How to sell social media to your boss

Many of us understand and realize that social media is powerful for individuals and businesses. However, there’s a vast majority out there who either disagree or are too old fashioned. Unless you work for a young company, those people are probably your boss.So, I want to start my own community marketing program at my company…how do I do it? Fortunately, I was privileged to follow under the footsteps of Jeremiah, who introduced social media to HDS; we have forums, a wiki, and a few bloggers. Yet, it was far from easy…but I learned from him.

Still its very hard work, so I look up to experts for advice and I came across an interesting article that really sums up how to start one. Only one catch, this article tells how to start one if others in your industry are catching on too…nonetheless, i cant argue with his findings.

I started off this blog with the intention to summarize someone’s thoughts, but instead I’m pushing myself…I’ll give you my advice from what Ive learned.

Here goes…

“In order to sell social media to your boss you must…”

CREATE A NEED

Bosses are busy people…in and out of meetings and/or working on bigger/better things; which is they have no time to waste on worthless projects. So…make social media a NEED, not a want. Make him/her say “We need to have blogs.” Social media is a utility that every company should and needs to somehow get their hands on.

Sounds easy right? But, how do you create this need? Here’s a few ways:

  • Show ROI and Success with SEO– One word: proactive. The success of the social media program is in your hands; if you’re not proactive, you will not be able to see ROI. I read about how to show to your bosses that this ‘new media’ program is worth it’s weight, but its missing one important aspect…SEO
    • SEO – Search Engine Optimization is something that every company should be worried about, yet are they? Whether or not its in your scope, SEO can be accomplished by social media (forums, blogs, wikis, etc). Smart and active blogs have the ability to: come up early in search engines, produce incoming/outgoing links, and store a collection of thoughts and information. All of this helps SEO tremendously.
      • Example #1: Everyone knows about the whole DELL SUPPORT finding. When you search “Dell Support” in Google, scroll down, what do you see on the first page? …a link to Jeremy Zawodny’s post: What the F*** is with Dell Technical Support?
      • Enough said, this shows the power of blogging, especially with SEO. (I think before it came up a lot sooner, maybe 3rd or 4th in the search results). How much did it cost? NOTHING, FREE.
    • How much WORK does it take? – Aside from initially setting up the blog, which could take 5-8 hours total for branding, back-end work, etc…it depends on your strategy (which could range from 2-10 hours per week). I recommend blogging 3 times a week to keep your audience interested and subscribed.
      • Each blog takes 2 hours max, blog 3 times a week, that is 6 hours per week
      • 6 hours per week times 4 weeks = 24 hours per month
      • This is all the time you need…if done correctly, your company can use the 24 hours of time to benefit the overall SEO strategy.
      • Example #2: Type in “storage bloggers”…what is the first search result? The storage wiki (referenced above) that Jeremiah started. It might have cost something, but definitely not as much as paid search.
  • Illustrate how your company can benefit from “human” contact – one of the most valuable rewards from a community marketing program is the human contact. 10 years ago, this sort of communication was unheard of, but now its part of our life in and out of work. Human contact sparks relationship marketing and relationships build trust. Trust in every business activity is very important and difficult to achieve. Social Media is the hub for open communication and a new way of “marketing”
    • Social Media allows for all types of communication prospects to prospects, prospects to customers, customers to customers. More importantly, this is all happening in YOUR space…you can listen and participate openly and freely.
    • Can be used as a sales tool – bloggers should be subject experts and because of this, the sales force can use it to their advantage.

      “Our product has XXX and it can be integrated with XXX solution, which is why we are the leaders in our industry. For more info, you can see XXX blog post on this…”

This list will continue to grow as I learn more about these new mediums.

Also, I’ve left out some important parts…but now its your turn!