The document provides guidance on developing and selling a social media program within a business, emphasizing identifying opportunities across business functions like sales, customer support, and public relations; addressing objections by understanding organizational fears around control, costs, and capabilities; and implementing the program in three steps of developing strategy, operational deployment, and ongoing management and execution.
1. THE FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL MEDI
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
FOR BUSINESS MANAGERS
Module 2: Selling your program.
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Olivier Blanchard
3. What are some areas / business functions that a
social media program might help improve?
4. Sales
Net New Customers, Increased Frequency of Transactions, promo exposure
Increased yield (average $ value per transaction), and product penetration
Customer Support
Immediate feedback and response, positive impact in public forum, cost reduction
Human Resources
More effective recruiting, online monitoring of employee behavior (risk management)
Public Relations
Online Reputation Management, improved brand image via Social Web
Customer Loyalty
Increased interactions, better quality of interactions, deeper relationship with brand,
Increased trust in brand, increased mindshare of brand, greater values alignment
Business Intelligence
Know everything.
5. Understanding the medium and seeing the
opportunities arenât enough.
Objections arenât always logical.
7. In a perfect world, managers are leaders.
We do not live in a perfect world.
8. Top leadership has the burden of responsibility.
Middle management has the burden of being
stretched too thin.
Worker bees have the burden of feeling powerless.
14. Our mythologies and inherent need for hero worship create
models of archetypal leadership.
As a result, we expect certain attributes from leaders.
One of these key attributes is courage.
Ironically, it is the most lacking in the corporate world.
Ask yourself what has made companies like
Apple, Starbucks, Facebook and Virgin so exceptional:
Everything begins with visionary, courageous leadership.
16. The traits and behaviors that lead a promising manager to
become CEO donât necessarily touch on courage.
Results
Consensus
Trust
Cultural fit
Management vs. Leadership
20. The worst thing that can happen to a company:
CEO COO
Iâm leaving I am taking
to start over as
another CEO.
company.
21. Two very different types of humans:
CEO COO
Innovative ideas Logistics
Experimentation Operations
Vision Risk Management
Cultural Sensitivity Structure
22. Put the right people in the right roles:
Special Forces are very good at winning battles.
They are highly adaptive, capable and motivated.
They have all of the âheroâ traits we seek in a leader.
Special Forces are terrible at being administrators.
Their specialty is winning,
Not making sure the trash gets picked up on time.
23. Problem 1.1:
Most of the corporate leadership you will run into today is
made up of excellent managers and administrators, not
leaders in the core cultural sense of the term.
Leaders generally leave the corporate system on their own
or are pushed out of it because they donât fit in a box.
24. Problem 1.2:
Most corporate environments are male dominated cultures.
If you understand biology, you understand the Alpha Male
phenomenon.
Artificial hierarchies vs. Natural hierarchies
create dysfunctions.
The result: unspoken animosity & fear of failure.
25. Problem 1.3:
If the CEO is the biological alpha in the room and he is self-
actualized, you will have an easier time of selling
and building your social media program.
If the CEO is not the biological alpha in the room,
you will have to deal with risk-aversion
and operational paralysis.
26. Now that you understand what you are up againstâŠ
First things first: get your bearings
Three models:
C)Starting from scratch?
D)Rebooting a program that stalled?
E)Rebooting a program that imploded?
27. Tackling risk-averse objections
First things first: get your bearings
Three models:
C)Starting from scratch?
A lot of education ahead. Red flag: why such a late start?
E)Rebooting a program that stalled?
Look for operational dysfunctions and lack of focus.
G)Rebooting a program that imploded?
You will have to deal with trauma across the organization.
30. Step 1: Why should you be there?
- The social media program can solve a problem for the organization.
-The social media program is a matter of strategic necessity for the
organization.
-The social media program offers key opportunities for growth for the
organization.
-The social media program can help the organization penetrate new
markets. (Younger demos, mobile commerce, etc.)
-The social media program can provide new degrees of business
intelligence.
-The social media program will lower operating costs.
-The social media program will enable the organization to outclass
the competition in key areas.
If you cannot identify key business objectives on your own, turn this
list into questions. Look across the organization, at every department.
31. Sales
Net New Customers, Increased Frequency of Transactions, promo exposure
Increased yield (average $ value per transaction), and product penetration
Customer Support
Immediate feedback and response, positive impact in public forum, cost reduction
Human Resources
More effective recruiting, online monitoring of employee behavior (risk management)
Public Relations
Online Reputation Management, improved brand image via Social Web
Customer Loyalty
Increased interactions, better quality of interactions, deeper relationship with brand,
Increased trust in brand, increased mindshare of brand, greater values alignment
Business Intelligence
Know everything.
35. Identifying & addressing fears / risk
You understand the difference between management vs. leadership
and its role in creating risk-averse cultures, siloâed organizations, and
operational paralysis.
Now it is time to bring out those fears and give them shape. This is
closer to therapy than you think.
