Why transparency matters in B2B social media management

Beginning as a way for people to stay connected, Social Media has become one of the most mighty vehicles to drive relationships with transparency fueling all aspects of B2B social media management.

In our sixth episode of “The Globalization of Social Media,” Colin Day, Managing Director EMEA of Oktopost hosts Chris Redmond, Founder of Redholt, an executive search agency and self-proclaimed digital nomad. In perhaps the most inspiring episode of the series, the conversation becomes an essential primer on the broader challenges of  managing social media.

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Social media is both disarming and powerful. Never before has there been a channel that people can market anything (themselves, their market or their brand) that has such authenticity. With B2B brands focusing on empathy-based marketing during these uncertain times, it makes sense.

However, social moves fast. To stay ahead of the curve, your B2B social media management strategy must have a consistently good sense of self-identity. So how can you ensure that the content you distribute across social media is resonating with the receiver? Chris Redmond suggests staying transparent, crisp, and open is a strong start.

A few take-aways from Chris Redmond:

Have a spine of purpose

Where B2B companies once lacked awareness and information, the exact opposite holds true in today’s information age. Brands today find their audiences on information overload, making it difficult to stand out above the noise. Social media has also greatly contributed to inundating people with both helpful and meaningless messaging.

Content is key to helping your brand voice be heard. It must add value, be transparent, and be meaningful. Building themes or campaigns is a great way to keep your content mature and credible.

In addition, when you sort your social media content by themes, you will be able to fall into a rhythm and this is important. As Chris Redmond shared,

“Many companies are aiming to be taken seriously, but unfortunately they miss the boat on putting out the right type of content, at the right time and in return, the right message is not getting in front of the people who hold the budget.”

By building themes, brands are able to give B2B social media management a spine of purpose by staying focused.

Get everyone on the same page

As working from home has become mandatory over privilege, many companies that never had a work-from-home policy before have been forced to create one against their instincts. Fortunately, for companies that had teams spread globally prior to the pandemic, like Oktopost, managers have been built with a trust default.

However, for brands needing insight into leading remote teams, social media can play a significant role in building trust. However, managers must first drop the erosion of trust, or as Chris Redmond put it,

“An inbred paranoia. If I can’t see my people, what are they doing?”

By giving team members access to social accounts, for example, new voices can be heard. Employee Advocacy is another powerful way to bring a new perspective. An advocacy program gives employees the opportunity to have direct access to content safely and securely. It also naturally allows them to tailor the message to their own voice, making them into trusted industry thought leaders.

Always wrap-up with openness

No matter where people are or how they connect, wrapping up with openness in a B2B social media management strategy leaves room to be human. Videos are a fantastic way to ‘stay open’ across social channels. They are authentic and transparent and provide a human-to-human element. Chris Redmond ends with,

“People are people and time is time. All of us eat ,drink and sleep. All of these things make us human. They normalize us. They connect us. We only get 24 hours in a day and we all need to decide how we are going to choose to spend those coins.”

Whether you are creating video content, blog content, or email content, taking the time to add ‘please feel free to contact me’ or words like “mutually convenient” demonstrate to your audience that you are human and open to further conversations.