I was recently told by a peer that as a corporate social media manager, they did not have the time to also manage their own personal social media accounts or develop a personal brand.
So, like any great #Overthinker and #Marketer, I stewed over the pros and cons of such an initiative, weighing my own experiences as to why someone may think this is the case.
If you had sat down with me in a cafe over coffee and scones three or four years ago, you would have heard my resounding agreement that if you are the exclusive manager of an organization’s social media channels you most likely will not have time left in the day to create content, manage, and engage with your own.
However, if you sit down with me today, I will tell you that even if it feels impossible, you should definitely be creating your own unique content, sharing your thoughts and experiences online with the community, and experimenting with various social media strategies utilizing your own personal accounts.
Now let me tell you why…
When engaging on social media under the veil of a brand you are constrained to that brand’s requirements. Whether it be the style of your creative, your message, or even legal restrictions you are limited in your ability to showcase creativity and experiment. Utilizing your own personal accounts will give you unlimited time in the sandbox and the ability to test will allow you to present your organization with hard evidence as to whether or not something can work (at least for you.)
As I’ve mentioned previously, we also see in larger organizations with more moving pieces that people can live in a state of constant emergency, things get rushed, and things get overlooked. There is a reason why marketers often refer to themselves as firefighters🧑🚒. Having your own social media accounts will allow you to slow your pace, and think very critically about what you are making, and what impact it will have.
I would even argue (most controversially) that a marketer does not truly understand how to build social media content and manage it UNTIL they have done the work for their own personal brand. When you have less skin in the game, your level of effort and attentiveness is often lower, and when your publications are a reflection of yourself and not just the company you can hide behind, your thought process is completely different.
So for this particular conundrum, we will have to declare the argument FALSE…
At its worst, developing your own personal brand and thought leadership utilizing social media will give you a leg to stand on next to competition in the corporate space. At its best, it is a huge opportunity for you to gain invaluable experience in managing social media channels, and future independence that you can harness and direct toward your own initiatives. So get out there and create!
Signing off for the day – until next time.
-Claudia Lopez
Claudia Cherrington Lopez 