From {Young Minds}: How to Combat Social Media Skepticism

This Young Minds post was written by Daniel Prager.

As social media converts, we are in constant contact with people who share our views, and it kind of pulls the wool over our eyes. I’ve got news for you all– The world is dominated by social media skeptics.

So how do you deal with social media skeptics? How do you explain the importance of social media?

Whether the skepticism of social media is coming from your boss, your peers, or a potential client here are some ways that I try and challenge social media skeptics without coming off as obnoxious.

When dealing with your boss

Talk about some interesting social media usage in your industry.
Show your boss what industry leaders are doing on a local and national level. ShowcaseYelp reviews, explain the power of Google local, and explain the value of being a transparent business who interacts with their customers. Talk about brand loyalty, brand awareness and building a community around your business or brand.
Put yourself in their shoes.
How does using social media help his/her bottom line? Explain to your boss, that for a fraction of traditional marketing cost, you could help create targeted ads that will probably perform better than existing marketing methods. Convince them to let you make a Facebook page or company Twitter, or blog.
Explain that people are already talking about their business online.
Who wouldn’t want to know what is being said about their business or brand?

When dealing with peers:

Research and show them information.
Social media is a great way to find targeted info. It keeps you informed of the best deals, restaurants, news, sports, entertainment, and whatever else it is your peers care about.
Talk about new connections formed via social media.
This is a given – show proof that it has been beneficial to you. It’s hard to argue facts when you can demonstrate what you have gotten out of those connections. Being able to show knowledge goes a long way.

When dealing with clients:

Listen attentively.
As young professionals it is easy to overlook the work and dedication it takes to build up a business. Social media is putting a brand out there and not always knowing what will happen. Understand their concerns and come up with a game plan.
Explain social media in terms that make sense.
Compare social media to other existing forms of business development that they have used in the past. Explain how social media is like word of mouth marketing, like traditional PR in terms of networking and building relationships, etc.

Social media skeptics are everywhere, and sometimes dealing with them can become frustrating. However, the great thing about skepticism is that it forces us to better understand why we’re passionate about social media, and gives us the opportunity to explain its benefits in a coherent, rational, and powerful way.

Daniel Prager is an Interactive Marketing Consultant for The Ocean Agency. He is a recent college graduate and fan of all things social– whether online or off. To find out more about what Dan does online, go here.

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laurenfernandez

The thing is, there are always going to be skeptics. There are skeptics about e-mail pitching , and on the flip side, skeptics about fax pitching. It's all about how you approach, how you educate and how you engage with the follow-up. I think you hit on some great points that everyone should listen to. Thanks for contributing to the Young Minds series D!
Laura Hill

I really like the points you made regarding dealing with the boss. I just recently encountered this very issue. Being able to talk about other companies in the industry you are a part of, who have taken on social media initiatives, really helps to smooth the point over. I also, as you mentioned, spoke about how so many were already discussing our business online and that it only made sense to make it a two-way conversation. Your post really reaffirmed many of my methods. I thank you for that!
laurenfernandez

I really like the comparison of a two-way conversation, Lauren. It's something that many need to realize is vital on the SM level.
Danny Prager

No problem! I'm glad you enjoyed the post.
JasonPeck

Great stuff here. Another thing that is very important to address is the "why?" and goals. This kind of goes along with your point, "putting yourself in their shoes."

When you're talking to your bosses and clients, understand that they are bombarded with different ideas and things they could do every day. The issue is not that they can't do them, it's just that they have priorities and goals and must decide what should get done first to give them maximum impact for minimum investment. If you can show these people WHY they should do programs you recommend, you're a lot more likely to get buy-in.
Danny Prager

Great point Jason.

You need to tailor a social media plan to fit with the specific goals of a client. How do you get "the maximum impact for minimum investment?"
JasonPeck

Obviously, this is going to be different for each client/plan based on their goals. But I just meant this in a general sense, as that's what people care about. Sometimes it's about knowing when NOT to push them into social media--depending on their goals, there may be other/better ways to achieve results and achieve the best results for lowest costs.

Social media is great, and everyone SHOULD at least have a presence on some of the popular platforms/sites. But if you have a client that is strictly focused on a goal, say, increasing sales in the shortest amount of time with X budget, and you only have one shot to get this result, another option, like PPC, might be better for them.
Danny Prager

You may be right, but I do think it might be somewhat problematic to only think about social media in terms of tangible dollars and cents. Some of the most powerful ways that companies can use social media (and increase their profit in the long run) is for branding, PR, and customer service purposes. While you may not be able to see monetary growth right away, in the long run a company that is likeable, transparent and engaged with its customers will prosper.
JasonPeck

Agree 100%. But sometimes you have to do what your client wants, and if they want instant results, social media might not be best for them. Or it might... my point was just that you have to factor in what the client wants in your recommendations/plan.
daleberkebile

Daniel,
Great article. I am in the trenches everyday with Social Media. It is great to have an article based on overcoming the misconceptions of Social Media. It is also helpful to understand the naysayers point of view and then bring value of SM from their perspective. I am asked if all this stuff is a trend and tell people it is a trend just like, TV's, Radios, the Internet & Cell Phones. The trend is soon going to be trying to catch up with the early innovators that are well established if these people do not get on board soon.

