The first step is often the hardest step, isn't it? Unless it's the first step you take off the plane in Las Vegas. Not irrelevant but not really my point either... I'm talking about getting buy-in for your company's (or client's) first social media marketing program.
If you've been championing social media inside your organization or suggesting it to your clients, you know that winning support from a senior-level skeptic can be quite a challenge. You may be a believer, but your CMO, CEO, corporate communications gatekeeper or that woman down the hall who controls the purse strings isn't sold on the value or importance of social media. And without their buy-in, odds are good you won't be experimenting with social (let alone making it a fixture of your integrated marketing approach) any time soon.
My BFF (blog friend forever) Jason Falls and I were talking about this very challenge a month or so ago, and I walked him through a set of arguments (some rational, some emotional) that I've found to be pretty effective in getting skeptical clients to take the plunge.
Evidently he liked at least some of what I said, cuz when he lined up speakers for the "Social Media Business Summit" track at this year's Blog World & New Media Expo, he asked me to present a session on making the case for social media.
So this October, I'm Vegas bound and hope some of you will be too.
My 30-minute session -- From Skeptic to Advocate: Proving the Business Case to Your Boss or Client -- happens at 1:15pm on Saturday, October 17th and should be a nice combination of business in the front and party in the back (in other words, strike the right balance between informative and fun for a Saturday afternoon in Sin City.)
If you're thinking of attending Blog World & New Media Expo or want to find out what's in store, you can find the details on their site. Lots and lots of great speakers covering a wide variety of new media-related topics. And it's Vegas baby!
