As my Pinterest bio reads, I’m a midwesterner by birth and a southerner by choice. Technically the midwesterner part could be debated since my hometown in Southern Illinois is close enough to Kentucky that I think it is technically south of the Mason-Dixon Line. But, if that does not qualify me as a southerner, surely the fact that with the exception of short assignment at a PR agency in New York, I’ve spent the past 19 years living in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina does.
That, coupled with being married to a southern gentleman and raising a son in Raleigh, NC, has recently resulted in my heightened awareness (and embracing) of my southern-ness. As I watched friends from all over North America collaborate, socialize and talk at length about social media last week at PRSA’s Counselors Academy Conference, I realized there’s much to be learned about social media from southerner charm. Not following me? Well let me pour you a glass of sweat tea while you keep reading!
- Use your manners. My son has never walked out the door to go to a friend’s house without me reminding him to mind his manners. It’s no surprise that his regular use of “yes ma’am” has won the praise of all the other moms. Saying please and thank you in your social media conversations will go a long way in earning respect. “Please like my agency’s Facebook page.” “Thank you for commenting on my blog.” Give it a try! Please. 🙂
- Remember, salt and pepper are a pair. Having breakfast at the New Orleans Ritz, the host hotel of the conference, Abbie Fink asked Chuck Norman to pass the salt. Chuck passed the salt AND the pepper. This was something I learned when I moved further south, and Chuck said he was taught as a child in etiquette class that the two are married and should be passed together. If you blog on behalf of your brand, think of it as salt and pepper. Your brand has it’s attributes, messages and maybe even personality. You have your personality, interests and opinions. Yet it is important for the two of you to move about the dining table of social media as a set. Continue reading “Social Media Tips from a Southerner”