, is that companies must understand that their human capital is always going to be the most elite and engaging aspects of their brand. Whatever you’re selling, it’s the people of your company who will, or won’t sell it. It’s the men and women of your company who are going to spark my interest, and allow me to recognize myself, or not, in your brand. To that end, your company can, and should, make sure it’s compliant with industry standards and practices…but since when does being compliant have to negate being human? You can tell me all day long that you value employees’ integrity and ideas….but if your company Facebook page, for example, is a vast wasteland, heavy on tedious buzz words and the only likes are the same (paid) social media managers, the same 2-3 names liking each other’s formulaic posts…oy vey. You can make yourself feel better by claiming your brand is “elite,” but in my own experience, it’s humans who drive any brand forwards…or don’t.

Some of you may be thinking that this is sour grapes on my part…the company and I didn’t hit it off, so I’m serving some cheese with my w(h)ine. Not so much. Looking at their social media, I see that, despite them disparaging my ideas in person, they actually put quite a few of them to good use. And while I still don’t believe that they know what makes an elite brand, I actually do. I left that particular life lesson social media branding session, the recipient of a handful of emails from new clients, anxious to hire me and my elite ideas.  Fingers crossed that their social media team one day soon figures out how to access the The Twitter on their iPhones…bless their little hearts. 

 

 

 

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