Key takeaways:
- Social media leaders at older, established brands may need to educate their leaders and stakeholders on the importance of social media for organizational success. Showcasing how your efforts help achieve larger company goals can help gain more budget and resources for your strategy.
- Consistently meeting with different business lines can align social media efforts and create a willingness to test new strategies. Building on internal relationships can also help pitch ideas to business partners who may be reluctant to invest in social media.
- Using data to inform other business units on why certain campaigns are being prioritized can give you more investments. Specific metrics — such as engagement rates, number of shares, and cost-per-share — can be helpful in identifying which content resonates with audiences.
Emerging technologies and shifting ownership of some of the most prolific social media platforms have caused many companies to re-examine their digital marketing and social media strategies and evaluate how they want to engage with consumers.
With Twitter’s tumultuous leadership, TikTok’s uncertain future, and Instagram’s algorithmic updates, many social media leaders are looking for stakeholders to be more involved with their strategies, test new campaigns, and support efforts on emerging platforms.
During a recent panel discussion on addressing social media uncertainty in 2023, SocialMedia.org members shared steps on how you can engage with stakeholders to secure more buy-in and educate other business lines on social media’s role in achieving enterprise-wide goals.
1. Educate Business Leaders on the Importance of Social Media Investment
SocialMedia.org Board Chair Jennifer Manger, Vice President of Social Media Marketing at Wells Fargo, explained how older existing brands have to educate business leaders and stakeholders on social media’s importance for organizational success.
For example, Jennifer hosted conversations with their marketing teams on how social media advances their marketing efforts and supports larger business goals. She noted there was a significant focus on creative efforts and engaging with consumers on newer platforms during these conversations.
In a members-only leadership discussion on maturing social media programs, SocialMedia.org members also discussed how they showed the business impact of social media to other business lines in their organizations.
One member shared they presented how social media helps their company to achieve goals quicker. That member used a social maturity assessment through Hootsuite to analyze four of their business pillars and how social media advances their efforts in brand awareness and customer support.
Being tactical and showcasing how strategic social media efforts help larger company goals helped this leader gain more budget and resources for their strategy. They now plan on investing more in advocacy, thought leadership, and working with influencers to keep pushing their program.
Creating a Foundation for Your Social Media Program Can Be Critical for Success
But even with consistent communication and reporting, Jennifer added how she had to constantly bring a focus to adjustments needed in their social media efforts at Wells Fargo.
“We’re really forcing the issue by bringing all of the business leaders in one place to explain what we’re doing wrong,” Jennifer said. “For example, if we’re going to send an equal amount of money on TV as in social media, then we should be thinking about how those ads and content resonate within those specific social environments.”
And sustaining this engagement for social efforts at a large organization can be daunting. Jennifer explained how there’s been a revolving door of leaders throughout the years and how she’s looking to create a foundational understanding of social media’s impact on their business.
We’re really forcing the issue by bringing all of the business leaders in one place to explain what we’re doing wrong.
Jennifer Manger, Vice President of Social Media Marketing at Wells Fargo
2. Collaborate with All Business Lines to Gain More Buy-In
SocialMedia.org Board Chair David Lingholm, Social Media Team Lead at Consumers Energy, spoke on the importance of consistently meeting with different business lines to advance your strategies.
“I’ve made it a point to take every advantage I can of the opportunities to network within the organization and to meet as many people outside of corporate communications, including public affairs and customer service,” David said. “I’m meeting with operations people as often as possible because they’ve always got questions for me, too.”
He added how building on internal relationships aligns your strategy and informs others what your team is looking to achieve. David shared how networking with these other business lines creates a willingness to test new strategies.
“We get a lot of reps explaining why we need to be in social, why we need to have a content strategy, why we need dollars to boost these things, and why things can’t go viral,” David said. “I talk about this with people who have no business knowing, and that helps out when it comes time to pitching ideas with the business partners who are a little bit reluctant.”
I talk about this with people who have no business knowing, and that helps out when it comes time to pitching ideas with the business partners who are a little bit reluctant.
David Lingholm, Social Media Team Lead at Consumers Energy
3. Use Data to Gain More Investments
SocialMedia.org Board Member Erika Heyer-Watts, Social Media Manager at Otis, shared how she was able to use data to inform other business units on why they’re focusing on specific campaigns.
Erika said her team met at the end of each campaign and broke down the numbers for other lines of business. Then, they presented all their campaigns for the quarter and compared what worked well and what didn’t. Erika said this shed light on where they could prioritize future social initiatives.