Keep up the interesting articles.
Kristina Allen

I LIVE with a social media skeptic, and have been dating him for five years. It's completely frustrating, but I'm working on it. I tell him about all the great people I've been able to connect with in the communication industry, and all that I've learned. I think it's just a lot easier for PR people to accept social media since our jobs (which are ..oh 99% of our lives) require us to be constantly networking. Of course we do it for other reasons, but for someone who only needs to talk to five people a day to get by (like my boyfriend), he just doesn't see the value in his phone buzzing away every second. I don't think he'll ever be a tweeter, but I did let him play around with my FB account the other night, and he spent quite a bit on it exploring and seeing old friends he could be connecting with!
laurenfernandez

Haha, I feel your pain! I have the same issue with my guy - we have very different careers, and he doesn't get what I do on these things. I think many networks are more career-oriented and it depends on what you do.
Danny Prager

We spend our days surrounded by like minded people who "get" social media. I think it is important to spend time around others who don't think it's valuable to truly evaluate social media and its place in our world.

Everyone can benefit from social media, but there is no cookie cutter plan for everyone (or company). You may love the connections you form on Twitter, but that doesn't mean that everyone should be on Twitter, or even utilize it in the same way you do.

I have found that one thing pretty much all of my friends agree on is that they love how you can find events and deals through social media.
Silver

At the company I work for, middle management has bought in on the use of social media, but only after learning about best practices at conferences and seminars. While senior management is open to listening, their aren't many case studies about energy companies using social media as a ad/pr tool. While we are quick to point out the cost cutting and opportunity to be leaders in our market, their is still skepticism as to the ROI for time spent on these projects.

We are using small projects to test the waters and share small victories with senior managment in hopes of one day getting complet buy-in.
Danny Prager

This is something that I feel is pretty common around the workforce. While middle management may have adopted social media, upper level management is stuck on the concept of ROI.

While ROI is a discussion for another day, for really good thoughts about social media ROI check out @rebeccadenison's post: http://rebeccadenison.wordpres.../ .

If you're looking for some examples of companies utilizing SM as an ad/pr tool here is a great place to start: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/t...

I think you're doing it exactly right-- having successes with social media is ultimately what is going to sell your bosses on its ROI.

Thanks for the comment!
Nicole VanScoten

Great post, Daniel! Believe me, I deal with skepticism all the time, so this is a really great topic to bring to light!

At the company I work for, Pyxl, we do a lot of social media case studies to show how it has worked well for our other clients, and that seems to resonate well with clients just jumping on the social media bandwagon. We are lucky because we have a few high-tech clients that love to be on the cutting edge of emerging media, so that allows us to have some great success stories to show to our more skeptical clients.
Danny Prager

That is so cool that you have clients who love to be on the cutting edge of emerging media. When you have clients who think like you do, definitely makes your life as a professional a lot more fun.

Case studies are especially important. Some of my favorites are from the Twitter 101 series: http://business.twitter.com/tw.../. While these mostly deal with big brands, it is easy to understand how similar methods would help smaller clients. What are some of your favorite social media case studies?

Thanks for the comment.
Jackie Adkins

I think a lot of the skeptics out there could also be convinced by simply walking them through various forms of social media. People are easily scared off by something that is "foreign" to them and if they have someone to hold their hand as they walk through it, this can alleviate their hesitation to dive in. This way, you can teach them how to use social in a way where they really will get value from it.
Tom O'Keefe

Agreed, Jackie.

Many people are frightened by anything new or different. I think you're right in your method. Hold their hand. Tell them to explore and not be afraid. Show them how it can be valuable for them. For example, I showed a friend how to use Twitter and he saw value, not necessarily for professional networking and sharing, but as a news feed instead. Showing him the basics really helped and he's been using Twitter more and more as a result.

Daniel- Great post! I'm looking forward to reading more of the comments!

-Tom O'Keefe
@TomOKeefe1
laurenfernandez

At what point, though, do you stop holding their hand?

Great points, as always T.
Tom O'Keefe

Lauren,

I introduced Twitter, taught and explained it a bit, shared some resources, and answered questions in the coming weeks as he explored. As he went on and tried more (I'll never forget the day he discovered Blip. "I'm a DJ!!"), he had fewer questions and became more self-sufficient in his use.
laurenfernandez

Perfect response. Unique to each person, but you need to view it as training wheels.
Danny Prager

Great point Jackie. Sometimes, a client, friend, or boss really just wants a little hand holding when it comes to social media. It is up to us to convince them that it is anything but scary. Thanks for the comment.