I was a guest on the 'Digital Download' on Friday afternoon. It’s a LinkedIn Live show with the DLA Ignite partner companies and we discuss all things digital that have occurred in the previous week.

The conversation turned to terminology and the idea that we, as Strategic Social Media coaches, use terminology that people don’t fully understand.

I agree…the fact is, most teachers do exactly the same at the start of any learning experience.

For example, if you turned up at day 1 of accounting school and the teacher was talking about intangible assets, goodwill impairment testing and foreign exchange risk, you might be a little confused. 

As a modern business person there are some terms you need to get used to and understand.

For example: Omi channelling, multi-threading, Digital Dominance, buyer centric profiling, influence…

These are terms and more are some that you many not fully understand right now, but it’s important you do in the modern B2B world we operate in.  They key is not to be mystified by these and run away from them but to get inside them and fully understand how to put them into best play for your business.

The job of any teacher is to make sure that you begin to understand how these concepts work, what they do and how you can apply them.

Over the course of your programme, the teacher will unpack all these headlines, put them in context and build a picture of where all this fits in. By the end of the programme you will know all bout those terms, what they are and how they work.

It’s the same with Strategic Social Media but, then we take all the teaching and move into coaching. 

This is where we move from the academic to real life, practical application of methods, techniques, and process to achieve a desired result.

Teaching, Practise, Coaching, Repeat = Results.

We've found that the 'teaching, practise, coaching' method works particularly well in Social Selling & Influence with businesses. 

Our candidates get a firm grasp of the ‘what’ and ‘why’ in the teaching sessions and, can drill down into the ‘how’ in the coaching session.

So, let’s look at some of the key concepts of Strategic Social Media for businesses…. this is what we need to first understand, then implement and deliver.

1. Build Meaningful Networks

Most people have digital business connections. How many connections do you and your team have on LinkedIn for example?

Fewer people have taken those connections and moulded them into meaningful networks.

Here is the difference:

A list of connections is exactly that, a list, just like the yellow pages.  Its static, inactive, and rarely used.

A meaningful network is the opposite. Its active and dynamic, its present and alive.

Your meaningful network can perform several different functions:

• They amplify your message through interacting with your content
• The influence others to follow you
• The make introductions for you
• They refer you
• They discuss assistance with you
• The support and guide you
• The create conversations around you
• They request proposals from you
• They send you purchase orders

Do you prefer a dead list of contacts or a dynamic community of people working to help you?

Connections or Meaningful network?

2. Digital Dominance

Any good Social Media strategy worth its salt should include how to build Digital Dominance in your markets and sectors.

We teach our candidates how to use Social Media to achieve multiple aims for the business.   

This isn’t about throwing some content onto LinkedIn and suddenly the Purchase orders start flying in…. not at all.  

Digital Dominance is run in parallel with Building meaningful networks, they feed from each other.

Digital Dominance is using Social Media to drive internet search results.

In the past we use to spend fortunes every year on Search Engine Optimisation to make sure that our Website appeared on the first few pages of google.  It was a lottery and a constantly moving goal post.

When you start to work Digital Dominance plays with your team, you get to the stage where an internet use types in a search phrase that you should be that answer to and instead of your website maybe making onto the top ten list, the first 4 pages of results are your profiles and you content.

All free, algorithmically safe, and completely sustainable.

Check you Social Media strategy, if it’s about lead generation, it probably misses out on this important element.

3. Creating Digital Proof

80% of all B2B transaction are predicated to be done through digital channels by 2025, this means the shift is happening now.

Buying has changed for everyone. Studies show 33% of buyers don’t want to speak to your salespeople…. they make their minds up about shortlists from Social Media.

If you claim to be specialists or experts on particular fields, you need to create content around it. And not just once, regularly. 

Documenting the challenges you face in your industry, interesting projects you are delivering, spotlighting your people, commenting on world issues……being present as a team and creating digital poof that, not only are you experts and specialists, but you are also good people.

We need to get it right…

The latest Edelman and LinkedIn Trust and credibility report tell us (link below):

“64% of buyers say that an organisation thought leadership content is a more trustworthy basis for assessing its capabilities and competency than its marketing materials and product sheets”.

Think about that for a second in the context of what you are putting out there…

Building meaningful networks, Digital Dominance and creating digital proof all work hand in hand and are the basic foundational element of any good Social Media Strategy.

When these all start to come together, there is an interesting development. When teams really double down on these 3 elements something incredible happens right at the intersection. Every candidate starts to develop a strong and powerful Digital Identity.

Everyone in their network can see what they stand for, everyone knows what they are famous for. They have opened their shoulders and they are in charge of their Social Media.

This is an important development and is an essential part of any Strategic Social Media team transformation.

What is outlined above is real business transformation, not a campaign. Its not something you can learn and develop in an afternoon or a short course. 

We meet leadership teams who tell us they tried Social Media and it didn’t work.  In every case they tried to shortcut the transformation and it simply became a transaction. 

Out aim is to make you better at this than we are. Our aim is to give you the skills to completely transform your business. Out aim is to give you a stable platform for growth.

Teaching – Coaching – Practise – Repeat = Results.

None off this comes for free, it takes time, commitment and energy but the rewards are worth it.

• Closer relationships with prospects
• Earlier at the table
• Improved 'visibility' and understanding
• Recruitment opportunities
• Trusted advisor status
• More stable pipeline
• Stronger forecasts
• Increased Order intake
• Higher profit
• Improved Ebita
• A shared sense of purpose in the team

So, Building meaningful networks, Digital Dominance, Creating Digital Proof all pulling through to your individual and team Digital Identity.

What wraps this all together and makes sure it lasts and continues to grow...?

Your Passive Social Presence and your Active Social Behaviour....its the glue and its something we can explore in future articles

The conversation about whether this all works or not is over - dead - in the trash.

The question now is if your organisation has the culture to accept change, the mind to accept alternative perspectives and the hunger to win...

Getting comfortable with the terms in this article is important. Understanding what they mean, what they represent and how you can put them to work for your business.

If you would like to know more about Building Meaningful Networks, Digital Dominance and Creating Digital Proof, I’m always happy to take a call and give you a rundown of how it all works and, how our clients have done it.

These are just the foundations…. we have much more to explore together.

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