How to convince management to invest in Social Media Marketing

Posted on 18. May, 2009 by Shaylee in Social Media, Social Media Tutorials

One of the biggest questions on everyone's mind in the social media space is, "How can I convince management to invest in Social Media Marketing?"

This was the burning question that everyone seemed to have at the Social Media Club Seattle conference with guest speaker Jim Watson (Razorfish) held at the Lake Washington Rowing Club on May 13th, 2009.

When I got home I typed in "How to convince management to invest in social media marketing" and I was surprised to not find one relevant link!

So because I gained valuable information from Jim and the attendees that night, I thought I'd share the most valuable takeaway I learned from everyone….

Show examples!

Even  social media experts know how difficult it is to track revenue produced by their social media efforts but they say that showing examples of how people are talking about them online have been very powerful in convincing management to hop on board.

So let's test this concept!

I've picked a company that I love and one that is not heavily invested in social media. My goal is to show them that they should hop on the social media train along with everyone else.

The Twitter Buzz About Zumiez

The company I picked is Zumiez with an online e-commerce website Zumiez.com.

I am by no means a skateboarder nor have snowboarded in my life but I love Zumiez for their girls fashion. I also love the people in the store who make me feel comfortable as soon as I walk in. These two things combined make me a fan of the company and their products. I'm sure I'm not the only girl out there who falls into this category.

The following example is based off a Twitter search for the keyword "Zumiez".

To my surprise I found that Ashley Tisdale, famous for staring in High School Musical, Twitpic-ed herself wearing the Zumiez Gangster-ish T-shirt she just bought! Below is Ashley's tweet:

That day Ashley Tisdale had 354,002 Twitter followers.

Here was the Twitter response from a few of her followers:

Combined, the four fans who replied to the Tweet had 117 followers.

I also searched for those who might have mentioned the Gangster-ish T-shirt but didn't @ or RT Ashely. I also made sure they were following Ashley Tisdale. That resulted in one Tweet:

This tweeter had 35 followers.

This means that the total reach that day was at least 354,154 followers.

To go a step further, feel free to read the comments left by 20 Twitter users on Ashley Tisdales Gangster-ish Twitpic.

From this conversation, it is difficult to measure how many of Ashley's followers actually saw her tweet or how many actually purchased the Gangster-ish T-Shrit. What we do know is that Ashley Tisdale has created a buzz about Zumiez amongst her followers and reached out to a massive amount of fans in a short amount of time. All for free!

Now Zumiez can take the opportunity to join the conversation and start building relationships with this new market. By investing in Social Media, Zumiez can actively listen to their customers wants and needs, discover new markets and will be able to continually provide them with great, buzz worthy content and products.

Let's hear your feedback!

SMC Social Media Experts! I would love to hear your feedback about the importance of using Social Media within your company!

What examples did you show your company and/or investors to convince them jump on board with Social Media?

What types of conversations are you having online with your customers?

What does using  Social Media say about finding new market opportunities for your business?

Let's make this a great post for people to refer to!

I look forward to your stories!

Keep Searching,

Related Posts

• The Importance Of Outsourcing (6)
• Complete Social Bookmarking Sets (4)

Tags: ashley tisdale, convince managment, gangster-ish tshirt, investing in social media, jim watson razorfish, marketing online, Online Marketing, retail marketing, search 2.0, social media club seattle, social media marketing, tweetreach, twitter, word-of-mouth, zumiez