It seems like with each passing day, The Social Employee is turning up in new and exciting places. Recently, Howard Pyle (@howardpyle), VP of Digital Strategy & IBM Design Lab at IBM, mentioned our book in an article for Advertising Age (@AdAge) titled “Here’s the Dirty Little Secret About Social Media.” The article is a great read, and well worth checking out.
Pyle’s article addresses a key misconception about social media, one which we are quick to dispel in The Social Employee as well. Many companies mistakenly treat social business as if its concepts and applications only apply to customer-facing platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest. These brands then work to generate likes, comments, and followers, an approach that might bring short-term benefits, but one that lacks any clear long-term vision.
The truth is that going social is about building a sustainable culture in the digital age. It’s about what a brand can do within its own walls with these new social tools, not just what it can do with its marketing efforts. In fact, as Pyle so expertly points out, social marketing efforts depend on the support of a properly designed and implemented data analytics program—among many other things—in order to be successful. Marketing on customer-facing platforms should strive for deep, long-term connections and interactions, not just short-term likes and shares. The only way to do this is to first build a similar social culture within your own brand’s walls.
While we did not speak with Pyle directly during our interviews with IBM for The Social Employee, the sentiments he expresses in the article very much echo the opinions of other IBM executives such as Sandy Carter (@Sandy_Carter) and Ethan McCarty (@ethanmcc). With such a consistency of philosophy, outlook, and business strategy, it is no wonder that IBM has emerged as one of the most innovative social business leaders in the industry. IBM truly embodies the spirit of social employee culture, and it was an honor to be able to tell the brand’s story in our book.
Are you ready to join the @SocialEmployee revolution? Share your experiences with adopting social employees in the comments below!
