It’s almost a cliche at this point: The stodgy old CEO, the technophobic board of directors, the knee-jerk legal department — all with their fingers in their ears and muttering “no, no, no” any time anyone suggests the company give social media a shot.
Faced with this dilemma, what else can social-media advocates do but patiently try to explain how social media can do all manner of good things for the company. “If only the CEO understood social media,” they say. “Then we’d be able to move forward.”
It’s a familiar refrain — but unfortunately, it’s backward. As a group of panelists explained at a discussion on social media and leadership buy-in at the BlogWorld Expo on Thursday, the secret isn’t getting business leaders to understand social media; it’s getting social media leaders to understand business.
A few of their key takeaways:
- It’s not about knowledge; it’s about trust. Your CEO doesn’t need to understand the finer points of social media any more than he or she needs to understand precisely how the company’s computer system works, said Jaime Punishill, former social-media manager at Citibank. It isn’t the CEO’s job to know everything, he points out. CEOs need to be able to find the right people, provide them with leadership and then trust them to do good work. Instead of making the case for social media, marketers should be making the case that they’re capable and trustworthy, he says.
- Know who you’re really trying to convince. The most effective social-media advocates in any organization are the ones who understand the organization’s power structures — who makes the decisions and how. The person you need to convince may not be the boss; it may be the person the boss looks to for counsel or the one who can create consensus among other managers, Punishill said.
- Don’t make it all about you. Find ways that your proposal benefits other groups, such as middle managers or the legal department, and then enlist them to help make your case, added Jason Keath.
- Stop speaking in social-media metrics. Those terms don’t impress the C-Suite. Instead, use metrics they can relate to — such as talking about customer retention instead of engagement. The goal should be for the company’s leaders to begin to see social media as just another channel, H&R Block’s Zena Weist noted.
- Think beyond the first “yes.” It’s not enough to get the greenlight from the boss. You need to tie social media to your organization’s strategic goals to make it a sustained effort, Keath said.
Image credit: Viorika, via iStockphoto
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Great post Jesse. I'm sure a big part of this is figuring out where social media fits in a particular organization, whether it be marketing, PR, communications, ect. Did they touch on that at all in the session?
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Hey Emily,
They did briefly get into that aspect of the debate — but my ssense is the rules there are much less hard and fast, as different orgs have different requirements. Personally, I don’t know that siloing social platforms in a single department is a necessarily a good idea.
Great article, a key point you touched on was 'trust'. I recently ran a study on Online Networking at the Executive Level (throughout the Shared Services & Outsourcing communitu). We had over 650 participants who agreed that trust, quality of connections and quality of discussions were the most important factors when considering being a part of a social network – read the full report here http://www.ssonetwork.com/topic_detail.aspx?id=94…
THANK YOU. It's been a while since I've read an article on social media that I actually found really useful (I'm an agency-based social/community strategist). You've given me some good ideas, and a different way of thinking of some organizational challenges.
Great post.
I appreciate the recommendations for managing the political aspects of greenlighting social media initiatives. Here are a few of my thoughts (which I have to split into multiple posts – sorry):
1. New digital technologies, including social media, have the potential to transform how work gets done in organizations. External applications such as marketing and sales are just the tip of the iceberg. Even if an organization were to leverage the technologies only for external purposes, there’s a host of internal implications (e.g., legal and policy issues, human capital management) that must be addressed as well.
Courtney Hunt
Founder, Social Media in Organizations (SMinOrgs) Community
My recent post Social Screening- Candidates – and Employers – Beware
Thought #2:
2. Given the potential breadth and depth of the impact of new technologies, organizational leaders must understand them and their potential applications and implications. They don't have to be power users, but they do need to develop an understanding that is appropriate for their position – and they would probably also benefit from some hands on experience. To help leaders in this regard, I am developing a Social Media Primer, which can be accessed via http://www.sminorgs.net/social-media-primer.html.
Courtney Hunt
Founder, Social Media in Organizations (SMinOrgs) Community
My recent post Social Screening- Candidates – and Employers – Beware
Thought #3:
3. "Should we or shouldn’t we” discussions should not begin with the technologies, tactics or metrics. Rather, they should start with an identification (or reiteration) of strategic goals and objectives, followed by an assessment of WHETHER and HOW social media technologies can help achieve them. If leaders determine that social media CAN help them, they should assess their current technologies and processes and determine if the new approaches might be more effective. If they determine they can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their efforts by integrating new technologies, they should develop a plan for leveraging them.
Courtney Hunt
Founder, Social Media in Organizations (SMinOrgs) Community
Great thoughts. It reinforces the statement "Know Your Audience". Just as we think about who will be reading our blogs, tweets and activity streams, we need to think about our c-level execs and what makes them tick. Are they concerned about reputation? brand? investors? How can social media help with their concerns? Thanks for your thoughts -they help me help my clients!
Peggy Dau
Managing Partner, MAD Perspectives LLC
[...] found this short article useful in the discussion about how to get your leadership to embrace social media. It only takes a few minutes to scan and may be worth your time if you are struggling with this [...]
[...] Post Located: http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2010/10/15/5-business-lessons-social-media-advocates-must-learn-be… AKPC_IDS += "228,";Popularity: unranked [...]