But an overly hierarchical culture gets in the way of content creativity—especially when it comes to social media. It feeds into the myth that only those with ‘senior’ or ‘executive’ in front of their titles have ideas worth listening to and those at the bottom have less experience, wisdom and creativity. In actuality, when executives only solicit ideas from their peers, it holds brands back from reaching their true potential. The beauty of creative marketing ideas is they can come from anyone, whether that’s your art director who’s been around for years or the fresh-faced intern who is fluent in TikTok lexicon. The problem for many brands, however, is their own hierarchy gets in the way of bringing those creative ideas to life. — sheeta boo-rma 👻 (@sheetaverma) November 30, 2020 It should never be above or below your pay grade to collaborate. — Tara Robertson (@taraerobertson) December 29, 2020
Hear me out…
If brands are serious about being creative on social media, they need to ditch the hierarchical mentality. More importantly, they need to create space for every employee to propose ideas without fear of being shot down by the HIPPO in the room. — cruella dawson (@brosandprose) June 18, 2020 For managers overseeing a social team, trust your direct reports when it comes to being creative on social media. Get to know your social team, ask questions about their responsibilities and be vulnerable when you simply don’t know something. Have a social media style guide in place to ensure everyone is aligned on brand goals and values before ideas are executed. Above all, don’t immediately dismiss any idea because it comes from someone with less experience than yourself. Equally important is ensuring your organization’s culture is psychologically safe for anyone—be it a new hire, a tenured veteran or intern—to speak up. As a leader, be a model for your direct reports by leading with authenticity and vulnerability, and let your junior marketers know it’s okay to make mistakes. By empowering your junior marketers to communicate their work to leadership, you create a culture of recognition that affirms the best ideas can truly come from all levels of the organization. Because when we remove hierarchy from the ideation process, it can lead to social content like the Chipotle Lid Flip challenge that drew over 111,000 video submissions in its first six days. Or the Marlins Tweet based on a timely and popular internet meme that garnered over 15,000 Likes. Organizational hierarchies are great for providing structure in any business. But I’m willing to wager that those sitting at the top of your organization’s hierarchy aren’t the ones thinking up the next “How it started… How it’s going” meme. — Miami Marlins (@Marlins) October 8, 2020 How are you advocating for your teams within your own organization? We want to hear from you! Tweet at us @SproutSocial with how you’re creating a culture where ideas can flow freely from all levels of your organization. How it started How it’s going pic.twitter.com/upkWu42iEK — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 29, 2020
