How to Convince Upper Management to Embrace Social Media

There are 101 reasons why the top dogs at your company might not want to jump on board the social media express. The opposition probably stems from assumptions and false information. Unfortunately, as an employee, your hands are tied unless you can summon up your persuasive skills and really prove the value of social media. If your management team is smothering your social media flame, try putting together a compelling argument using any or all of these tips. And remember, if you want to influence upper management, you have to think like upper management.

1. Speak Their Language

I had a professor in college who’s favorite type of test was short answer. The thing I remember most about these tests (besides the high failure rate) was the professor’s expectation that you incorporated all of his secret “buzz words” correctly into your response. You never knew exactly which words he was looking for until you got the tests back. Well, imagine that your management team is grading your argument based on whether or not you touch on all the right buzz words.

• Target Market
• Value Added
• Organic growth
• Outside the Box
• Synergy

Anticipate what your managers are looking for in your plan by incorporating your company’s goals into the social media plan. In other words, how will social media help the company achieve its goals?

2. Hit ‘em With the Facts

There is a lot of data out there just begging for a chance to help back your argument for social media. People in management rolls make decisions based on concrete figures. Here’s a couple to get you started:

• There are more than 750 million active Facebook users
• People spend over 700 billion minutes per month (collectively) on Facebook
• 38 million people claim their purchasing decisions are influenced by social media
• There are over 1 million customer service related tweets per week

3. Everybody’s Doing It

It probably won’t take you long to log into Facebook and find fan pages of at least 3 of your competitors. This argument is especially useful if your managers are under the impression that social media just won’t work for your specific type of business. Seeing your competitors on the social networks proves that companies just like yours are already using social media successfully, so you can too.

4. Get a Heavy Hitter on Your Side

Surely there is someone in the higher ups who could add weight to your argument for social media. Seek that person out, tell her your plan, and ask her to vouch for you when your present your idea to the rest of the management team. If that person holds a higher position within the company, her opinion is probably highly valued by her colleagues.

5. Show by Example

If you haven’t heard the Blendtec social media success story by now, it’s not too late to get up to speed. The basis of their story is that they started a YouTube series called “Will it Blend?” that ended up going viral and turning a previously unknown company into a household name. Not that every company dabbling in social media will have the same success as Blendtec, but the example proves that there are endless possibilities when it comes to social media, you just have to be creative and authentic.

If you are passionate enough about social media and its marketing value, chances are you’ll have a pretty convincing argument. But it might not be enough to convince the people who have to balance the budget and answer to shareholders. Combine your passion for social media with a few of these persuasive techniques and you’ll have your managers ready to jump on board.