Twelve Ways to Sell Social Media to Your Boss

> Cost of implementing a blog is free or cheap. No more than > $100 for a year of hosting. And most software is free.
> (There are some benefits from professional blogging
> software, but for most people, free is plenty fine).

Of course, in order to be effective, blogs need to be updated and comments responded to.

Or have I missed something here – is the US Job Market so bad that “community managers” work for nothing?

If I look at the time I spend blogging personally, and look at how much that “costs” in my charge-out rate, then my blog “costs” several TENS of THOUSANDS of pounds each year. The reason I blog, however, is that it’s led to exposure and indeed income that otherwise I’d not have had.

Good list. I wanted to add that blogging also helps create awareness for your brand by posting comments on other blogs which are leaders in your industry.

Thanks for your post. But you seem to say engaging with social media effort doesn’t cost much. Which is eventually not accurate. It costs time (as says Mark Harrisson above). And needs the company to get accompanied (you job right?). Which also costs. Tech doesn’t make it all, we all know that well. To go through your points:
1. Social media isn’t more effective, but would target more accurately your consumers. And it depends of the level of the Internet knowledge people in charge have. Can turn to be a waste of time if you need to manage and monitor all their actions (remember you’re giving those people the company credit and reputation when they’re speaking for you outside the box)
3. Implementing a blog is cheap or free. Right. And experience curve to well blogging? how much does it cost? Time to evangelize within the company to show blogging has added value. How much does it cost? Software and hosting does do nothing. Human being in front of the computer (when not outside being a representative) costs.
9. Blogging helps a company differentiate and establish a thought leadership position: ok but only if the company’s mindset already like that. Blogging is about exposure, not changing mindset
11. Building Social Network Group increase retention rate: to do so you need a community manager to maintain and stimulate the group, which takes time (you know the rhyme)

Engaging with social media efforts takes time and needs company to get ready to jump. But then, it’s all about ROI ;)

Social media is a great way to stay competitive. If you don’t stay 10 steps ahead of your competition then you will surely DIE. They will swoop down hard on you and steal your customers if you still believe “twitter” is a delicacy in Mali.

Those are excellent suggestions – thanks for sharing!

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Hope you have a wonderful day!

Marti_L from Twitter

A thought provoking post especially for the uses of social media it brings us face to face with. It gives some crucial ideas to survive and succeed in online business. We get the point very clear that social media is indispensable for every business and we can not afford to miss out on this relatively important business tool, otherwise, we may be left out. To stay competitive and keep our customers hooked to our business like never before, the tools of social media like social networks, blogging and social bookmarking come handy due to their global impact. Blogging especially is a great platform for going online as it is an effective way to create awareness about your brand and differentiate your business. We get information about what our customers have to say about our business so as to improve on our weak points and also get them acquainted about how other companies are using social media. Social networking sites come with the added advantage of providing best product marketing to a wider audience. So, all you corporates looking for ways to enhance your success, here is the recipe from Chris Brogan, use social media and get your business see new heights! Anyone listening….

Nice post man….

Not just helpful for boss-convincing but also for student-convincing. I get a lot of “deer in headlights” looks when I broach social media for the first time with students, I think this is a great list for hitting some of the key reasons why it should matter to them, too. Thanks!