OUR 101 Questions

I recently spoke to the CEO of a multi-million dollar company that was interested in having someone ‘do podcasting’ for his company. He told me how awesome it was going to be as the intern that he hired can also, and I quote “do the social media.” 

As a millennial I know a couple of things for sure.

1. Avocados belong on everything
2. My $45k degree in Japanese & Korean literature is useless
3. One does not ‘do the social media’
4. You should not punt your podcast.

It’s been very confusing to me to see successful men and women who run amazing business that they have either scaled or grown in ways that I truly admire. Yet at the same time, when it comes to some of the platforms that I have grown up with they often act like they are so foreign to advertise on or leverage that it’s a completely different world. In a generation of based on showing not telling and building a personal brand, I’m often surprised it’s so foreign to thier business astronauts. 

The question that rings the truest to me is after building formidable brands, spending thousands if not millions on PR, advertising, and, would you punt the image of your company to a 19-year-old kid with a 2.4 GPA in Engineering, and may or may not have eaten a tide pod? 

After painstakingly working to display your brand in the light and positioning it your company’s image and its future to be represented by someone who has never grown a business, build a brand, or even made it to class on time? 

Now, I’m not condemning my generation nor the ones before it. I stand on the shoulders of giants. Most if not all of my mentors are Men, X’ers, and/or Boomers. My business idols are 30+ years older than me. Moreover, many people that I talk to on a daily basis in that generation totally get it, which is why we work with some world-renowned brands. 

I think the mix up here happens because of a simple break-in understanding. Often we confuse the perceived consumers of a product to be the expert. We think if someone is on their phone all day long listening to podcasts, swiping left and right on Tinder, and using Instagram every 5 minutes, that they are natives to the platform. And to be fair, they often are native to the platforms. Native consumers. Many seasoned businessmen/women reach a false equivalency assuming that the top adopters of these platforms mean that they can also produce the content that is most worthy of returned consumption. One only has to look at a Soundcloud to recognize that not everyone can be a rapper.

If it was purely consumption of a medium that equated to performance why isn’t every business level also a Pro Golfer and MBA Player? Heck, I’d be a be a Kung-fu master with all the movies I’ve seen.

Jokes aside, social media and particularly podcasts should be seen as an important facet or any company’s sales or PR strategy. Podcasts are one of the best ways to educate and sell to an audience because it attracts early adopters, higher incomes, and educated listeners. Missing out on this opportunity can be just as bad as doing it wrong. You’ve taken the time to make your company something you can be proud of, why only do your podcast halfway?