How to convince your skeptical boss that social media has merit

skepticism by cbcastor via flickr

I am asked almost weekly how to convince nonbelievers in an organization give social networking efforts a try. So I thought I’d answer that question here and as an upcoming guest post on Beth Kanter’s blog, since she’s likely given you many good ideas of how to use social media – and you’ve likely run into internal roadblocks on the road to Web 2.0.

1. Change the subject: If you’re having a debate over the value of social media, you’re having the wrong discussion. The discussion should be about your organization’s goals – with web 2.0 being the means, not the end (see #2).

2. Make it about what your boss already wants: Don’t position your web 2.0 idea as a social media initiative; frame it as your initiative to support your boss’s goals, in your boss’s language.

3. Make it about the audience: A good way to depersonalize the web 2.0 debate is to make it about your target audience’s preferences rather than a philosophical tug of war between you and said boss.

4. Sign your boss up to listen: Set up Google Alerts and TweetBeep for your boss, so she or he can see that there are already many discussions about your organization going on online. Once this apparent, two things are likely to happen. First, it will become clear that your organization no longer controls your message online – so worrying about social media causing a lack of control is not worth fearing. That day is already here. Second, it will be hard not to want to join those conversations online – which is what web 2.0 engagement is all about.

5. Set some ground rules: Set a social media policy for your organization, so it’s clear how to respond to what you’re hearing - and what types of initiatives have internal support.

6. Start clear and small: If you’re going to start an initiative, make it a small one with clear goals so you know how to measure success.

7. Report, report, report: Share every little bit of progress and give your boss credit for it!

Last – a word of caution. Don’t think you have all the answers. This isn’t a crusade, it’s a learning experience for everyone. You boss’s recalcitrance may be well founded. Make sure there IS a good case for your initiative and if it does fail, share and learn from what went wrong. There is no shame in gaining knowledge from mistakes – for you, or your boss.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/06 at 01:38 PM

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Comments

Great information Katya, thanks for the post.

Another point to make is that social media is a way of extending and managing your online brand. Web 2.0 is an important tactic that should be incorporated into any integrated marketing plan.

Posted by John Kowalski on 07/07 at 08:48 PM

Katya, these are great suggestions! I wish I could add the one about setting your boss up for “listening” to my new book (that just went to the printers this week, it’s called Conversation and Community: The Social Web for Documentation).

I think listening is such an important part of starting any foray into social media. As a technical writer I tend to “listen” to users anywhere they are to learn more about the audience for my documentation. I think that non-profits can benefit from this approach as well, substituting “constituents” for “audience” perhaps.

What do you think about the use of metrics in reporting? Is it just plain too difficult to measure, especially when you’re starting out small with a pilot project? I explore the use of metrics in my book, but only in the specialty area of online help and web content. I’m curious about metrics that are useful for non-profits. What would you track in your reports to your boss?

Posted by Anne Gentle on 07/10 at 10:19 AM

As a “boss”, who is also a social media dabbler, I appreciate that I myself need to first look at the goals of our non-profit and use social media where appropriate. The tools are fun, but they are after all, just tools.

You mention a “social media policy” and I am wondering if you have any examples you could share.

Posted by Rob Hatch on 07/15 at 08:12 AM

Hi Rob. Thanks for your comment! You want to keep in mind:

Be clear upfront
Address who responds to conversation and how
Protect your brand by training your staff/volunteers
Identify which platforms you get active on, and how?
Specify the types of social media that is ok to do at work
Consult sample policies from Nancy Schwartz and Beth Kanter: http://www.gettingattention.org/my_weblog/2009/04/whats-your-organizations-social-media-policy.html

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/15 at 04:36 PM

Wow, that is an excellent idea - setting in a social media policy. We’ve been implementing more strategies that employ social media. I find it really impressing how many possibilities there are on the internet. We’ve also recently started using a company (http://vestanetworks.com/index.php) that provides video conferencing - I was really surpised to discover that their rates are reasonable enough, even for non-profits. I think it is very important for those of us in the non-profit sector to make sure we’re making the best use of what is out there.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/16 at 01:12 PM