I was in a meeting recently when a marketing professional was discussing her struggle with some aspects of social media marketing because it just didn't feel like it fit into any existing business paradigm she could identify. She was noting that good social media marketing for businesses is casual, personal, and doesn't seem to really attempt a hard sell. On the other hand, there are cases of people getting a little too personal in social media that it's had professional ramifications for them and their company. She rightly discerned that really good social media marketing that connects with the right people is somewhere in the middle of that but it was hard for her to reconcile what the middle feels like with her traditional marketing mindset.
The answer? Get prosonal.
Getting prosonal is the middle. It's professional and personal. It's prosonal.
It's blurring the lines because business is done by people and people connect with people they feel like they know. It's not getting too personal in professional settings, but it's enough to connect with the people you're hoping to reach.
Getting prosonal is not new. It's been around as long as there's been business.
The town butcher knew how to get prosonal.
The waitress at the diner knew how to get prosonal.
Your favorite teacher in school knew how to get prosonal.
Your favorite restaurant knows how to get prosonal.
The voice of social media for business is prosonal. If you're too professional you are a self-serving, spammy, it's-all-about-my-product kind of a marketer.
If you're too personal then you're a distracting, too-much-information, too-much-drama, too-much-you kind of a marketer.
The middle is easy to find. Just be a real person. Real people have many roles in life. People understand that. A CEO may be a father, brother, son, husband, hobbyist, sports fan, and friend. That's a lot of prosonal-worthy material.
The bottom line: When in doubt in social media for your business, get prosonal.