Good social should be like Dave Grohl

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For those if you who’ve been living under a very large rock and don’t know who Dave Grohl is, he was the drummer of this little band called Nirvana and is now the lead singer/guitarist of the Foo Fighters. The Foos are arguably the biggest rock band in the world. One of the reasons people love the Foos is Dave Grohl, the human being. He does things that make you feel like he’s a good friend. Thing that you wish you could do. I’m

not talking about playing legions of fans night after night or hanging out with the famous. I’m talking about the things listed below and companies would do well to consider these things when they utilize social media.Be a fan – The picture above shows Dave Grohl at a Soundgarden concert. Dave’s a fan! Your company should be a fan of other companies and consumers. If you see something you like – even if the competition created it – you should appreciate it. Appreciate it in a way that people can see. (Don’t worry. You’re customers know who your competition is.)

Embrace other fans – In 2006, a mine in Beaconsfield Tasmania collapsed and the two miners who were trapped in the mine requested music by Foo Fighters (and others). When Dave heard about them, he sent them a note that read in part “Though I’m halfway around the world right now, my heart is with you both, and I want you to know that when you come home, there’s two tickets to any Foos show, anywhere, and two cold beers waiting for yous. Deal?” If you have real fans, don’t simply embrace them. Do something amazing for them! They’re hard to come by.

Don’t be a one trick pony. Branch out and try new things! Dave not only played every instrument on the first Foo Fighters album, he gone on to do many different things. His latest endeavor was Sonic Highways an 8 episode/8 cities documentary highlighting his musical influences throughout the creation of the Foos latest album. I don’t even think of myself as a hardcore fan and it was amazing storytelling! His foray in film started with Sound City, which was also amazing. Your company is probably good at more than one thing. Start a creative R&D team. You’d be shocked at how many employees volunteer their time.

Transparency - He’s a dad and isn’t afraid to share that side of his life. Depending on your business model and your corporate culture, you should share the internal workings of your business. (No. Not IP.) People want to know who they’re giving their money to.

Have a sense of humor – Unless you’re in the business curing cancer, you’re not curing cancer. So why so serious. The Foos early videos are hilarious and they have no problem laughing at themselves. Most recently he told the Kasier Chiefs they were a bunch of amateurs as apart of a funny skit. Taco Bell on Twitter is my favorite example of this. It’s important to remember that you should not do this if you aren’t funny. (Sorry Tim.)

Embrace strategic partnerships – Dave Grohl has played with some amazing people. He’s played drums with Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures. This was all done while he was in the Foo Fighters. Don’t be afraid to be creative with your partnerships. I’d love to see LEGO and Apple do something.You’ll notice that I didn’t mention social media in any of the recommendations above. But rest assured, these items will give you things to share/talk about with your customers. Create interesting conversations!

By Michael Myers