New North Social Media Breakfast

Are you a social media fan boy or girl, dying to jump-start your company’s social media marketing campaign, but you can’t get past the miles of red tape? It’s probably frustrating to see so many companies thriving on the social networks while you stand and watch from the sidelines because management has a laundry list of reasons why they don’t want to get involved. If you’ve tried convincing the upper management team of the benefits of social media marketing only to be met with 101 objections, here are a few rebuttals for you to fire back the next time the conversation comes up.

1. Difficult to Measure ROI

If you read any social media related blogs you’ve probably seen some pretty obscure formulas for calculating the return on investment for social media marketing. However, if a company is going to invest in this new form of marketing, it’s understandable that they would want to see what kind of results they’re getting in the form of real figures.

Although I don’t know that there really is a bullet proof way to calculate social media marketing ROI just yet, there are ways to track your progress and sales leads. Focus on convincing management of the benefits of social selling and the various ways you can track sales leads via social media.

2. Giving up Control of the Message

A big fear of social media marketing stems from the lack of control a company has over their message when they surrender to the social networks. But giving up control of your message isn’t necessarily a bad thing. For example, your Facebook fans love you! That’s why they’re called “fans.” Let them write what they want about you online, chances are it’s going to be positive. Whatever negative things people have to say about your business online can be handled in a professional way as long as you monitor the conversation and stay in tune with the online community.

3. The Dreaded Time Suck

Many managers fear that if they allow employees to go on Facebook or Twitter during the work day, productivity will go down the tubes. That’s a legitimate concern, but there are ways around that. If management is truly concerned about giving employees free reign of the social networks, they could designate one or two employees as the social media managers and block access for the rest. I would recommend laying out a streamlined process for optimal efficiency, regardless of who will be managing your social networks.

4. Your Target Market isn’t on SM

This objection is the most common amongst managers of B2B companies. A lot of people have the misconception that connecting with other businesses via social media is just not necessary or even feasible. Well, that’s just not true, and you can use some pretty telling statistics to prove your point. Start with this one; 44% of decision makers at small- to medium-sized businesses use social media. Furthermore, 71% of companies are already on Facebook. Your company’s target market can be found on the social networks, it’s just a matter of figuring out which networks and making the connections.

5. Your Business is Already Established

This is like saying, “my company doesn’t need a website because we already have a solid customer base.” In this day and age, it’s almost unheard of for a company not to have a website. Pretty soon, the same will be true for companies without a Facebook page, Twitter account, and blog. There are plenty of ways established businesses can benefit from social media, aside from the obvious name-brand recognition that you’ve already acquired. Besides, would it be such a bad thing if your customer base expanded as a result of social media marketing?

If you’re going to win the battle in favor of social media marketing within your company, it’s important that you’re armed with one very important weapon: Knowledge. Know your stuff and it will be hard for management to say no to you.