As I work feverishly to develop and launch my company's brand into the social media space I have encountered light, but constant push-back. Luckily for me we recently hired a new VP of Marketing that believes in social media and the power that it holds for our marketing efforts. When I started on the journey of trying to introduce a social plan for our marketing department I was met with resistance from the middle management. Due to my place in the company I don't have a direct line to the VP. This means that I must wade through sr. managers and directors. Due to this light resistance I was able to really grow my knowledge and skills at creating proposals and really evangelizing what I felt was a key initiative. I am so grateful that the people I needed to convince did not just accept what I was saying as truth but rather made me convince many of them of the plan. I am happy to announce now that we have recently received approval to create a branded presence on Twitter with Facebook soon to follow.

The main reason for this post is not to revel in my own success and narcissism but rather discuss the barriers that exist with creating a radically different approach to marketing. In most corporate settings the management is well schooled in traditional methods and procedures for growing your business. The traditional forms of marketing are always needed and social media is just an addition to the overall marketing mix. Because the management is so rooted and schooled in the traditional it takes lots of effort to convince some that social media will help.

The first barrier that is most often hit is that they just simply don't understand. To many Facebook is just a place where college students post their pictures and share crazy stories. People in the social media space really understand that this is not even close to the facts anymore. Yes, that is how Facebook grew its 175 million user base but in the last year or so it has really transformed into a place where businesses can interact with their customers. This is a key idea that needs to be expressed before your management will understand. Use examples of how other companies are using Facebook and social media to create and maintain the conversation with customers and prospects.

Second, proving that social media is a measurable effort. There are a variety of traditional marketing strategies that are simply not measureable and used every day. There really is no way, for example, to measure the true ROI of a radio or TV advertising campaign. Yes, you can use traffic analytics to see if you are receiving more traffic to your store or site but how do you know exactly why the people are coming from. On the other end of the spectrum is my baby, Search Engine Marketing. I specialize in PPC marketing and let me tell you; even in this down economy my team continues to get budget increases because we can provide reports to management that shows exactly where every penny they spend goes and how successful we are. I believe social media falls in the middle of this spectrum. While not as directly measurable as PPC SEM, it is far more measureable than traditional advertising. This is because of the simple fact it is online and as most of us know, everything online is tractable. Use your web analytic tools and tracking systems to easily log what your campaigns are doing.

Thirdly, overcoming the infamous "this is not what our brand is" argument. I work at a company with very strict brand requirements and a military-esque control of the style guide. You must meet and discuss with the people who are in charge of the brand to find out what it is that you can and can't do. Sorry, there is no way around arguing with brand people over what they think. You must obey. This doesn't mean that you can't enter the social media world it just means that you have to work hard to help change the guidelines. Work with the brand police not against. If they are good at their job they will come to a compromise that will allow you to reduce the rigid corporate feel to your brand if that is how it is managed. This barrier is overcome with dialogue and politics. You will not win if you resist everything. After countless discussions with the brand manager I was able to come to a less corporate feel to our Twitter page and relaxed feel on our planned Facebook page.

Hopefully this post will help you understand what it takes to take your company into the social media space. The most important advice I can offer based on my experiences is talking and dialogue is unbelievable important. You must be flexible and work with the powers to be. Evangelism of your cause is also important. Start small and build a following that will work for you. Don't go right to the top because it will be difficult to get them to understand without people on your side.


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