One of the most substantial benefits of social media is that it builds more intimate connections. Some folks complain that their ‘real’ relationships get diluted while their less meaningful ones become enhanced, but when it comes to small/mid sized businesses, the opposite is happening. As social media has matured, customers and employees are beginning to cultivate more personal, productive relationships with leadership – which in turn leads for better ideas, more constructive feedback and most importantly – more sales!
When dealing with internal social networks especially, relationships between execs and employees/influences have been supercharged. One of the primary reasons for this spike in good vibes is because of the overall tone of the communication. While most people spend countless hours on WHAT they want to say, HOW they say it and HOW people respond is what’s most important. With traditional company memos or intranet articles, there’s an undertone of being spoken to as opposed to speaking with. On social media, employees genuinely feel as if the communication is organic, direct and sincere instead of something posted as a boiler plate for mass consumption.
Social media – by its very nature, uses a lot of first person “I” statements, allows for feedback and just by the appearance of the sentence structure – looks less formal. As such, people feel like they’re having more intimate conversations with their bosses. Because of the casual, less stuffy and instructive manner of communication, people feel more inclined to participate in a real back and forth, share and comment. In other words, while a given post has been intended to be an opportunity for leaders to speak to their employees, it’s the employees who feel as if they’re involved in a dialogue, not just receiving word from the higher ups.
So if you ever find yourself at a point where you need to convey a specific, meaningful message – consider delivering it via social media. That way, a communication that is intended to be or taken as a mandate, will actually feel more like a conversation.