MightyRecruiterSocial Media Wisdom from the Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band from 1965 until 1995. This band did things differently than a lot of their peers of the time. Rather than dressing up in garish costumes and sparkly makeup, they dressed down in jeans and a t-shirt. While social media wasn’t exactly a part of their time, you can still get a lot of social media wisdom from the Grateful Dead.
A lot of businesses today try to cover up their mistakes. They make their employees keep a professional distance on social media. These actions may seem professionally smart, but if you take your cues from the Grateful Dead, you’ll do things a little differently.
Be Transparent
Throughout their 30 years as a band, the Grateful Dead never pretended to be anything that they weren’t. Their shows weren’t this huge staged event. They were just some guys on stage playing their music for a crowd. If they messed up a song, they messed up. It was as simple as that. They didn’t try to hide their mistakes.
Before the time of social media, the band was trying to connect to their fans through a newsletter. In the publishing, the band was forthcoming about their inability to be as connected to their fans as they would like to be. They were straightforward about being unable to meet goals they had previously set for themselves.
How can this frankness and transparency translate to your company This social media wisdom from the Grateful Dead says you shouldn’t try to hide your mistakes. You don’t have to be perfect. If your company makes little figurines, but one batch of the statuettes has a faulty design that leads to the product being highly fragile and likely to break, you may feel like you should cover it up. You can sell the figurines and just hope for the best.
However, many consumers today prefer transparency over cover ups. Make an announcement that figurines purchased between certain dates may be faulty and can be replaced. Let your customers and clients know about your mistakes, and you’ll find that the marketplace can be really forgiving. Try to cover up your mistakes, and you’ll run into some problems.
Be Yourself
The band was a part of the counterculture movement, which embraced alternative lifestyles and experimentation. They wanted to be able to make their music the way they wanted to. They wanted to be able to be themselves and still be successful. That’s why they didn’t fall into the trends of choreographing their shows and dressing to the nines.
How can this social media wisdom from the Grateful Dead translate to businesses How can a business be true to itself You can start with letting your employees be themselves. Many companies, as mentioned before, keep their employee’s on a short leash when it comes to social media. There are rules in place that keep them from mentioning the company at all. However, if you trust your employees to be themselves on social media, you will see a lot of benefits.
As employees gather followings, your company will get free publicity. If you’re really worried about blunders, you can teach your employees some common social media etiquette. Give them a few guidelines, but otherwise let them take the reins.
As a company, you should try to have your own voice too. Many businesses out there are so worried about sounding professional, they end up sounding too corporate. But according to social media wisdom from the Grateful Dead, you should let the culture of your company shine through. Are you family-oriented or bit quirky Make your press releases showcase your company. This is a good practice because you may become more endearing to customers.
Find Your Own Drumbeat
One of the biggest lessons you’re going to learn from the Grateful Dead is that you should find what works for you and then do it. As you promote your company on social media, it’s not all about being perfect or putting out the same posts as your competitors. You don’t have to share photos of your company picnics or send out perfectly worded press releases. You have to find the path that works for your business, and follow it.
As you start marketing your company on social media, you have to find the right strategies. You can gain a lot of social media wisdom from the Grateful Dead and in other unlikely places. You just have to look. If you need more help with social media marketing, finding new employees or making your business better, there are a lot of tools available to you. Be sure to check out other business-building resources available on Mighty Recruiter.