I was reading the latest issue of the Communication World magazine issued by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and I was struck by the following paragraph of an article* talking about how companies can rediscover their human side by embracing social media:
"Take a quick look at the content your company puts out. Would you send it to your closest friends? Would you use those words in a social situation to describe what you do? Chances are that you wouldn't. So how can you expect your champions, those who make positive recommendations about you company, to use your materials to strengthen their case when they buzz about you? Chances are they won't."
Indeed, looking around at especially how large corporations communicate, chances are you won't quote their materials when talking about them. Never. So here's a great opportunity for everyone to reconsider the way they communicate through their "corporate" materials. Especially now that many companies have started seeing their Facebook pages more trafficked that their own corporate websites, it's time to admit people prefer to be talked to as if they were your friends, rather than some unknown customers (to be read as strangers).
*"The return of the hyper-social organization" by Francois Gossieaux and Ed Moran
