Signalfire: Interactive Marketing Solutions

The ABC’s of Social Media

In David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin’s character hammers home the sales message: Always Be Closing. Every action and effort should be focused on closing the deal. While delivered in salty language, the speech ranks right up there with Michael Douglas’ in Wall Street. However, this critical concept carries forward to social media and an ABC of its own.

Always Be Communicating.

Communication is something that can be misinterpreted very easily. I’m not saying Always Be Broadcasting or Always Be Talking in social media. Don’t let your brand get stuck on “transmit”. Too many social media “experts” tout the medium as a broadcast tower. A place where your brand can espouse about specials, sales or news. However, the real use of that tower isn’t just broadcast, but also receiving.

Communication is a two way street. Yes, you can broadcast your message, but how often are you listening to the discussion? Your business should be carrying on a dialogue, participating in the discussion or at least monitoring the critical keywords about your industry. When the time to speak does come, your message should match the medium. A very wise man once told me an adage of leadership that applies very strongly to social media, “you have two ears and one mouth, so listen twice as much as you speak.” Be sure your brand takes that time to listen before speaking.

Always Be Communicating also means recognizing the voice your brand is using to interact with the world. Too often social media users get caught treating their brand social media like their personal social media. Entries like “my latte was cold #ihatecoldcoffee” may be endearing to some people as personalizing, but can also be a distraction from your brand’s mission. Be sure to have a clear separation between your personal voice and your brand voice. Every brand has an inherent voice and maintaining it becomes critical in keeping your brand on target.

Maintaining brand voice doesn’t mean abandoning your brand’s personality. Part of what makes a successful brand social media presence is authenticity and passion. Authenticity can range from a mountain outfitter’s discussion on their latest ascent strategy to a coffee roasters discussion on how a new blend brings an incredible aroma. Authenticity demonstrates expertise and gives the followers/consumers confidence in your depth of knowledge. Passion comes into play when that outfitter describes the unbridled adrenaline rush upon reaching the summit or the coffee roaster relishing how that first morning coffee smell makes them come into the office half an hour sooner.

Authenticity and passion are what tell good stories. Those brands that tell the best stories are the ones that have the most loyal followers. By telling that story, your brand is communicating out with authenticity and passion. That same story also allows communication to flow in by consumers identifying—hey, I was on that summit last summer, what kind of harness did you use on that last approach?— to consumers searching—who can recommend a good morning blend? When consumers are communicating based off your brand’s authenticity and passion, you’d better be listening.

Communication is as much about listening as it is about broadcasting. It really is a two way street. One of the greatest pitfalls that causes businesses to fail with social media is the focus on transmitting and not about listening. Think back to the CB radios and walkie-talkies of our youth. If your holding down the transmit key and constantly talking, when will you get a chance to hear your buddy asking a question? In the end, Always Be Communicating means listening more than you’re talking. And when your brand does speak, be sure it is with authenticity and passion.