What side were you on?

I am, now, extremely glad I spoke to some of my clients and drafted up some responses for their social media sites either side of EU Referendum debate before the country went to the polls. It was very painful writing up the positive responses for the outcome I was going to vote against, but in these divided, unsure times people and customers need certainty and positivity and that is what we gave them.
 
It might be seen as a bit of a spin, but it’s really just social media management. There will be a decision, everyone’s future is invested in that decision, so you should be seen, as a company, as relevant and well-informed and invested in making your company and your clients as successful as possible.
 
It was a busy morning, double checking approvals and getting the responses out there, as well as checking feeds for any useful information and analysis to react against. But it was worth it. I, for one, feel like I have done something for my clients that they might not have thought about for themselves and also given them a more careful, neutral, thought-out position to start with.
 
What if they have been shouting the benefits of Brexit and the decision was to stay? What if they had been derogatory or critical about leaving the EU when we could all find out in a few months, years, decades that actually everything turned out fine (fingers crossed on this one). I’ve worked with lots of small businesses during my career, both as an employee and a supplier, and I know that there are some big personalities involved in starting and running your own business successfully. Sometimes these big personalities need to be reined in to ensure that customers aren’t offended either by the opinion itself, or the companies attitude to broadcasting it.
 
It is really unfortunate that I can’t share the best of these stories about small businesses, as some of the situations with big personalities, or family run businesses, or office politics have been hysterical, but I really like what I do and I really want to keep doing it!
 
Personally, I’ve been doing my own bit of management too. Although Brexit was not the outcome I wanted, more hate and division is not going to help any one. So, while I have been doing a bit of moaning I’m going to stop doing that now and push on with the changes I want to help make happen so we can all grow and develop in a better, more caring, more inclusive and lovely world. More on that in my next post!
 
If the EU Referendum debate and outcome has given you some worries about how your company presents itself in social media and your marketing, please contact me for a bit more information about what I do and how I can help.