Social Media: Gaining Executive Support

Social media transforms organizations. However, in the real world, not every organizational leader are Steve Jobs or Twitterpreneurs. To make some executives realize the strategic advantages social media brings to organizations takes efforts. To help them understand it, we PR and social media practitioners need to show to executives how big, dynamic and relevant the groundswell is, and maybe even get the executives into the groundswell. The persuasion would be no easy task, and several things need to be paid attention to.

1. Uncertainty stops executives from acting.
Executives may have already been informed how important and helpful social media is, but lacking first-hand experience of using social media makes them have second thought about implementing a customer centric communication program. Also, they may think what awaits organizations in the groundswell may be an organizational opportunity or threat, creating the impression of uncertainty and out of control with social media. Two things need to be clarified to reduce the anxiety- 1) how is social media transforming the organization in a positive way; 2) a fully developed plan to reassure that social media helps relationship building (maybe by using ROPES model, and including case studies).

2. Approaches should reflect each executive's current level of support.
A scale should be introduced to measure different levels of support. Some executives may be blind about the value of social media. You need to educate them from lesson one. Some executives may be positive toward social media, but may need your help with a specified plan of action. Other executives may be social media enthusiasts, and they'd be your important assets for selling the social media plan to other executives.

3. Be ready to walk a long way for support.
PR practitioners should be prepared to take a long road gaining executive support on embracing social media. Timing (when to approach executives), information (what to present to executives) and manner (how to talk about it with them) all substantially matter, and all takes time. You need to be faithful and persistent in face of all kinds of challenges.

Into the Groundswell

Imagine a sea of information.

Imagine your Facebook pages, your Twitter updates, your blogs, your comments and reviews being small drops of water in that sea. What would you think if you are told that you have a good chance of making a very big wave, a groundswell in the sea?

That’s what Li and Bernoff try to tell today’s corporations, governments, and all other kinds of organizations in their book Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies. A negative ZAGAT review could influence or change someone’s decision making on where to dine; a Tweet calling on supporting disaster relief in Haiti could be retweeted many times to spread the word and motivate action among thousands of people; a big thumb-up to M.A.C. Brush 187 in some Japanese girl’s makeup vlog (boys, feel free to replace it with, say, Ford Mustang in car blogs) may make you curious enough to get to a local Sephora in Raleigh and try it out. Today’s consumers are no longer their own islands. Between them and the information in traditional forms of pitches from salespersons, commercials, advertorials, news releases and so on, there are fellow consumers that inform, educate, share experience with, and bring changes to one another, making big waves together. Social media is definitely changing the social/economic/political dynamics locally and globally. Thus, traditional institutions like corporations must learn how to become wave makers, or at least decent surfers.

As a marketing communication analyst in a PR agency, my constant interest lies in helping businesses understand, communicate, and manage relationships with consumers. Since most target audience today is in the groundswell made possible by social media, it is thus natural to feature in my blog three key players- consumers, social media, and public relations. I’d keep exploring how businesses can effectively establish and maintain relationship with consumers using social media. I’d look for insights into how leaders of organizations can jump out of comfort zones, and genuinely embrace the groundswell.

Welcome aboard, and let's start the exploration!