What works for this dysfunctional industry will turn into a full-on disaster for your organization’s brand and your reputation.
I just had one of the most interesting conversations with a fellow business consultant. He’s a guy who’s essentially a CEO coach and a pretty good one up in the Bay Area.
He was talking with one of his clients who was basically leveraging his newfound success and social media prowess to really promote a certain political viewpoint. And in doing so, he’s essentially lost about 25% of his business. But here’s the most interesting part.
The fact is that this guy thinks in doing so he’s actually solidifying a core base that will see him through any economic downturn. And I thought to myself, “Oh no! He’s following the tried and true path of politicians and campaign!”
The problem is it really sucks for business because you’re not trying to reduce the number of people who are getting involved and essentially participating. In fact, that’ll run you right into bankruptcy. In business, you’ve got to expand your market share. You have to endear yourself to a broader audience. And particularly in times of crisis, you have to assuage the concerns of all of your constituents, employees, customers, investors, partners, and people who aren’t necessarily your clients yet by showing them empathy and action.
So here’s the bottom line, if you’re a business owner and you think the political campaign style works well for you, and you should take that up in your social media and digital marketing strategies. I advise you to get out of your business and start campaigning for an elected office because that’s the only environment that’s gonna work.
