Brands Have Nothing To Say on Social Media

Someone at SXSW tech conference said on Twitter "Brands spent the last couple of years building up followers, but they don’t really know what to say to them".

Brands can't say anything to anybody because brands are figments of marketing imagination. The only real "brand" is the perception that is burned into the customer's mind as they use a product to satisfy a need. Slogans and commercials can't counteract what the user experiences.

However, CEOs, business owners, and managers can say something to their followers on social networks. They can share their expertise, provide product selection advice, disseminate industry news, answer customer questions, handle customer problems and complaints, interact with people, tell jokes, post anecdotes, engage with community members in a warm, genuine manner.

If a business person doesn't get that social media is about socializing, being kind and interested in others, putting a real human face on a company, then they should get the hell off of social media and go back to their boss cave or ivory tower, perpetuating the stereotype that capitalists and business leaders are aloof, uncaring, greedy, and exploiting.

Be smart. Use social media to prove your company is altruistic, non-manipulative, honest, helpful, and sincere. That's what the whole social media revolution is all about. Sharing and caring: the core values of social media.

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