The Human Factor and Social Media | LinkedIn.
The last section – worth reading the whole article though
People first. Brand later.
I recently came across an interesting Twitter account by accident. Someone had mentioned Arlene Dickinson’s new book “Persuasion” to which I replied saying I’d pick it up in the afternoon. Not even 10 minutes later, there was a tweet from Harper Collins, the publisher, saying how they believe it will be a great read.
That, in and of itself, is not anything groundbreaking. However, my interest was peaked since I am planning to publish soon. I thought, how great would it be to connect with someone at a well respected publishing house.
Clicking over to their Twitter account was a pleasant experience. Most companies would have some hacked together selling proposition and a website in their bio, however Harper Collins has a simple bio with a listing of employees manning their social media presence. Immediately, it was easier to relate and converse. Because I was not speaking with a shapeless corporation, I was in fact speaking with either @corybeatty or @shanparsons. Real people! How innovative and wonderful.
As much as we as marketers like to think that audiences have some sort of an emotional connection with a brand… you must remember that a brand is composed of people behind it. This is even more important in social media marketing. It’s hard to have a conversation with a Ford… yet it’s much easier and more natural while knowing that Scott Monty or Craig Daitch is behind the keyboard on the other end.
What is the lesson here? Listen, converse and be human. That’s all. It’s not crazy social media voodoo guru ninja BS… just personal relationships and common sense…
3 Dragon Marketing 