Thursday, May 28, 2015
by Matthew Nelson, Corporate Vice President - Corporate Responsibility, New York Life Foundation
I confess that I am a neophyte to the digital world, which makes social media a second language at best for me. Hashtags set me atwitter, and do they count as part of my tweet characters? You get the picture.
March seemed to be my social media immersion month as I attended the Charities@Work Best Practices Summit on Employee Engagement and Corporate Citizenship, and Philanthropy New York’s “Using Social Media to Engage Your Stakeholders in Corporate Social Responsibility Efforts.” Here are a few of the lessons this ”Forever 41er” learned.
Social media, of course, starts with a purpose in mind. Even though this may be obvious, I easily get caught up in the idea of using social media and forget that it is best used with a well formulated goal in mind.
There are several goals that social media can help you achieve; one may be building awareness of your philanthropy or employee engagement work. In our world, numbers of people count in making good happen. But it isn’t just the numbers that are key; it’s also the “tone” of the responses to your brand’s messaging. The words people lift from your post and share with their followers are a strong indicator of whether your communication is effective. Tracking the reaction lets you know if you are achieving your objectives and demonstrates the value of your social media efforts.
Social media also connects us in new ways. I can’t tell you how many virtual meetings I have every day; yet I have no idea what 80% of my colleagues look like, even though most of them work in the same building. I create imaginary images of my colleagues based on their voice or style of their emails. But with social media, I have access to a colleague’s photo, image or profile. This helps me connect more personally to each individual, where ever they work in the world. In this way, social media can be culture-building for a company. The challenge is that your social media use should reflect the culture of your company while still staying true to your personal brand.
The old communications model was to “control the message.” But even this Forever 41er knows that the sincerest form of flattery is imitation or being quoted. It was back in kindergarten when we all should have learned how important it was to share. Remember, the ultimate goal is not to just have your content read, but shared (assuming it is worth sharing).
I see the value and power of the tools my millennial colleagues have grown up using to create connections, share ideas, bolster their brand and inspire each other. Isn’t that what we have always tried to do? My words of encouragement to other Forever 41ers, it is never too late to master these influential social platforms that have the ability to reach around the world and back, and to enhance our communication, engagement, and philanthropy.