I recently spoke and presented to some of my customers to increase their awareness of social media and all things digital and online. The purpose was to raise their understanding and provide them with a vision of social media and its power to 
leverage and spread content and create brand awareness whether that be corporate or personal.
Those of us who work day in and day out in the digital and social media marketing sector sometimes forget that most people still work in very traditional industries and are not fully immersed in the burgeoning swirling world of cyberspace.
To disturb the conservative and safe paradigms that companies fall into with their marketing, you may need to implement a project ‘disrupt‘..this is part of the journey required to take them from sceptics to believers. You need to open their eyes take them out of the traditional paradigms that they have wrapped themselves in for decades.
Part of this challenge is that to make things really happen in an organisation you need to get the CEO and senior management on board.
It doesn’t matter if you you have the best plans in the world but if you don’t have the management onboard and the CEO, it is going to be hard (try impossible) to get the funds and resources you need to make your social media marketing a success.
If you have a look at the top brands and how they are using social media whether that be Ford or General Motors or Starbucks you will find that they have CEO’s and senior executives that ‘get it’ and understand the power that social media marketing can provide for a brand.
In a post last year I received a lot of comments on how to convince the CEO to use emerging social media technologies rather than the yellow pages (and other declining mass media).
So here is a bit of crowdsourcing to bring you the best 7 comments and suggestions from the post as to how to convince the CEO to enter the 21st century and embrace the new media of the social.
1. This from ‘Ted’
“Align your social media discussion with the mission of the organization. Help the CEO answer in his/her mind, how is the strategic and tactical use of social media going to either increase profit, decrease costs and/or increase client satisfaction. Ultimately, a CEO cares about money in their pocket”.
2.From ‘Laurawynn’ who said
“Hit on the struggles faced by those of us transitioning from traditional marketing to social networking and ….bring the decision makers with us!”
3.M. Wallcom’s comment
“One important thing I would add is to be prepared to succingtly answer the question “If we endorse it, what will we achieve in the short and long term?” You may only get one shot – be prepared.”
4. Cortney Rhoads made this suggestion
“One idea (to start off slower) is to capitalize on an existing industry niche the company plays in and create a social media strategy for that industry within the larger company. The head of the practice or industry group can blog about issues germane to the company’s core messaging but also start engaging as an industry/service expert, listen to people, start a twitter feed.”
5.Lorraine Antrim had this to say
“When you can show that a social media strategy not only can accelerate growth but also bring the CEO’s vision closer to reality, you’re in like flint!”
6. Gerry McCusker made his suggestions via a YouTube Video
“At IABC World conf in San Francisco in June 09. As part of a 2.5hr session, I used this clip to illustrate the rise in techs and attitudes of Web2.0 stakeholders – sure helps scare C-suite types”
7. Andrew Davis also took the video response comment route.
Some other resources that are worth checking out are the original post
‘9 Ways To Convince The CEO To Use Social Media and Enter The 21st Century‘ plus
‘10 Steps To Get CEO Approval For Online Marketing’
So how are you convincing the CEO to abandon his yellow pages?