I’ve been lucky enough to be part of a fair few meetings over the past few months with current, potential, and not-so-potential clients. Over this time, i’ve noticed a glaringly obvious consistency with which of the three categories so many businesses end up in.
A business’ culture is the overriding factor in how successful social media can be. When pitted against one another, culture will inevitably overpower social media’s potential.
When one business comes to the table already claiming they don’t have the time nor the will to adapt their culture to one of sharing and listening, its pretty obvious which of the three categories they’ll end up in. The tragedy in this is so often their business, and industry, is ideal to bear the fruit of what social media can offer!
So what is it about a business’ culture that can possibly prevent social media from ever being integrated into their organisation, and how do we go about changing that?
Social Media, as a title, seems to have already lost its core meaning in all the hype surrounding it. Being ‘social’ means to engage with your community. If your workplace is one of top-down oppression, enforcing policies and stifling engagement with your targeted customer base, it is hardly an environment which will organically promote your employees to listen, speak, share, engage, and be receptive.
And this is where a social media campaign will suffocate everytime.
So how do you get you business to succeed at social media?
All the hints to the answer are in the previous description.
Practice what you preach through a cultural shift.
If you practice top-down oppression within the workplace, inevitably that culture will reflect how your employees treat your customers – with a top-down view of ‘this is what i bring, my way goes’.
Apply the principles of social media internally first. The inherent beauty of social media is that the culture it brings is a natural collaborative culture of listening, speaking and engaging. It is also one of trust: one of the greatest attributes a workplace can enjoy.
Remember, your employees are your brand. Trust, acknowledge & empower them by listening and being receptive to their thoughts and you’re well on your way to instilling a modern, invigorating workplace culture. Forget ‘top-down’ and blend it with ‘bottom-up’ and you’ll find this spreads to how you interact with your customers. Expanding your campaign externally will become a natural, organically social progression with the whole team on-board.
It won’t be about how your employees treat your customers anymore. It will be about how they listen, acknowledge, share and engage with them. Cultural change in the workplace is a powerful tool.
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Interesting topic, Filip. Having a business culture of sharing and listening is definitely the way forward for any business who respects their employees and customers. And you’re right, this is also the best starting point for a successful social media campaign.
In my current workplace, I have about 6 employees who are able to take part in our social media efforts. I encourage all staff to interact with and join discussions via our various social media platforms. However, despite this encouragement (as I agree with you about the benefits of team input), I’ve found that there has been some reluctance to get involved … but when a team member does – they always add a nugget of gold to our online profile.
While the team are all now aware of the power of social media, it does take time for them to build confidence and hopefully slowly turn their reluctance into involvement… and maybe even into a passion! So, I just wanted to mention that sometimes it’s not the management that are reluctant to cultural change, it can sometimes be a result of nervousness or fear of ‘getting it wrong’ on the part of the team members.
Thanks for the insight Ali! I’ve kept a keen eye on Caroline Serviced Apartment’s forays into SM over the past year – you’ve had some cracker comps going too (loved the coffee cups!).
I love the insight into the struggle of getting team members on-board! I’m still amazed at how much resistance there can be to socialising online in this space! Everyone who gets involved loves it & adds so much to it all!
Like you say, it obviously is a confidence thing.
Daring to transgress from the topic (and thinking out-loud).. i wonder what effect social media involvement by staff has in aiding staff loyalty & retention…