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Middle managers and subject matter experts are valuable as influencers on social media. This employee category often has high internal credibility but is underrepresented as influencers in professional social media.

Why it matters: Expanding the influencing roles from internal and face-to-face-centric to external and digital is an essential objective for any business with growth ambitions. 

What is new: The motivators, in the form of carrots and sticks, are larger and harder to avoid than in the past for employees and employers.

✳️ In the past, you could be successful as a subject matter expert or middle manager without a professional social media presence—an approach working well in a world dominated by face-to-face interactions and extensive travel. 

↩️ You can argue that the development during the last three years has created a significant shift characterized by the following: 

• an acceleration of the digital transformation of how we influence customers and ecosystem partners by 5-10 years.
• digital credentials 🪪 are growing in importance and are easy for anyone to scan online. 
• requirements on speakers changing from great speakers on stage in a theatrical format to becoming great in front of a camera for cinematic deliveries

The influencing landscape we are and will operate in is a complex hybrid where our ability as individuals to influence social media is vital. 

Headwinds to overcome: Common reasons why subject matter experts and middle managers have avoided professional social media are: 

• a general lack of interest in social media 
• a limited desire or ability to invest the time it takes
• an expectation about financial compensation for promoting company content on personal social media accounts 
• lack of writing skills and confidence, and perceiving you have to be an active writer on professional social media. 

Expect all these to remain in play, but carrots and sticks are more critical in unlocking these valuable employees’ motivation. 

Carrots🥕 to leverage: If you have been passive or consider yourself at the beginning of the journey, you can start small by recognizing:

• Your brand relies on four pillars; you can check out where you start from here. 
• All can be active listeners. Some dare to comment; a few put out original ideas. Start by becoming a great listener. 
• Plan for a daily coffee cup routine for your professional social media—an atomic habit of high value. 
• Establishing a solid professional personal brand and social media presence can be easy. Start by copying someone who does it well and ask for advice if you need help. 

Sticks 🏒 in play: By avoiding social media for professional purposes altogether, you have to deal with the following uphills: 

• All external interactions start with other professionals scouting your LinkedIn profile. Here is where you make a first poor impression without a proper LinkedIn profile. 
• With a poor digital network, your market value to your employer and colleagues is lower compared to digitally savvy peers.
• Travel budgets for business travel are on a downward trajectory for internal and external travel. 
• By being passive on LinkedIn, you send signals you don’t take yourself seriously. 

How to advance from here: Businesses can firm up their programs for externally facing roles and include a professional social media component. Middle managers and subject matter experts can choose between resisting further or taking the challenge and doing it in a way that suits them best. 

Additional reading suggestions: 

• Strengthen your professional presence on social media [ARTICLE] – Michelle Gibings in Harvard Business Review 
• Maintaining a professional social media presence [BLOGPOST] – by SpeakEasy Inc
• Quick and easy way to maintain an active LinkedIn presence [BLOGPOST] – The Alternative Board 
• How to see who’s watched your LinkedIn profile – and why it matters in 2023 [BLOGPOST] – by Joel Mason at The English Meeting room 

Bottom line: All employees will not be on social media, but any business benefits from leveraging middle managers and subject matter experts as digital ambassadors.