Stop doing social media.

PROFESSIONALS SHOULDN’T DO SOCIAL MEDIA AT ALL- WHY?

Nobody should DO it..

It is a communication tool. People don’t DO the telephone, they USE IT (the rise of cold-calling - that’s “doing” telephone). 

Throwing your message (or random content) at people and hoping they buy-in isn’t working - and like cold calling, it hasn’t been a thriving marketing tactic for most professionals for at least a decade. What’s more, people who do use it are working out who’s legitimately using their profiles and who’s outsourcing it (awkward).

There is definitely a rise in using social media for push-style marketing. It’s creating more noise now than ever, but those using social media successfully for business are using it to communicate the way they think, show who they are and what they believe is useful to their audience. If you’re not one of them, perhaps this is a good time to stop.

THE BACKSTORY

I grew up as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn emerged (in Australia at least). In retrospect, 2007 was big… Twitter scaled, the iPhone was released, Dropbox was founded because some guy kept forgetting his USB, Google launched Chrome, Kindle happened – you get the picture. 

2007 also coincided with the rise of “pull” marketing. Businesses and brands could now join communities and conversations alongside their customers (i.e. brands could be ‘pulled in’ to conversation, rather than rely on throwing their message out there). Ads which allowed for engagement gained traction. At the same time, people began to actively reject "push” style promotions.

At the time, the convenience of using Facebook to chat with friends instead of MSN messenger was impressive, and the idea that you could communicate with a brand was interesting.

This had huge implications for professionals who relied heavily on thought leadership (some were still printing newsletters…) and networking - they now had another avenue to directly communicate with prospects & clients. It also had big implications for clients - they could now see more of an organisation they were buying from than ever before. But, I began working with consultants and lawyers, and quickly realised there was little interest in social media - especially LinkedIn.

For these professionals, it seemed there was so much genuine confusion and fear surrounding the rise of social media, that there was more interest in policy, privacy and prevention than anything else. I met with lawyers who advised clients on social media when they had no idea or interest in using it themselves… the most frequent question I came across was how do we stop people using social media instead of working - heaven forbid we actually train our staff on how to use it, or consider using social media to be ‘working’. 

I also was amazed at why blanket IT barriers to social media were ever thought to be a solution to ‘unproductivity’ - people just pulled out their smart phone at school, why would business be different? 

10 years later and we now expect it.

NOW

Circa 2020 - There’s so much pressure to post - almost like grabbing that extra toilet paper off the shelves... to “do” social media.

There’s so many businesses still confused about social media. There’s so many individuals confused about it. There’s so much pressure to post - almost like grabbing that extra toilet paper off the shelves because everyone else has a trolley full.

Many don’t actively write for the audience they want or know how to speak to them. If you’re a thought leader - is it clear who you are trying to lead?

Many professional advisors use social media really well (especially around award campaigns). They are visible, engaging with their contacts (posting, commenting, replying to comments and reading other people’s posts) and they usually put out seriously valuable content that is relevant to their audience.

They use a combination of personal thoughts and relevant thought leadership (that is relevant to someone - an ‘ideal’ client or ‘buyer persona’ rather than anyone that may be interested in [topic].)

Most of these people are USING social media, not DOING it. 

OUTSOURCING

Some are outsourcing it all together - I guess they are getting it DONE, but to what effect.

I understand for many social media is overwhelming or uninteresting - I think outsourcing can have benefits for a brand/business, but I argue outsourcing a personal brand entirely has consequences - especially in terms of authenticity.

Professionals who rely on thought leadership and relationship building to demonstrate value, build trust and maintain awareness, but aren’t involved and invested in what is being posted to their profile… it’s like hiring cold calling company to call your friends - the scenario has definitely got a NQR feeling to it.

Continuing the analogy, would you outsource your phone. Sure sometimes, but where would you draw the line? What is the cost?

Many peers and Partners alike are still not using social media, have no idea what their password is or will only use one platform and only for social purposes. I guess that is fine - however for professionals relying on personal brand, your brand is attached to you - if you’re not findable in the communication channels your audience is looking... perhaps they’re wondering why.

BD Director & legal marketing thought leader, Richard Smith, recently asked “Can you be a thought leader without a strong social media presence?” Without the ability to communicate you’re just thinking (not leading) - and consumers now expect this to be how they receive information. So I guess not. You can aim for guest posting or publishing opportunities - but without social what happens to those interested in your ideas after your published?

THE TAKEAWAY

Don’t DO social media. USE IT to engage, communicate with purpose and show how you think.

Think about who you want to see you as a leader - and share valuable ideas with them, engage with them. If you’re not sure if you’re going to hit the mark - check with someone who is in or knows your target market via email first.

Use what you share to demonstrate (authentically) who you are to your contacts. Put your own ideas or opinions alongside other peoples content. Make sure the ‘voice’ you write with matches who you actually are - dissonance doesn’t do well in business. If you’re demonstrating thought leadership by sharing your latest article, don’t just share the article - talk about who it’s relevant to, your experience in it, a key takeaway - make it mean something.

It’s not too late to start either - don’t worry if you accepted 5872+ LinkedIn requests, you just need to work out the “many” that are relevant to your practise and where you want to take it. Physically map out who they are, what they care about and why - it will help you find and create content.

- Jess.

Via Three Stacks Full, I help professionals be intentionally authentic in communicating their value online and off and ensure they know who they’re aiming to speak with - subscribe, follow or get in touch if you’re interested in getting some help.

Links

2007: The Year We Reinvented Everything (actually an interesting read for anyone interested in how social media just happened.. - we missed it because of 2008).

THIS article >> The Evolution of Content Marketing: How It's Changed and Where It's Going in the Next Decade is one of the best overviews of where content marketing emerged from and what will make it successful moving forward.