Typical answers:
36. Identifying & addressing fears / risk
You understand the difference between management vs. leadership
and its role in creating risk-averse cultures, siloâed organizations, and
operational paralysis.
Now it is time to bring out those fears and give them shape. This is
closer to therapy than you think.
Typical answers:
-Loss of control & potential embarrassment. (What if people say bad
things about us? What if one of our employees makes a mistake?)
37. Identifying & addressing fears / risk
You understand the difference between management vs. leadership
and its role in creating risk-averse cultures, siloâed organizations, and
operational paralysis.
Now it is time to bring out those fears and give them shape. This is
closer to therapy than you think.
Typical answers:
-Loss of control & potential embarrassment. (What if people say bad
things about us? What if one of our employees makes a mistake?)
-Loss of control & status inside the org. (Who will own this program? How
will my budget be affected? ï Budgets control what gets done & exec status.)
38. Identifying & addressing fears / risk
You understand the difference between management vs. leadership
and its role in creating risk-averse cultures, siloâed organizations, and
operational paralysis.
Now it is time to bring out those fears and give them shape. This is
closer to therapy than you think.
Typical answers:
-Loss of control & potential embarrassment. (What if people say bad
things about us? What if one of our employees makes a mistake?)
-Loss of control & status inside the org. (Who will own this program? How
will my budget be affected? ï Budgets control what gets done & exec status.)
-Cost terror. (How much will this cost? What are the hidden costs?)
39. Identifying & addressing fears / risk
You understand the difference between management vs. leadership
and its role in creating risk-averse cultures, siloâed organizations, and
operational paralysis.
Now it is time to bring out those fears and give them shape. This is
closer to therapy than you think.
Typical answers:
-Loss of control & potential embarrassment. (What if people say bad
things about us? What if one of our employees makes a mistake?)
-Loss of control & status inside the org. (Who will own this program? How
will my budget be affected? ï Budgets control what gets done & exec status.)
-Cost terror. (How much will this cost? What are the hidden costs?)
-Operational Hurdles: (Our culture isnât social. We are too siloâed. We are too
risk-averse. We donât have the manpower or the time. We donât have the skill-set,
the framework or the tools. I donât have time to devote to this.) Middle-
management concerns stem from being stretched too thin.
40. Think of this phase as an audit.
You are not there to provide answers or solutions.
You are there to let the people in the organization who can either be
your champions or your enemies give voice to their fears.
Ask the right questions:
41. Think of this phase as an audit.
You are not there to provide answers or solutions.
You are there to let the people in the organization who can either be
your champions or your enemies give voice to their fears.
Ask the right questions:
1. Get to the root of the objections. Get to the fear.
Understand the fear. (Ask if you have to.)
2. Ask what would solve the problem for them.
âWhat if we did x, y and z? Would that minimize the risk enough?â
3. Go back to the opportunity/reward part of the equation.
âSo if we eliminated those risks, what would you want to get out of it?â
46. This seems painfully simple.
It is the single-most important foundation for success in
building a healthy, successful social media program.
47. This seems painfully simple.
It is the single-most important foundation for success in
building a healthy, successful social media program.
99% of organizations fail in the social media space
because they did not go through this process.
48. This seems painfully simple.
It is the single-most important foundation for success in
building a healthy, successful social media program.
99% of organizations fail in the social media space
because they did not go through this process.
They rush to the tools, strategies, tactics and busy-work of
social media programs without laying the ground-work for it.
And at some point, either everything comes to a screeching
halt, or the program goes off into the weeds.
Donât end up in the weeds.
49. Social media programs transform the way businesses operate.
If they transform processes, they transform behaviors.
And if they transform behaviors, they transform cultures.
In 2010-2020 failure = inability to adapt.
In 2010-2020 success = ability to manage change.
Change management, not social media management, is the
biggest challenge facing organizations today.
50. 5 decades separated the American Civil War and World War I
5 decades separate the establishment of modern organizational thought and the social web
51. Plan XVII: August 1914. One 62-year old French corps commander speaks of âastonishing
changes in the practice of war.â The French still fought in bright colors, out in the open, against
the modern rifle, machine guns and artillery. Failure to adapt.
At the start of the war, the British Army only had 2 machine guns per battalion.
52. A leader disconnected from his era cannot effectively lead.
Old thinking kills companies.
Reconnect the CEO and senior execs to the world they live in.
But donât be a revolutionary. Be a trusted guide.
53. An imperfect understanding of the field always leads to bad decisions.
Educated leaders might make good decisions.
The other kind cannot.
Do not let a CEO and/or senior executives delegate knowledge.
If they donât understand something, they entrust it to the wrong
people.
54. The biggest problems with SM integration:
Imperfect Understanding of the medium
Decision-makers do not understand it well enough to see how it fits.
Hiring criteria are wrong
Because the medium is not well understood, the wrong people are assigned to
managing efforts in it â from strategy to execution to measurement.
The assumption: This is marketing, right?
