End to end business transformation with Social Media has known benefits but, there is more when you scratch the surface, its deeper.

We already know that transforming your business to Social will…

  • Extend your reach into markets
  • Allow you to make connections and generate new leads
  • Facilitate real engagement with other people
  • Allow you to have conversations you would never have by other means
  • Increase sales
  • Eliminate/reduce marketing costs
  • Foster Internal and External advocacy
  • Streamline internal processes
  • Bring teams together

And so on, this is what we know…

But there is something else that happens when a business decides to cross the Social Media divide, something that exists more at the base human level.

I work with individuals and groups in Management across a range of industries.  Times were hard enough before the onset of Covid, now things are really tight.  You can feel the tension on video calls, some people just don’t know what to do, they are stuck. 

It’s not their fault, they’ve been used to working in a set pattern for years, ‘do this and this and that happens’…repeat, and it worked.  Some of them have been so ‘busy being busy’ that they have not yet tuned into the mammoth change that has taken place in the global procurement of products and services – the Social shift.  But now it’s caught up with them, it’s overtaken them and they find themselves in the Social slow lane. 

I’ve recently been working with the Managing Director of a Marine Engineering company in the UK.  He has been on LinkedIn for some time and was falling victim of getting into a pattern of activity that didn’t yield results for him. 

He was of a mind that he must only produce technical/sales content, he believed it was what his industry wanted from him – This is tactical, we call it ‘Random Acts of Social’.  You post content because you think that’s what your industry wants to see, it takes time to create, you post it and it generally doesn’t work for you (for ‘work’ see the bullet list above).

I explained how with some simple alterations to thinking and, taking a more strategic approach to content things will change.

When we talk about our successes and how great we are or how great our product is, not only do people not care, most of the time they don’t even notice.  But when we share something at a more personal level people tend to engage much more. They are more prepared to have a dialogue with us and more able to empathise, and this helps build trust.

The Managing Director wasn’t sure and wrestled with the idea for a while, then decided to try it.  So, he wrote a post with a real human voice, his voice.  He eluded to the stress he’s been under as a business owner in recent months and put out a ‘social hand’ to those in the same boat. 

As I write this today, that post has received over 11,000 views globally, 97 people have liked it and 114 people have commented.  The Managing Director is connecting with people who are not even in his network, he is receiving private messages, engaging in new conversations, and generating new leads.

That one simple tweak to the process has yielded significant results and changed this business leaders view of the power of Strategic Social Media management for his business. 

But, as good as that may be, for some it goes beyond connections and leads.  It’s a feeling of being active for your business in a modern way, like being in control again, its electric and brings a new vitality to how you do things.

In a comment to me a few days later, the MD said “it’s a bloody great feeling of being alive again…”.

There is a misconception that we will be punished in some way for showing our true selves on Social Media, the fact is, its quite the opposite, our networks opens up to it.  

People invariably rally-round and are supportive, people appreciate our honesty, people like us more. Nobody is a rock. No one person has all the answers.  If I show weakness and vulnerability it proves that I’m just like you.  Human, fallible, vulnerable, and real.

This was a small and simple example of how a business person, even in a heavy engineering role, can make a significant difference to their inbound with a series of strategic, well thought out changes to their social presence.  And they get the added bonus of “feeling alive again”.

Get in touch to talk about how we can help you and your team cross that Social divide with confidence.


Eric Doyle

www.linkedin.com/in/ericdoylecrux