Just last week, I was lucky enough to attend a ‘Behavioural Profiling‘ session with Adelaide HR Consultants Harrison McMillan, through Brand South Australia, as a part of their excellent Professional Development & Training Series.
What is DISC Profiling?
DISC is a behaviour assessment tool based on the DISC theory of psychologist William Moulton Marston (who also happened to invent the systolic blood pressure test, and the Wonder Woman character – go figure!). DISC centres on 4 different behavioural traits, each starting with the letters from DISC as seen below in our diagram:
In order to find out which behavioural trait is the strongest in an individual, they undertake a behavioural assessment tool. There are many different versions of this tool available, and last week for the purpose of the workshop we undertook a Simple DISC Style Indicator with Harrison McMillan to gain an indication of our style.
For the record, I’m a very high “I” – I love to talk, I’m a very social being, and I’m all about building relationships! But I also came back with a high score for D, and a little bit of S too.
Why is DISC Profiling helpful?
DISC Profiling can be used in a business-sense for a number of reasons, including HR, Senior Management, Sales & Marketing:
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- to screen potential employees to see whether their behavioural style will fit with the requirements of the job
- to learn how to communicate better with different types of people, while understanding their natural tendencies
- to effectively manage staff by understanding what motivates them and what style of leadership they respond best to
- to recognise and adapt to your customer’s buying style
How can we use DISC Profiling in the world of Social Media?
If the DISC Profiles were social media channels, which ones would they be?
We figure that the D-type personality would be Twitter – 140 characters, short, to the point, direct, assertive and fast-paced.
The I-type personality would be Instagram – all about the pretty things, getting lots of likes, being social, and sharing aspirational images.
The S-type personality would be Facebook – they’re all about creating and nurturing a community.
But the C-type, well this is the tricky one! They’re all about compliance, task, accuracy, analysing data…. we figured social media isn’t really for them, and that Google Analytics is the most appropriate online tool for them because it’s all about numbers!
How do we talk to all the DISC personality types in one social media post?
Let’s say we’re doing one social media post, but we need to engage with all of the different personality types. Tricky, right? Let’s try to break it down:
The D will want it to be short, sharp and shiny – so the text above our link needs to be concise and explanatory about the WHY for them.
The I will like the picture, and the fact that the text references how other Australian people and businesses are using social media.
The S will like the fact that they can click on the link to read through all of the information at their own pace, and then also that they’re being encouraged to comment below – interacting and engaging with a community online.
The C will love that this is numbers-based and that they can click through for all of the information for their own analytical purposes.
Convincing others of the value of social media
If you’re responsible for marketing your brand, product or service and you’d like to use social media, but you’re receiving some internal push-back, here are my tips for convincing others in your organisation based on their personality types:
D – Dominance
Explain to the D how social media will help their bottom line, detailing a few social media stats to logically back up your reasoning. Be concise and to the point, and explain things verbally as they prefer this over written communication. Don’t make generalisations and explain the highly detailed level of reporting you can through social media platforms combined with Google Analytics get to demonstrate ROI.
I – Influencer
It’s unlikely that an I will push back on the use of social media! However, if they do, take them out for coffee, tell them all the latest tips and tricks for social media, and give them a case study or a testimonial from someone else in a similar field – provide social proof to them that this will work. You should even be able to tap your I on the shoulder and get help creating social media content as they are excellent for this.
S – Steady
The S will need time to think, so present your ideas in a personable way, clearly define the goals of the social media activity, and their personal role in the overall plan or how it will positively affect them. Explain how social media is about building and nurturing an online community. Then let them process this information in their time!
C – Compliance
Be prepared for this conversation, and have solid statistics to back up your reasoning. Clearly outline the plan for social media (ideally in writing!), including risk mitigation and your escalation protocols in the unlikely instance that something negative occurs (i.e. bad comments or reviews on the Facebook page, a rogue employee hacking the company account, and so on). Tell them all about how measurable social media activity is through the detailed reporting you can get through Facebook Insights, LinkedIn Ads Manager, Google Analytics, and so on.
So there you have it, the DISC Personality Types using Social Media – how you can communicate with the different personality types most effectively through your posts, and also how to convince different personality types of the value of social media within an organisation. If you need any help with your social media strategy, just get in touch – I love to chat!
