Social media still seems quite scary and unfamiliar to a lot of business people.
For those of us who eat and breathe social media, it’s a no-brainer, but many companies are still sceptical, quite possibly because they just don’t understand it.
It’s quite true what they say – the unknown can be frightening
Many social media professionals or in-house employees wish their companies would adopt a more ‘socially engaged’ corporate culture, but getting the boss at the top to buy into its power and worth can prove to be quite challenging at times.
The biggest hitch in getting a social media campaign up and running is that often the person in charge, in a lot of cases the FD (no offence), can be difficult to convince that parting with their money to invest in a new, possibly unknown communication platform is a good idea. Getting them to part with their money at the best of times is tricky, so if the ROI is unclear to them, it makes it an uphill battle.
But there are ways of working around old-school thinkers, and these are just a few tools you can keep in your repertoire to prove the power and substance of social media.
Social Media is the new world of work –it ain’t going anywhere
Those still hanging onto the past might say that social media is just a fad. Wrong. It’s been the biggest influencer in communication which has been instrumental in changing this environment forever.
Today’s world of work revolves around the internet, being connected, and sharing content, so unquestionably denying the importance of having a strong social media strategy in place is corporate suicide.
Having a social media strategy is no longer an option – it’s non-negotiable
A big area of resistance towards social media is that many people just don’t know how to go about getting started. There are so many social media platforms that are constantly changing and new ones popping up all the time, which can be quite daunting.
Millions of questions seem to appear out of nowhere and before you know it you’re feeling completely overwhelmed. Questions like:
“What platforms should I use?”
“Should I use Twitter? Facebook? Google+? LinkedIn? Pinterest?”
“Should I blog? How often should I blog? What should I blog about? Remind me how a blog works again?”
Often the best approach is to map out a comprehensive social media plan to visually show how the strategy will roll out. If you’re still finding everything too much to swallow, you’re in luck as Digitlab is able to organise things into bite-size chunks making them easier to digest.
Social media offers measurable results
A huge factor to any marketer is “Where is the ROI?” If people feel they cannot see qualitative social media results and ROI, they’re easily scared away. The great thing about online platforms though is that everything can be measured – so you’re able to monitor the number of hits, views, leads and conversions on any Social Media platform at any given time. Your boss is sure to like that one.
Another cool thing about social media is that the actual hard costs are relatively low in comparison to traditional media platforms. As the ROI can be directly measured, companies are able to see the value the campaign delivered compared to its cost.
Facebook and Twitter are two of the top social media mediums, and growing rapidly. The numbers prove it – the two platforms combined have close to 1 billion users.
Just imagine if your brand was engaging with a mere million of those users. That’s major exposure, and directly measurable.
Having a brand presence on those two platforms alone can expose your brand to tons of new customers. Even if you still struggle to understand how it works and think social media is a waste of time, it can’t be denied that exposing the business to millions of eyes can only boost its efficiency. Even your boss can’t argue with that.
Don’t be scared of the unknown
The numbers speak for themselves and clearly prove the benefits Social Media offers. In this new world of work, brands who ignore this ever-growing and evolving media space run the risk of losing consumers. If you’re unwilling to be social, the chances are you’ll be labelled anti-social – and no one likes a hermit.
Making sense of it all
It’s facts like these which will make Social Media an area your boss is unable to ignore. So if you’re still hitting your head against the corporate wall, get in touch and let the experts help your boss understand why his business is lagging behind your digitally savvy competitors.
That should get the penny to drop. Hopefully into the company bank account.
