As we continue to progress our social-led approach at blur Group, it’s easy to forget what happens when organisations display reluctance to engage in use of social media. With 83% of the Fortune 500 companies using one of the social media platforms it may seem that it’s only a small minority now that hasn’t embraced the trend. But in contrast to this seemingly high uptake we still read hundreds of articles about how to get the C-suite engaged. There is a disconnect and as we’ve previously blogged, it’s pretty important that the company isn’t just a little bit social.

Here are our tips, borne out of our own social programmes and helping large brands find the right solution for their social marketing activities on the Creative Services Exchange.  They’ll make sure that you don’t just have a ‘presence’ but you have a presence that is accepted at the highest levels. It’s not about trailblazing campaigns but giving the comfort factor to those who ultimately determine what messages are going out about your business.

1) Draw parallels between old and new media. For many execs social is the first moment when they feel ‘old’. Social is a technique that has a generational aspect to it. The Facebook generation. But we know that even for ‘personal social’ use the demographics aren’t geared to the u-25s. So remind them of transitions that have happened before that are now so mainstream you forget that they were once scary. When someone else typed your letters for you. When you thought a website wasn’t really going to be appropriate for your business. When you couldn’t imagine someone responding to a customer service enquiry by email. Social is just part of that transition. And in much the same way as with some of these other now mainstream technologies it’s not about having to be the primary user, or the early adopter, but someone who recognises that life wouldn’t be the same without it. Your execs need to endorse the move into social as part of your marketing mix in the same way as they agreed to you moving online.

2) FUD. Use an old-fashioned technique to suggest why the new-fangled approach might be a good idea – worry what happens if you don’t take part. It’s vital to show what the competition is doing and how it’s working for them. Explain how customer feedback about your brand is going to happen even if you’re not there, so how much better to be contributing to that discussion positively. Talk about lost sales opportunities if you aren’t able to capitalise on a social presence. Why customers expect to have you on those platforms. Don’t be threatening, but make your boss aware that it’s better to happen with him, than without.

3) Press the right button. And with most execs this button is the one marked ‘cost‘. Yes, we know that social media isn’t the mythical free marketing that some dreamt of, but for most businesses the initial foray into it is less pricey than other marketing channels. And that will always appeal to the people for whom the bottom line matters. Once you’ve won them over on this you may want to talk a little bit more about how additional investment leads to even better social-led results.

4) Show integration. If you really want social media to be a mainstream marketing tool you have to start selling it in as part of your mix – the newest platform if you like. Having pressed the button in 3, you want to quickly move on to showing how it works within the context of your other marketing campaigns before you end up with social being your only channel and losing its effectiveness when taken out of context. There are some easy ways to do this – as well as setting some of the brand promotion rules within the business, trying to show off your social presence in day-to-day activities drives understanding of how it’s working for you. Again, drawing parallels with previous old-new transitions, in much the same way that you wouldn’t miss your web address off the ad or even your email, your social presence needs the same general buy-in.

5) Be a business winner. Extending the right button push, when you’ve shown that this is a cost-effective outbound activity you need to show the stats. We’ve talked before that simple numbers do not ROI make, but they can help with starting to show the reach. Use all the tools you can to show growth in followers, fans, page views, blog views and then tie these to positive outcomes. List the customer who’ve spoken with you on social – compare with those who’ve interacted in other ways. Those touch points can drive a strategy – and we know where strategies originate.

Common sense this may be, but that is what social is in most cases. And sometimes even the smartest business leader needs to have that commonsense explained so we hope these give you some cushions to help deal with the final adoption hurdle. Don’t forget, if you’re still wanting support for your social media campaigns and uptake, or any other sort of creative project, you can submit a brief and get the best solution available from 10,000+ creatives around the world.