Social Media. How do I convince the “old guy” we need it?
by Tim McMullen
There were several questions centered on how to get started in social media when upper management, especially the “old” executive doesn’t get it and is against it.
Well, there are a few ways we have seen success. Give these a try and let us all know how you do:
* Find Examples
* Use Stats
* Keep it short
* Start with a “Trial”
Examples: Most people don’t like what they cannot understand, not just “old” people. So you are going to have to do some research to find some relevant examples: www.marketingsherpa.com and www.interactiveinsightsgroup.com are great places to start. They give you case studies, best practices and usually include results. The examples do not have to be from your competitors. Try to find examples that include your core customers in them. Let’s say you are targeting the 35-55 female; find other case studies that prove how this group is using social media and making other companies money. B2B examples are a little harder to find, but they are out there.
Try to avoid trying to educate directly on the technology you want to use. Include a few stats that will drive interest. And don’t just throw it in front of them. Dig in a bit; what is the research telling you? What opportunities does it create for your company? And most importantly, keep your information and insight to one page total. Don’t laugh; it works. If you have lots of data and insights to present, still do it one page at a time.
Lastly, ask for a trial budget. Here are a couple of things that will help you out. Keep your trial extremely focused. And remember, it is not about driving “ROI” in dollars with this trial. That is not what will get your executive team jazzed enough to try some more. Eventually, they will want to see it, but for now even their expectations are not that high. New insight and understanding from the customer point of view — this is what will get them excited. You are likely to get product feedback and even ideas for new products or services. You will get insight that is difficult to garner from any survey. Find that insight as you go and present that back – in one page, of course.
And if you can start social media by doing it internally, it will help you get going externally. We will post on ways to do that very soon. If you are reading this and have some success worth mentioning, please post a comment and share with the rest of our readers.
Go Be Human.
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