Human League “Human” Cover

As a child of the 80s, my taste in music involves a little more synth and big hair. There’s no situation on earth that can’t be addressed in either an 80s song, or an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I know there’s a Buffy/social media post in me, I just haven’t found it yet.

Back to the 80’s reference, though. I’m reminded of a song by Human League called “We’re Only Human”.

Aren’t we all only human? “Of flesh and blood” we’re made? I don’t care if you’re a car salesman, a developer, a marketer or a project manager. We’re all human. We all have the same basic needs and wants.

Companies sometimes forget this. What is a company, if not a group of humans? Even the dictionary defines it as “a business enterprise, a group of humans.”

So when you’re posting on social media sites on behalf of a company, it’s important to remember that a company is run by humans, and promoting itself to humans. So it’s important to humanize your company on social media.

Take Twitter, for instance. You can start with an avatar on Twitter. Why not show a face along with a corporate logo? Or, use the background to post pictures of the folks that Tweet on behalf of the company. Sign each Tweet with a signature, so followers know who they’re talking to if there is more that one person posting.

Ask questions. Make conversation. We all have a basic human need to connect. We do not have a basic human need to have impersonal marketing messages shoved into our timelines or news feeds at every opportunity. Then, your social media becomes noise, and people tend to tune out noise over time.

Don’t use bots. Automatic follow-backs mean that no actual person is looking at the follower list to see who is interested in their page. Automatic messages when someone follows your Twitter account have the same coldness, the same impersonal feeling. Do you want someone to ignore you with an autobot?

Be authentic. It’s important to answer questions honestly. If someone asks you a question you can’t answer, tell them you can’t answer and why. Or, say “I don’t know, but I’m working on it.”

Being human goes a long way to social media success over time.