My colleague Jenna and I had a great catch-up call with one of our favourite clients last week - a top 100 accountancy firm. We asked them what does success look like and what do they want to get out of using our platform. 

The first thing was, of course, engagement from the users but more importantly than that, they wanted their users to just show a bit of personality. Their clients know that they are technically very proficient - just like all of their competitors - but they don't know that they're all actually normal people who enjoy the football, shamelessly watch Love Island and are fun to spend time with. 

I was then reminded of this short video from Kimberley Brind, former Senior Director of Marketing at Oracle who, way back in 2013, talks about the real ROI of engaging with people on social media.

She describes it in a way which I haven't heard before, citing the "self-selection process" in social that makes it extremely powerful. People decide who they want to hear from, when they want to hear it and crucially, how best to respond. There is a certain level of control associated with 'being social' and that is what makes the interactions very authentic. You are being you. 

The real ROI is then achieved by encouraging people to interact in an authentic manner with their own target audience. So, the role of the Marketing & BD team is not to strong-arm their employees into repetitively sharing content to LinkedIn but instead, to empower their employees to engage with their network in a way which they find comfortable. 

Whilst many might feel that this is a chore and another task to perform, it's actually a massive opportunity because those who create the best brand online are actually the ones who are most likely to be successful, the most likely to be engaged with. 

Don't solely talk about the next big piece of family business law or how Brexit is going to affect your business. That's a tad dull. Talk about what makes you tick and open yourself up a bit. This is what people want to see and how you will start to form genuine, tangible connections with your network.