My recent question “why do marketers love social media?” got me thinking. If marketers love social media so much, why don’t social media projects get immediately funded and senior execs jump at the opportunity to use social media to connect with customers, partners and employees? Why is your boss such a social media “hater”? Well, putting on my COO hat, here are my hypotheses:
Your weak business case: Even though it has the measurability advantage of being an online medium, it is challenging to quantify the benefits of Twittering in C-level exec terms like revenue or leads.- It is lonely at the top: Other than a small selection of high profile execs, most are not using social media (and if they are it is something practical like LinkedIn).
- Technology adoption: If your boss is not an early adopter or part of the early majority, there are very few convincing arguments for social media.
- Bigger fish to fry: We all know the sour economic environment is affecting business. Chances are your boss is more concerned about meeting monthly numbers and keeping his/her job than “cool new opportunities”.
- Difficult to quantify ROI: Unless you are closing business or generating leads from social media, it is pretty challenging to build an economic case. While community building and customer engagement are important, ROI is top of mind. Given the
- Your boss has no friends: Just because everyone you know is on Facebook or Twitter doesn’t mean that this is true for your boss. Your boss’ peers or friends may not be using social media. Check out this research by the Pew Internet & American Life Project to see how social media use declines in older demographics.
Can you think of any others I missed?
Good topic to deal with, and excellent points made here. I bet, overall, the reason it’s hard for bosses to accept social media is the reversal in fundamental thinking that it requires: old marketing vs. new is outbound vs. inbound, tell ‘em vs. ask ‘em, preaching vs. communicating, selling vs. giving. Hard for the jaded oldsters to realize the possibilities of cooperative capitalism.
I would say that some bosses think, “if we have never done social media before, why do we need to start now?” My clients fear the unknown or unproven and for many folks social media is still that. If they can’t demonstrate the value of social media, it is not worth the effort to try it in their minds.
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