Social media survey results from Hubspot, just out (August 2012): How marketers use social media – Infographic, reveals that 44.4% of survey respondents self-professed either “advanced” or “expert” level social media ability.
This might be you. However, your boss or the executive team (if you work in a larger company), might well not share your expert level.
Social media remains an enigma for many executives and what’s more, there’s no single measure of it’s financial impact that is likely to satisfy their need for straight forward return on investment (ROI).
Not surprising then that superiors are hesitant to devote significant resources – financial or human – to an activity whose precise effect remains unclear to them.
If the above is true in your company (big or small), it’ll be difficult for you to push through the social media strategy you’ve in mind and (you know) – needs to happen over time.
There’re two reasons why senior business leaders must open up their agendas and recognize the importance of supporting and even undertaking social media initiatives that may traditionally have been left to staff members such as IT, HR, Senior Assistants or, indeed, marketing professionals.
1) Social media influences every element of the consumer decision journey, and hence calls for involvement of all departments across the company. The decision making authority can no longer be left to one staff member alone.
2) Social media requires leadership, authority and structure. A holistic approach will yield best results and needs to be inspired and coordinated by top management, and across all functions.
If you’ve trouble convincing your boss or your senior management team of the above, put some credible information into their hands.
For example the reports which inspired this article:
McKinsey Quarterly April 2012 – Demystifying social media at the Executive suite
and
Speak your mind