Henry Posner on Social Media: Integrity Counts
Henry Posner, one of the nation’s most respected voices in corporate online social media, is a no-nonsense kind of guy, and he has a no-nonsense definition of social media: “A one-to-one conversation in a roomful of people where all of them are listening.”
B&H's Henry Posner (Credit: ©2011 Chris Gampat for B&H Foto & Electronics Corp)
“I am always mindful of the audience, and that is the key to doing this whole social media thing,” he says.
Posner is one of several highly skilled people at B&H Photo/Video in New York assigned to online social media. He admits to being on Twitter, “pretty much all the time.”
While others at B&H may Tweet about new products, specials and marketing, Posner (@BandHPhoto) takes a wider angle, reporting relevant news items he’s read and wants to share.
Posner is neither a newcomer to the photo business nor to the online world. He joined B&H 15 years ago after a career as a professional photographer. He knows the retail photo environment, has extensive contacts in the field and was active on photo forums online long before what’s commonly become known as social media.
If you are going to be responsible for your company’s brand reputation in the fast-moving online environment, here’s what Posner advises:
- Always be mindful of the audience. “That’s the key to doing this whole social media well.”
- Online is an environment where you must have a level of maturity … business level maturity … and a business head.
- To get into social media, it’s good to have a sense of what you want to accomplish, be prudent, pay attention and learn. Develop relationships with those who are interested in what you have to share.
- Integrity counts a lot. “We want good relations. We want to be decent human beings. We want people to feel we are trustworthy.”
- Aspire to be honest, forthright and above board. There is no future in behaving badly or cheating.
- You must be polite, courteous and respectful. You must be direct, focused and factual. That means apologizing when we screw up and explaining when we did not make a mistake.
Through activity on Twitter, Facebook and numerous blogs, Posner says, “We show customers we’re not a faceless ‘box house,’ simply taking orders blindly and shipping thoughtlessly. We demonstrated that our employees are passionate photographers and that many come to B&H Photo with years of professional experience. So their advice to customers is more valuable. We’re able to help customers when problems are small and repair errors before molehills turn into mountains.
“Above all, we’ve shown customers that we care, that we’re committed to their satisfaction, and that we’re here for the long run.”
Related posts:
- Is Social Media a Mile Wide, Inch Deep?
- How to Bring Focus to Online Social Media
- Five Steps to Organic Social Media in 2011
- Why Social Media Fails for Many Companies and Organizations
- How to Learn Social Media – First Steps
Category: Featured, Reputation management
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Henry does it right. He is helpful, doesn’t push, and is always enthusiastic.
David & David:
Thank you both. Very gratifying and very flattering.
–
Henry Posner
B&H Photo-Video
You are a humble leader and much appreciated among us.
As a relative newcomer to both photography and social media, I can only echo the above sentiments about Henry.
He has inspired and supported me in so many ways, for which I am truly grateful.
It is amazing how when you boil it down, and cut out the professional jargon always bandied about. it is the simple, honest, straight forward approach that works no matter the business, profession or trade you practice:
“Above all, we’ve shown customers that we care, that we’re committed to their satisfaction, and that we’re here for the long run.”
Henry is the best of the best. He is a straight-shooter.
This awesome! The insight Henry provides to the world of Social Media is outstanding. I particularly liked the idea of maintaining and developing relationship vis-a-vis the online world. This is key for anyone who wants to get involved in the Social Media world fully. A lot of the time, we get bogged down by gaining followers etc, but hardly take time to actually maintain these relationships. This is really a key idea which a lot of the time we don’t realize until much later.
Fabulous stuff here!