FreshNetworks Blog

We’re often asked how to build corporate support for social media projects. There are many social media advocates that find it hard to sell internally.  What’s the best approach if you’re a Marketing Director selling a social media proposition to the Board? Or a Department Head keen to include social media in your 2010 budget?

I have recently coached a client in selling his social media business plan internally. As previously explained (see my selling social media series), a key component in the sales process is to associate the business needs to the social media proposition. I see this often overlooked as people present their long lists of features and functions, many of which are superfluous, in the hope that quantity will overcome quality.  No!

So, to do this exercise properly with my client, we booked a meeting room for half a day, and we spent a couple of hours considering his business strategy and the corporate needs of the company. With the key business priorities apparent, we then started linking these to the components of the social media solution. We found that 7 of the company’s top 8 business needs could directly benefit from some social media features and associated community engagement.

We then created a simple powerpoint slide, with 3 columns, Need, Feature, and Advantage. Each business ‘Need’ with the relevant social media ‘Feature’ (or Features in some cases), that delivered a noted ‘Advantage’ to the business (ideally quantified and objective). And, finally at the presentation, as he talked through the slide, I coached him to ensure that he gauged the ‘Reaction’ (from the audience) to each item as he went down the list. ‘NFAR’ – Need, Feature, Advantage, and Reaction.

This turned out to be a great starting point, but there was still more work to do. Building support for any new proposition often requires a mix of 1to1 meetings as well as larger group sessions. Ahead of the team discussion you should meet with some of the key influencers on an individual basis to get buy-in. Just as you would have with any new initiative.
The final point to make is that an important part of selling is management of expectations. And when it comes to social media this is especially important. Social media is frequently over-hyped. As a social media agency, we’re always very keen to manage our own enthusiasm and focus on promising only the things we know we can deliver. Projects are always harder and take longer than people expect. Don’t damage your personal credibility by over-selling social media.