Ready to launch the greatest social media campaign ever? In many organizations, you'll have to get the approval of a senior leadership team. In this presentation, you'll learn a variety of insights, strategies and tactics for overcoming executive resistance toward social media efforts. Presented by Ryan Cohn, Vice President of Social/Digital Operations at Sachs Media Group, at the Social Fresh EAST Conference in Tampa on April 19, 2013.

1. What Doesn't My CEO
Get About Social Media?
Ryan Cohn
VP, Social/Digital Operations
Sachs Media Group

2. The Evolution of Social Business
The two most important criteria for a successful social
business strategy are that it is:
•
Clearly aligned with strategic business goals of
an organization.
•
Has organizational alignment and support that
enables execution of that strategy.
Quantitative survey conducted by Charlene Li and Brian Solis, March 6, 2013
Study of 698 executives and social strategists about their social media efforts,
conducted online during Q4 2012 by Altimeter Group

3. The Evolution of Social Business
Half of all executives
are not informed, engaged, or
aligned with their company’s
social media strategies
in any capacity.

4. We must overcome differences and
bring both sides together.

5. How do we turn potentially the biggest
resistors into top advocates?

Analyze how senior leadership views social

Reframe misconceptions and perceptions

Connect social strategy to organizational
objectives

Encourage senior leadership social involvement

6. How Senior Leadership Views Social
•
16% of CEOs on social
– Expected to rise to 57% within 5 years
•
LinkedIn is the only platform with more CEOs
than general population
– (26% of CEOs compared to 20% of general population)
IBM Global CEO Study: Quantitative study of 1709 CEOs, general managers
and senior public sector leaders, conducted face-to-face during 2012 by IBM

7. How Executives Use Social Media

8. Who Taught CEOs About Social?

9. Who Taught CEOs About Social?

Older established professionals

Family members (kids and spouses)
When executives see their kids on phones all the time,
that's their perception of social media.
Heard from countless executives: “I'm not on
Facebook, but my wife is constantly on there looking
at family photos.”

Threatening groundswells and prominent news stories

10. “Huge ROI can be gained just by measuring
changes that stem from listening. It’s sad to
say, but the only changes I have seen are those
due to large or threatening groundswells.”
“And in my view, change was only made to
silence the noise.”
- Frank Eliason, SVP of Social Media, Citi

11. Reframing Misconceptions and Potentially
Damaging Perceptions

Audiences and tactics have matured.

Social media role's extends beyond customer
service and brand awareness.

Educate on the opportunities in risk/crisis
mitigation, brand protection and reputation
management, recruiting/staffing, etc.

12. “Social networks have evolved to become
knowledge and communication networks, and
access to thought leadership content is now
the primary reason professionals visit networks and
communities. Professionals are collaborating with
each other through the thought leadership content
they generate, curate or share.”
The Society for New Communications Research's (SNCR)
New Symbiosis of Professional Networks Study, 2012

13. Stop Calling It “Social Media”
IDG Enterprise’s 2013 B2B
Lead Generation Trends
Survey

14. Connecting Social Strategy to
Organizational Objectives
Perspective of 2-3 years ago: C-Level knows social/digital has
to be done, but don't know where to start.
Now: They're getting it more and more with
strong implementation and metrics.

15. The Evolution of Social Business
Only 34% of businesses felt that their
social strategy was connected to
business outcomes.
Quantitative survey conducted by Charlene Li and Brian Solis, March 6, 2013
Study of 698 executives and social strategists about their social media efforts,
conducted online during Q4 2012 by Altimeter Group

16. Great Example: John Hayes
Chief Marketing Officer, American Express

17. The Social Media ROI Pyramid
Jeremiah Owyang, The Altimeter Group

18. Encouraging Senior Leadership
Involvement in Social Media
Getting your C-Level leadership personally
active on social networks increases embrace
of social strategies and helps to change
misconceptions.

Long term strategy

Will not work for all organizations/executives

Be mindful of compliance and regulations

19. Trick to Increase Social Activity:
Focus on Employee Relations
Get C-Level active on social for employee acquisition,
retention and company morale purposes.

20. Employees Perspectives of Executive
Leadership Social Media Participation
•
82% were more likely or much more likely to trust a company whose
leadership team engages with social media.
•
78% would prefer to work for a company whose leadership is active
on social media.
•
81% believe that CEOs who engage in social media are better
equipped than their peers to lead companies in a web 2.0 world.
•
85% believe that CEOs can use social media channels to improve
engagement with employees.
•
86% rated CEO social media engagement as either somewhat
important, very important or mission critical.
Source: BrandFog 2012 CEO Study

21. How do we turn potentially the biggest
resistors into top advocates?

Reframe misconceptions and perceptions

Connect social strategy to organizational
objectives

Encourage senior leadership social involvement

22. Questions? Comments?
Twitter: @RyanCohn
Email: rcohn@sachsmedia.com
Phone: (850) 222-1996