“They asked why one post would do so much better than others,” Erika said. “I explained that the successful posts were promoted. Then the creative team said, ‘Well, if you need our dollars, we’ll try and get that for you.’”
Erika was successful in receiving more investment in her efforts, a difficult task for many social media leaders without as many dedicated employees or team members.
“When we can show them what paid can do and what assets social media can specifically create, they’re so much more willing to engage,” Erika added, speaking on working with other lines of business.
When we can show them what paid can do and what assets social media can specifically create, they’re so much more willing to engage.
Erika Heyer-Watts, Social Media Manager at Otis
Specific Metrics to Use in Your Reporting
During a members-only call on refining your organic strategy with performance data, SocialMedia.org members also shared how they’re leveraging specific key performance metrics to gain buy-in.
Members shared how engagement rates continue to be an important metric, and agreed that number-of-shares is one of the most helpful metrics to identify which content is resonating the most with your audiences.
While many executives continue to be interested in vanity metrics and “going viral,” members said other helpful data points include cost-per-share, completed video views, return visitors, and net sentiment.
Ultimately the metrics you choose to analyze depend on the goals of your campaigns and the channels your company invests into for consumer engagement.
4. Evaluate Emerging Social Media Platforms
Assessing channel viability and paving the way for new social media initiatives is critical in advancing your strategy. For many social media leaders, evaluating emerging platforms is a process that can further engage executives and inform them of possible growth avenues.
During another members-only leadership discussion, SocialMedia.org members shared how evaluating new platforms is part of their ongoing social media goal-setting and review processes.
Standard portions of these processes include audience evaluation, resource requirements, and updates to existing policies and governance.
Members also noted how reviews happen alongside their other social media goals and plans, helping to make platform review part of an integrated, end-to-end social media strategy.
Partner With Social Media Reps to Help During the Evaluation Process
During the panel discussion, SocialMedia.org Board Member Lisa Hill, Social Media Lead at Whirlpool Corporation, described how working with the reps of emerging platforms helped her prove why investing in growing channels helps company-wide goals.
“We’ve been able to lean on [the reps] to help with case studies and prove out the success of why channels like TikTok are about that raw and authentic look and feel, and how that performs differently than what we were pushing out on Facebook or Instagram,” Lisa said.
She explained how ensuring new platforms are distinctly unique can help you gain more resources. Lisa also described how this difference could be critical in consumer engagement, which can increase overall brand awareness.
“We have to start to think about these channels differently,” Lisa shared. “It’s no longer a content space where you can just plug and play content across five different channels and see what works across the board.”
She added how leaning into subject matter experts or existing influencers on specific social channels can give guidance on gaining more leadership buy-in.
It’s no longer a content space where you can just plug and play content across five different channels and see what works across the board.
Lisa Hill, Social Media Lead at Whirlpool Corporation
Educate Stakeholders on the Value of Emerging Social Media Platforms
Lisa also talked about the importance of ensuring your senior leaders understand the value of emerging platforms and how investing in these newer channels supports your executives.
“It is a lot of education and ensuring that the look and feel is different — but it works,” Lisa said. “Some of the benefits that we have within the Whirlpool brands is there are already consumers out there using our products from a user-generated perspective in that natural environment.”
She explained how she gained more resources for their content strategy after showcasing how authentic consumer engagement on platforms like TikTok elevated their brand growth.
In another private conversation, SocialMedia.org members mentioned how you can further demonstrate the value of emerging platforms to senior leaders.
One example shared was how one member presented a request for more budget and resources for their organization’s social media and influencer programs, specifically for newer platforms their company hadn’t invested heavily into yet.
They highlighted the advantages of being a first mover on new channels, citing anecdotal evidence of successful brands and influencers who established a presence on a platform before competitors.
5. Gain More Peer Insights on Engaging with Stakeholders to Advance Your Strategies
While it is important to have a clear vision and goals in mind for your social media strategy, it is equally essential to understand the perspectives and needs of those who will be impacted by your efforts.
Gain peer insights from other social media leaders at billion-dollar companies — like Lisa, David, Erika, and Jennifer, who shared more during the recent SocialMedia.org panel discussion on addressing uncertainty in 2023.
Or join your peers in SocialMedia.org, where members meet weekly to benchmark the stakeholders they’re engaging with and the strategies for upcoming and trending platforms to achieve company goals.
