S4E6: Scott Monty, @ScottMonty (#49)

Storytelling with Social Media Marketing Expert Scott Monty

He’s a keynote speaker, advisor and strategy consultant; husband, dad, voice over artist, golfer and man about town. He’s a natural storyteller, as well as one professionally. Scott Monty is a corporate executive steeped in digital.

Scott was ranked by The Economist as number one atop the list 25 Social Business Leaders and by Forbes as one of the top 10 influencers in social media. Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford Motor Company, called him "a visionary."

Scott ran Ford’s social media and digital communications from 2008 until 2014. During his leadership, Ford was the first company to reveal a vehicle on Facebook, and the first brand to join the now defunct Google+.

He also has another decade and a half of experience in communications and marketing agencies. Scott's clients have included Walmart, IBM, McDonalds, Coca-Cola, and Google.

“We’ve taken this promise of a two-way communications network, and we’ve turned it into yet another advertising platform. So now you’re going to interrupt people and pay to have your crappy stories in front of them, instead of just telling better stories.” - Scott Monty on what we get wrong in social media

Social Media is Just a Tool That Amplifies Your Authentic Brand

Social media is not a magic storytelling tool. It won’t bring you record-level sales if you’re a business or make you rich if you’re a writer. However, it can bring you an audience. It can also drive an audience away.

Scott says social media isn’t inherently good or bad. It’s the users that can make that choice. And when it comes to brands, social simply takes who the brand is, and makes it bigger.

“Social media is like the cocaine of marketing and communications. It takes what you already have and it imply amplifies it. And I think it [can] represent the best and the worst of humanity.” - Scott Monty on the power of social media

Storytelling Meets Our Greatest Human Need

Whether it’s personal relationships or professional, our greatest human need is to be loved. This can look like respect, kindness, compassion or actual love depending on the situation. Even brands want to be loved, because they’re run by people.

Scott says it’s something that begins with loving ourselves and loving others. Brands can’t demand we love them, but they can build that relationship. And in our modern era, a lot of that comes through the give and take of social media.

“One of the greatest leaders I’ve ever worked with is [former Ford CEO] Alan Mulally. He learned his philosophy in business from his mom. He said, ‘The greatest human need is simply to be loved.’ It’s got to be a two-way street.” - Scott Monty on the power of storytelling

Connect with Scott:

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