Although it’s hard to believe, there are many companies that still refuse to implement social media into their marketing plan. I have done some consulting work for several companies that actually block certain sites (Facebook, Youtube, etc). They don’t realize that they are basically asking their employees not to communicate and interact with clients. Since I encountered a lot of skepticism from some clients when trying to encourage them to engage in social media, I decided to write 5 simple steps to convince your boss why social media is important.
5 Tips to Convince Your Boss to Engage in Social Media:
1. Empower Your Boss with Information – it’s is common knowledge that people fear what they don’t know. Take it upon yourself to create a presentation or white paper with easy to follow information about the various networks you want to integrate into your company’s marketing strategy. Make it clear that social media is not a supplement to a business but a necessity.
2. Provide Success Stories – Do some research and find out how established companies in your industry have successfully used social media. Examples and statistics are very helpful. Show your boss a list of Fortune 500 Companies and their involvement in Web 2.0. You can also show your boss a list of CEO’s and experts in your industry that have taken part in this new age revolution.
3. Create a Social Media Strategy – Formulate a detailed social media strategy with clear objectives and an implementation plan. Do not just sign up for these sites without an idea of how you want to execute your plan and measure the effectiveness of your presence in social media. Once you do engage in social media, use Hubspot’s free tool called Website Grader to track the influence of your website and social presence.
4. Low Implementation Costs – The costs of creating these sites and engaging in conversations with clients online can be relatively low. Time does cost money but the benefits from interacting with your clients and being on their radar is very important. If you are the one who wants to manage social media, you can include it in your existing job responsibilities. That way your boss would not feel the need to hire another employee.
5. Stay Connected – These sites have a wide reach and by joining you will have the opportunity to interact with existing clients (whether B2B or B2C) and attract new ones. Not only can you stay connected but you can also keep an eye on your competition and be proactive about your outreach rather than reactive. It enable your company to watch the market and track activity as it happens.
They key to convincing your boss is to make him/her understand how passionate you are about aligning the company’s objectives with a social media platform. If your passion shines through, your boss will feel more apt to let you move forward.
