Companies who block Social Media are hurting potential business.

I have to wonder why some companies/agencies would ever consider shutting it’s social media doors by blocking it’s empolyees from socializing with the outside world?

Any good agency knows that in order to grow it’s business or brand it needs to stay connected to others on the outside, it brings us back to that social media bubble I spoke of in past entries (see google+ circles=bubbles?) by not allowing new ideas or interactions you’re just killing your brand slowly. Our society thrives on being social with sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and now Google+ why wouldn’t you want your employees to market your company’s brand? This reminds me of My good friend and co-founder of RobRobCreative Robert F. Peterson (@robertfpeterson) blogged this very subject in his blog It’s a (M)ad World. Robert writes in Employees, the best marketers he states “For a long time I have preached that your employees are the best marketers and marketing strategy you could invest in. When you love your job, which seems to be rare in most cases today, you love to brag about the company you work for and how great they treat you.”

Ah ha! therein lies the problem, most cool agencies or places you would love to work at don’t wouldn’t have a problem with their employees being connected to the outside world. A happy employee will boast about how cool or fun it is to work at X company just as long as they are appreciated and taken care of, that kind of employee is loyal and will work hard for you. So after mentioning that it makes you wonder what exactly is a company saying when they block employees from such sites? What does a agency like that have to hide? This kind of action speaks volumes about a place without any words. It can be perceived that management has a old way of thinking and is not innovative or up to speed on social, doesn’t trust it’s employees to speak about their experience at the company probably because they realize they don’t treat employees well and might be spoken of in a negative light. A negative culture is not a healthy place anyone would want to be. Employees should look forward to going to work and look forward to a new day of exciting possibilities.

As the other co-founder of RobRobCreative along with Robert we strongly feel that anyone who comes on board our team is given the right to enjoy themselves and have fun, in-fact we prefer that they do. Of course we work hard at concepting new ideas and innovations, it’s only fair and right for team members to enjoy themselves as well. Work hard play hard. Taking part in fun activities can sometimes lead to new ideas, you can never know where a brand new idea might emerge from or an innovation on an existing one.

FYI any new team members must learn this in it’s entirety prior to joining the team. This will give us the analytical insight we need to make an informed decision.
https://www.youtube.com/v/pQpTf2wuuno?version=3

Additionally social media is an extremely powerful tool that companies/brands should take advantage of. It can be used to connect with future customers or possible partnerships this can only help a company generate more business. But for this to happen the company must remain constantly social, customers are smart and can spot rubbish from far away. As a company looking to speak with consumers you must carefully inject yourself into their conversation, speak to them as a friend not someone looking to sell a product, be sincere. Consumers are more responsive to brands that get it.

Think!