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Steve Watt
Director, Market Insights @ Seismic 🔶 Buyer-Centric Social Selling 🔶 Client-Centric Employee Advocacy 🔶 Seismic LiveSocial
Steve Watt is the Director of Market Insights and a Social Selling Subject Matter Expert (SME) at Seismic, a company that specializes in sales enablement solutions. Based in Toronto, Canada, he has been in this role since April 2022, focusing on helping clients in sectors such as Financial Services, Professional Services, and B2B Technology develop effective buyer-centric social selling and employee advocacy programs.24
Professional Background
Before his current position at Seismic, Steve held various marketing roles, including:
- Marketing Director at Seismic from December 2020 to April 2022.
- Host of The VP Marketing Show, where he explored high-performing marketing strategies.
- VP Marketing at Grapevine6, which was later acquired by Seismic.24
Expertise and Contributions
Steve is recognized for his insights into social selling and the importance of authenticity on platforms like LinkedIn. He emphasizes that traditional corporate messaging often lacks the personal touch that resonates with audiences. Instead, he advocates for a more conversational approach to social media, encouraging professionals to share their genuine experiences and insights.13 His work includes writing, podcasting, and speaking engagements aimed at transforming outdated sales and marketing mindsets into modern practices that prioritize relationships and trust-building with buyers.23
Education
Steve holds a degree from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, which complements his extensive experience in marketing and sales enablement.2
Overall, Steve Watt is a prominent figure in the field of social selling, leveraging his expertise to guide organizations toward more effective engagement strategies in today's digital landscape.
Highlights
I finally realized the problem: His tie's on too tight.
I'm helping a friend improve his LinkedIn game and he's frustrated.
He's brings it. He really does. Smart insights based on years of experience. Learnings that many of his customers, prospects, and partners would benefit from hearing.
A thoughtful mix of professional and personal.
Sincere, sustained effort. He's no "pop up for a month and complain about poor results" guy.
But it's not quite coming together for him.
He gets a few hundred views most of the time. A handful of likes and comments. But it's not where he wants to be. It's not where he SHOULD be based on what he brings week after week.
It hit me today that the issue is his tie's on too tight. It's like he's sweating in the waiting room before his first job interview.
Everything's a bit too stiff. A bit too formal. Most long paragraphs fail the "read it out loud and ask yourself if you'd really say it that way" test.
Every post has a sort of high school English assignment feel to it. Long paragraphs. Little white space. Grammatically correct but conversationally awkward structure (intro sentence → body, body, body → concluding sentence).
It leaves us wondering if we're speaking with the real him. Or is it him-through-a-LinkedIn filter?
Loosen that tie. Maybe take it off entirely. Most of us here only wear ties for weddings and funerals.
You can keep the metaphorical khakis and button up if you want. Even the jacket if you insist. But the tie isn't helping you spark human conversations or build reputation, relationships, or trust around here.
Be real.
Stop sounding like an advertising robot or a high school English assignment.
You'll enjoy it a lot more, and you'll get a lot more from it too.
LinkedIn exec: Let's treat all our users the same regardless of their level of activity.
Product Manager: Shouldn't we use our incredible data to at least segment users? Try to provide feedback relevant and helpful to them?
E: What? No. One size fits all.
PM: So weird things like "40 of 3" and recommending vastly LESS use of our product?
E: Yup!
PM: 😳
