I’ve had this post floating about in my head for a while. It won’t be a long one, or one that says anything earth shattering, but I think it is something that lies at the heart of social media in general and social recruiting in particular. We are just trying to get to dam strategic. We spend too much time planning, dissecting audiences, thinking about message and content to actually get the most out of these mediums. The more we look to training, guidelines, rules and the like, the more social becomes marketing. A controlled message, and dare I say it, a sterile message.Too many rules, too much searching for immediate return and the obvious audience to achieve the most out of these mediums. For the earlier adopters, social media and social recruiting was a bit like the wild west. We were all trying to figure it out, trying different things and taking different approaches. I made a point of always doing the opposite of what I was being told. I tweeted a lot. I retweeted even more. I shared everything. I made noise. I joined twitter chats when people complained about me flooding their streams, suggesting that you shouldn’t tweet more than ten times a day.
I joined Facebook and started getting friend or foe messages because I was sharing business content in what was seen as a social stream. Because I was still working out what I was going to be doing and had nothing to sell, I connected without objective and without a target audience. I talked about anything and everything, but above all else I was social. That meant talking about all kinds of things apart from work, because I had no work. I was just interested in people, where they were from, what they liked, sports teams, family, the whole picture. I got to know people before I got to know prospects. Mostly I learnt from the conversations I had with the people I met on-line, then I moved these conversations to in person meetings and events, because social made me want to meet the people I was speaking with wherever that might be. That hasn’t changed no matter how the business has grown. I have a lot less time, but I make time to chat, and I get a great return.
The problem now though is that as the medium gets more established, and more companies want to use the channels for business, then what seemed like the wild west scared the life out of them as they imagined horrors and damage to the brand that never really materialized. They felt the fear, so they appointed sheriffs, and worked to cut out what they viewed as irrelevant conversations with what they viewed as irrelevant people. My fear is that when we take out these conversations and these connections, we cut out the pipeline to what is possible.
Work always has objectives and expected outcomes, when these are not achieved there will always be consequences, but we must allow and encourage people to build their own relationships and their own conversation. To be able to talk to people who might not look relevant to the business, and to just chat about things that could be considered irrelevant. Measure the outputs, not the inputs.
The real return for me has come from these connections and these people. They have been the introducers, referrers, connectors and sharers who gave me the help, encouragement and direction to get started. They did this because we became friends, and we became friends because we chatted about anything and everything. When you work for yourself you can do this, but what about the people working in a company now? Does this strategic approach of policy and rules allow for irrelevance. And without it, will a return ever really come?
Bill
The biggest thing to establish is that social isn’t or shouldn’t be seen as a quick fix. It takes time to properly establish yourself/you brand. You need to join the conversation, I remember the “Bill’s a robot” days, you were a machine and the end seems to have justified the means. Did you have this plan when you started or did you just evolve with it? I still think social is evolving, and really still think these rule makers/gurus are full of it. I’ll try tips and tricks I hear about out, but don’t put a lot of weight with them. But if things I try work for me….. I’ll stick with them… if they don’t… next!
Thanks Dan,
I think you were the first person to write a post describing me as a brand. I’d never thought of things this way. I just ant people at work to have time to chat. I wish it was a plan Dan, because I could claim to be a genius. This has been an evolution, and we have only just started exploring.
Bill
Exploring yes, but also learning and evaluating. I believe social media has a place and a purpose and can bridge gaps and be means to an end, but I also believe we have to some degree thought it being the answer to many challenges, – challenges that I think still out there and still unresolved. That we are moving into times of being over the initial excitement and now looking much more in depth and analysing is without doubt, and as such some channels and solutions will be found not to carry enough evidence or weight in what they can achieve. One such seriously hyped (weren’t you at some point Bill and advocate of this? ) is Pinterest, Did this solution ever truly add value and solutions ??
As ROI becoming increasing the topic when looking at spend, so also whether whatever solution considered being the right and the most efficient tool for helping us to reach the desired outcomes.
I believe we will se a .’sobering up’ of which providers that stand the test of time and truly offer measurable tangible solutions, for those that cannot fast show where and how they add bottom line results they will soon be forgotten.
Jacob,
Not sure if you know but Pinterest is now the fourth largest referrer of traffic on the internet, I’m all for analysis over what is working, and changing direction by experimentation. my concern is that we are cutting out conversation unless we can see a clear value. It is the conversation without objective that builds network.
Bill
Bill, I think your post is spot on and I have to comment from the prospective of an HR person who consistently helps job seekers. Considering the rate of tweets that go unresponded to (about 70% at last statistical count), I think we put way too much time and hype into social media. As an HR practitioner, I can tell you that most HR professionals in my area do not take much stock in social media and are still in the skeptical phase.
I have also noticed that we have shifted from content is king to approach is king. We use social media to show job seekers how to fix the cosmetics of their job search but rarely do we advocate for skill development. I fear we are overvaluing the impact social media can have on your career and while relationships are definitely built over this medium, I still do not believe it is the best use of a job seekers’ time. How much trust can you really have in a person’s ability to do a job just by chatting online?
- Joey Price, CEO of Jumpstart:HR
Chatting is how we build relationships and trust. I believe that moves us closer to our objective. The problem for job seekers is who is giving the advice. It is quite often the blind influencing the blind.
Bill
Agreed. I sometimes wish we had on screen resumes to show the qualifications of those giving advice.
I agree, the blind influencing the blind.
Thanks for responding,
Joey
‘It is the conversation without objective that builds network’
Bill – can you kindly elaborate, as I am confused ?
I’m glad I came across this post again.. still relevant today!