To build a successful business, one doesn’t just need a team that knows how to make a social media app; one will also need people ready to use social media to promote their business.
Today, social media is a powerful tool for replicating social interactions, building stronger relations, and engaging with employees, stockholders, and customers.
In this article, we shall discuss the benefits business owners will drive from encouraging their employees to be more active on social media.
Reasons why business owners don’t rush on social media
Besides the apparent lack of time (the business owner’s job is still running a business), most CEOs are cautious with social media because of the high risks. In today’s culture of political correctness, a single tweet may ruin a business or, at least, drive away a good bunch of customers.
Example: Joan Rowling came under fire for her tweet criticizing the term “people who menstruate,” suggesting the press should use the term “woman” instead. Her position caused big waves of hateful remarks from the transgender community on social media and criticism from big names in the industry like Daniel Redcliff or Stephen King.
Yet, despite dangerous underwater currents, social media is a crucial way to get valuable insights and share important news in real-time.
Top benefits CEOs drive from being active on social media
An active social media presence helps nurture trust between employees and employers. Thus, according to Business Insider, around “65% of US employees say it’s important for CEOs to actively communicate about their companies online, particularly during times of crisis.”
Also, job candidates often check the company’s social media profiles before interviews. This shows whether the company’s corporate culture fits its personal value set. That helps both the company and prospective employees check whether they are mutually fitting.
Like celebs, CEOs attract public interest, and that caters to their business growth. For example, Doug McMillon, the chief executive at Walmart, posts to Facebook nearly daily and has a huge audience there.
Yet, a business can drive even more benefits if the employees are also actively engaged in social networking.
Reasons to encourage employees to be active in a company’s social media life
Whether discussing a large corporation or a small business, most employees still need to be co-located, especially now, when most companies worldwide allow remote work.
Thus, it takes more work for a company to maintain its culture, nurture common values, and build team spirit and loyalty, making a difference between employees and contractors.
This gets simpler with the power of social media. Mainly:
- Employees get a better understanding of the company’s goals
- Senior leaders get more access to all the staff
- Team members are engaged in idea-sharing and problem-solving
- All the company gets better opportunities for feedback and two-way communication.
How to build and boost the company’s social media life properly?
A strong communication strategy incorporates a suitable channel, mutual activity, and example.
- Selecting a channel
Proper social media tools depend on your needs.
In case you are a B2C company, combine the social media activity of your staffers with attracting an audience to your businesses. Encourage your employees to share the news of releases and upcoming events in exchange for bonuses. This way, the customer audience will see the company news as well. Popular social media networks like Facebook and Twitter will best fit these needs.
If your employees engage in developing competitive technology and need to discuss it somewhere, build a social media of your own. Hire dedicated software developers to create a product that will maintain a high level of privacy but boost communication and idea sharing.
Example: Deloitte, an accounting company with the world name, created a private social media network D-Street, to let employees communicate with each other on job matters.
- Going on a mutual journey
Nothing engages more than knowing that your voice will be heard. Once a CEO starts social media for a company, they should guarantee feedback on all the essential issues posted there. This may only be achieved with clear signs of interactions: comments, messages, likes, etc.
- Lead by example
Leaders’ thoughts, ideas, and dreams are exciting and vital to employees, contractors, customers, investors, and business partners. You shouldn’t try to outshine Steve Barlett, the CEO of one of the most successful British digital agencies, whose podcast promoted his business significantly, but you should try with your own articles, videos, or also a podcast.
Summary
By encouraging all company members to live an active social media life, a business owner builds solid teams and gets better visibility into the company’s processes. The ways to do so are different and business-specific, but a properly built strategy of internal communication I a powerful tool to boost the organic company’s growth from the inside.
