Comments on: The Reluctant Social Media Client

By: Greg's Seo Copywriting Services

Greg's Seo Copywriting Services — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:57:49 +0000

It looks like I’m a case in point! I’m just beginning to look into social media from a business standpoint and my reluctance has been due to not understanding it. I’m seeing more and more the importance of how to help build my business. Thanks!

By: Ryan Stephens Marketing » 20 Essential Blog Posts From November

Ryan Stephens Marketing » 20 Essential Blog Posts From November — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:04:15 +0000

[...] The Reluctant Social Media Client – Aliza Sherman (Web Worker Daily) I’ve been working on a project lately that continually reminds me of how deep I am into this space, and that there are others that just don’t “get it” yet. Aliza offers four great ways to help you handle the reluctant social media client. As for my opinion, they have to want to learn, and if they do they’ll become equipped a lot faster (and be more successful) than the company (person) you have to convince and cajole. [...]

By: SEO Copywriting | The more things change, the more they stay the same

SEO Copywriting | The more things change, the more they stay the same — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:59:59 +0000

[...] Wham. I felt the flashback hit while I was reading the Web Workers Digest post. [...]

By: Kim

Kim — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:37:53 +0000

Great post! I feel your pain and appreciate the advice and insight offered on how we can best prepare our clients to take the necessary leap.

Markus – I agree with your comments, especially the bit about corporate culture. Case studies can be extremely helpful in demonstrating the value and impact (measurable results) of social media.

By: Markus

Markus — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:35:14 +0000

The biggest parts of the problem are:

- A generational gap, where those in power often have less of an intuitive grasp of the technology, simply because they don’t use it much, compared to Gen-X/Gen-Y

- A devolution of control, which is difficult to embrace for those who don’t understand these new media (i.e. management) and who are used to having a tight control on corporate message / communications

- The overall disruptive nature of these media to corporate culture, routine, etc — even the perception that they might threaten job security in some way

A lot of organizations talk about embracing these media, but much of it is pro-forma. Walking the walk actually takes a big leap, in terms of corporate culture. That’s why it’s often such a wrench.

The best you can do is point to case studies (Blendtec, Mentos, Fiskars, etc.) or competitors. And walk the decision-makers at an organization through it all.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:31:11 +0000

I think one of the problems in nonprofits is the threat social media poses to the hierarchy. Small NPOs remain far more authoritarian than corporations can afford to be in the 21st century. I’ve seen a lot of resistance that boils down to, “If we give our employees/constituencies/donors direct access to our information, we can’t control them anymore.”

By: Steve Boese

Steve Boese — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:21:52 +0000

Another approach I have tried is to demonstrate where our competitors are taking advantage of social media, and compare our presence (or lack thereof). Sometimes seeing the stark differences can be an impetus for action.

By: Rich Hand

Rich Hand — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:16:38 +0000

I used to work at a large corporation where they could not understand the usefulness of chat, IRC, instant access to people nor presence indicators. Rather than explain the tech behind it or why they should use it, our approach was to incrementally let them know WITFM (what’s in it for me). Once they got the first small benefit into their head, it blossomed into “their” idea and things went far easier to apply our tech to “their” next big idea. Just a thought from my experience. Good post.

By: Mary Motz

Mary Motz — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:04:06 +0000

Great post – I struggle with this a lot with clients. Very often I will be asked “how can I get more website visitors?”. They expect the old tricks to be applied to websites, etc – and they will magically get more traffic… but I explain that they need to blog and they should also be engaging their audience with social media. Often the big barrier to it (especially blogging) is that they aren’t *consumers* of blog media – so they really don’t understand what blogging is.

Sometimes I just advise clients to look for blogs on any subject they like, and make a habit of reading them… they will get a better understanding of how they work.