How to succeed in B2B social media marketing communication without really trying. Part II
Hannah Grinberg
Social Media Aficionado | Building Digital Communities with Genlyte Solutions | Leveraging my Master’s Thesis Research on Digitally Mediated Humorous Organizational Communication
Dear Reader,?this ?little article series is?designed?to?tell?you?some things you?need to?know about?the?science?of?being successful in B2B social media marketing.
Now?assuming you are ambitious,?healthy,?clear‐eyed and?eager, you are anxious to engage quickly?and?easily?with your B2B stakeholders.?You?can!
If you are an expert in your field, did a great deal of stakeholder research, and plan a measurable communication campaign, so much the better. But remember that thousands have reached eyeballs without any of those tactics.
Just have courage and memorize the simple rules in these articles that follow. If you truly wish to leverage to succeed your authentic self to develop relationships with your stakeholders online, you can!
Chapter Deux: How to be authentic and professional.
Authenticity is an often-used word that seems to have a straightforward meaning. The common dictionary definition is usually enough for us - being true to oneself or spirit, being original, and not imitation. However, this definition is not sufficient to understand how to be authentic when applied to representing organizations and products.
Because of the forced nature of sales, communications from anyone representing the organization must be making authentic claims authentically.
The above idea can be broken down further to understand that
Before I go into how to be authentic, let's discuss why you should be.
The reason for the importance of this form of communication is because our authentic selves, even in this organizational context, provide stakeholders the opportunity to connect with us, determine if our values are similar, and if they are, that they can see those values represented in action and communication.
This process of determining if the individuals from an organization are similar is called identification. Identification is the process of a stakeholder viewing the organization as similar to them and therefore, empathizing with the organization.
The flip side of identification is disidentification, where the organization is likely to be perceived as a fraud. Essentially, it won't matter how well your product does what you say it does, if your actions, words, and product don't all align, then you risk alienation from the same stakeholders you need.
How to be authentic
Like with many things, when we see something inauthentic, we know it.
According to my research, to be authentic, one must do some or all of these things to be perceived as authentic,
领英推荐
Balancing all of the above is sometimes out of our control, but assuming the organization is doing what it ought to, then the way you, the eager dewy-eyed ambitious communicator, can leverage the corporate values and actions you align with to further your relationships on social media.
To understand how best to put those ideas into action on social media, I like to use the analogy of a tradeshow.
B2B social media marketing, while online, exists within a natural environment. LinkedIn, for example, has a culture of its own. Have you ever seen personal content on social media and gone "ugh, LI is not for personal stuff, it's not Facebook!" Well, then, you understand the concept of different cultures on different pages.
When you use social media to connect with your stakeholders, you're doing so within a paradigm that is constructed to prioritize the interests of users. In other words, when any one of us logs onto a digitally mediated social platform, we're accepting certain rules of conduct that are mostly unspoken.
I find the experience similar to having a booth at a tradeshow. At a tradeshow, even off the exhibit floor, you're constantly on and any moment can be on that sparks an interaction that leads you to the ROI you're hoping for. The coffee line in the morning is just as important as the flyer you're handing out at your booth.
Most importantly, though, is that at a tradeshow, everyone knows why they are there. There is no pretense of it being merely a social gathering; everyone at a tradeshow is there for business - to learn, grow, and network.
Walking through the analogy, when an attendee walks to your booth, you're not going to try and explain why the conference is important, or why they should be invested in the industry, you're going to get to know them a little bit first, find out where they're coming from, and work to relate over common interests or even geographical proximity. Only once you know why they're there and what they need will you talk to them about why your solution works better than the others on the floor.
So too on social media.
Users log on to LinkedIn knowing they will see organizational content, ads, and networking opportunities. The buy-in is there. Your organization's page is the booth, and you are representing them at the coffee line, after party, and hotel bar of social media. Share the valuable pieces from your organization but also share valuable pieces of you.
Okay, dear reader. This is the end of part deux. Stay tuned for a part three (maybe?) where if I do publish it, it will...likely discuss what I mean when I say share valuable content, or something completely different.
Until next time, stay classy LinkedIn users
Works Referenced and Consulted in Part I and II: