Member Avatar for MktgRob

I read a question in one of my Linkedin forums about how to convince a company to get involved in Social Networking and community building. Here is a brief summary of what I did?

1. I established corporate presences on various social networking sites (Linkedin, Twitter, blogs, YouTube)
2. After linking all of them to the corporate website I presented the whole set-up in a meeting to show that by doing so you create a 'fishing net' to capture more prospects.
3. I identified who would be the most-likely early adopters and played to their ego's that they would make a name for themselves in the company by being pioneers for the company.

It took a few months but now they are running with it. Have any of you had to deal with a similar hurdle and if so what did you do to convince the company that social networking was importan

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Building on points from and , here is a concise, action-first playbook to win staff buy-in for social community work without asking for months of unpaid research. Start small, tie activity to a single business outcome, and show results fast.

Pilot checklist:

  • Objective: one measurable business outcome (leads, support deflection, product feedback).
  • Scope: one product or customer segment; limit channels to reduce effort.
  • KPIs: one reach/engagement metric, one conversion metric, one business metric.
  • Team & budget: a cross-functional owner, 1-2 contributors, and a fixed 8–12 week timebox.
  • Guardrails: simple posting templates, approval path, and a named escalation contact.

90-day plan example:

  • Weeks 1–2: baseline metrics, policy, training, content calendar.
  • Weeks 3–8: run content/tests, track daily leading indicators.
  • Weeks 9–11: iterate on top-performing formats.
  • Week 12: package results (numbers + 2–3 customer stories) and recommend next step.

Reporting and scaling: present both headline KPIs and the math that links them to revenue or cost savings. Include qualitative wins (customer quotes, time saved) alongside metrics. For measurement templates and metric ideas see Hootsuite - How to measure social media ROI. For audience context, refer to broader platform usage data like the Pew Research Center - Social Media Fact Sheet.

Caution: keep scope tight, document results clearly, and get legal or compliance sign-off on the pilot plan before posting.

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Member Avatar for InsightsDigital

Yes I have experienced a similar hurdle and I now other colleagues who have to present length and labor intensive case studies in order to bolster their case. Another hurdle is how to justify your fees.

Member Avatar for MktgRob

Yes I have experienced a similar hurdle and I now other colleagues who have to present length and labor intensive case studies in order to bolster their case. Another hurdle is how to justify your fees.

I think that if I did the studies your colleagues did I would have a hard time getting paid for the time to do that work. One of the ways I am making sure that I can justify my fees is by having one of the admins sit in on the meetings I have with the teams and have them take the minutes. Documented proof of institutional resistance is always best!

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