So you’ve watched all the videos from my previous post, and have decided that relinquishing some control over your social media is the way to go. Unfortunately, management doesn’t feel the same way. How do you convince them that this is the right direction for the company?
#1 Highlight the fact that giving up control means gaining trust
Customers are like teenagers. They complain more than they compliment, they balk at being treated like children, and they demand trust and control over their own decisions – loudly. Also similar to teenagers, a funny thing happens when you give up some control: they begin to trust you more. When Group A demonstrates trust in Group B, Group B develops more trust in Group A. Teenagers are, on average, more well behaved when parents demonstrate that they trust and respect them. Customers react positively when companies demonstrate trust in them.
#2 Emphasise that marketing is about getting the word out about who you are and what you do…
…and your customers are in a better place than you to do so. Think about it. You have a built-in network of brand ambassadors out there who want to engage with their peers and convince them to go with your brand – all for the low, low cost of $0 + a bit more autonomy. A bit more freedom will have multiple new networks buzzing about your company!
#3 Relinquishing control allows the company to spend more time on creating strong, positive content
When you don’t need to spend time validating each comment and searching the web for every opinion, your time is freed up to do other things for the company – opportunity cost, plain and simple. With all this extra time, you could be building truly engaging posts that help direct the conversations about your company the way you want them to be. You could have extra time to spot check messages being sent from the company to check that they are appropriate and in line with company branding. You could even (gasp!) be actively responding to posts and directly engaging with your customers. The possibilities are endless.