The New World of It's Communication, Not Marketing

Several thoughts on the world of social media in the context of engineering consulting:

• The world has changed from third person narratives that are pushed out in the form of press releases - people want a human touch.
• Heard in the bathroom - - "We're not right for social media, we're boring, no one's going to like us."  I think the opposite.  Social media and communications, even for engineers, can be informative, professional, and fun.
• How many Twitter followers does your CEO or senior management have?
• Think in terms of social media on four levels - communications, client service, sales, and internal usage.
• The primary goal in all of this - get closer to your customers.
• Its about engaging, not pushing.  
• Don't manufacture stories from the inside but just tell the stories of who you are.  If you have trouble with this, you probably need to ask the who we are or who we aren't questions again.
• Will they find this interesting?  Think like a journalist - will my clients find this interesting?
• Social media has many different platforms.  Different platforms require different strategies.  Different types of people and clients will be on different platforms.
• Twitter is about sharing your news and influencing clients, stakeholders, and the industry.
• LinkedIn might be the key platform that your clients follow you on - you need to find this out.
• Instagram could work as your fun app.
• Vimeo and YouTube - a great video can speak volumes to the technical abilities of a firm.
• ROI metrics are important and difficult to measure.  How do you measure client engagement and sharing?  In many respects social media is a cultural journey - especially for engineers.  A journey away from protecting knowledge to one of sharing and thought leadership.  The entire consulting ecosystem hopefully moves from "I" to more of a "We".