Too much emphasis on marketing
Trickle-down effect: The majority of social media managers come from marketing
backgrounds. Only 1% from customer service backgrounds.
Wrong goals
Wrong Assumptions about the medium = wrong focus = wrong goals
Wrong metrics
Wrong goals = wrong success metrics
Clusterf*ck
Mass confusion as to anything beyond âreachâ numbers
55. Back to our opportunities:
Sales
Net New Customers, Increased Frequency of Transactions, promo exposure
Increased yield (average $ value per transaction), and product penetration
Customer Support
Immediate feedback and response, positive impact in public forum, cost reduction
Human Resources
More effective recruiting, online monitoring of employee behavior (risk management)
Public Relations
Online Reputation Management, improved brand image via Social Web
Customer Loyalty
Increased interactions, better quality of interactions, deeper relationship with brand,
Increased trust in brand, increased mindshare of brand, greater values alignment
Business Intelligence
Know everything.
57. Three-Step Process:
Step 1: Strategy & development
Identifying key departments to partner with. Setting targets.
Chatting with them & identifying their needs. Clarifying intent.
Talking realistically about capacity. Getting buy-in.
58. Three-Step Process:
Step 1: Strategy & development
Identifying key departments to partner with. Setting targets.
Chatting with them & identifying their needs. Clarifying intent.
Talking realistically about capacity. Getting buy-in.
Step 2: Operational Deployment
Getting departments up to speed Working with Legal, IT, HR, etc.
Training staff Creating guidelines
Enabling technology and tools Developing the organization
Creating the internal infrastructure Continuous improvement
59. Three-Step Process:
Step 1: Strategy & development
Identifying key departments to partner with. Setting targets.
Chatting with them & identifying their needs. Clarifying intent.
Talking realistically about capacity. Getting buy-in.
Step 2: Operational Deployment
Getting departments up to speed Working with Legal, IT, HR, etc.
Training staff Creating guidelines
Enabling technology and tools Developing the organization
Creating the internal infrastructure Continuous improvement
Step 3: Management & Execution
Community management Digital customer support
Online reputation management Internal collaboration
Monitoring Etc.
Measurement
60. Full 360 buy-in.
Step 1: Strategy & development
Identifying key departments to partner with. Setting targets.
Chatting with them & identifying their needs. Clarifying intent.
Talking realistically about capacity. Getting buy-in.
This process involves everything we have just talked about.
Every department manager is like a micro-CEO.
In order to be successful, you must sell the value of your social
media program to the entire organization.
Not everyone needs to have the courage to be the first to move
on it, but they have to be sold on the idea if you can provide
them with a reasonable proof of concept.
62. Silos donât matter.
(at first.)
Start Small. Use the silos to your advantage.
Donât try to build too big, too soon.
63. You are not building a company-wide program yet.
You are building department-specific programs.
Silos donât matter.
(at first.)
Start Small. Use the silos to your advantage.
Donât try to build too big, too soon.
64. Your audit is done. (your notes.)
Pick your 3 most
promising prospects.
Lowest risk
Lowest barrier of entry
Achievable goals (S/L)
High motivation
Keep it simple:
Listening
Responding
Pushing
Reporting
65. Scarcity is a good marketing model.
Be nice to those
who were not picked.
Continue to work with them
Share what you are doing
Share what you are learning
Make them want to be next
Build internal momentum
Their turn will come
(Can they help now?)
66. What.
Why.
Where.
Put together a proposal: How.
67. Meet with:
CEO
Your boss
Department head
Other key actors
ï Opportunities
ï Objectives
ï Targets
ï Timeframe
ï Cost
ï Risk Management
What.
Why.
Where.
Put together a proposal: How.
68. Green light: Get things started.
Red light: You missed something.
Address what you missed.
Present again.
Orange Light: Fear is still a factor. See red light.
- Project is put under supervision of
someone outside your team.
- CEO wants time to think about it.
- CEO wants to run it by other senior
execs.
69. Remember:
Sell field
Sell testing,
opportunity, minimal risk &
change, and minimal drain
big ideas. on resources.
70. Donât:
Boring. Too much trouble.
Sell field Sell
testing, opportunity,
minimal risk & change, and
minimal drain big ideas.
on resources.
71. Why should I
trust you with Beware:
something this
big and scary? UmâŠ
Because you
should?
CEO
You
This almost guarantees that someone who doesnât know how to
manage a social media program will end up running your program.
72. I probably need Beware:
to find a digital
marketing guy.
CEO
You
This is how social media ends up in the hands of marketing and/or
digital departments.
73. Next: Building out your strategy & program
How does Social Media
fit into and across my
organization?
Business Functions Business Processes
Marketing Customer Business HR Legal IT Internal
Service Dvlpmt. Communications
Advertising
Customer Collaboration
Public
Support Measurement
Relations
Reputation Data Analysis
Mgmt.
Research
74. You made it through another module!
Take a break. Review your notes. Now what?
Good job!