The document outlines essential strategies for business managers to effectively sell social media programs within their organizations, highlighting the need for understanding key business functions that can improve through social media. It emphasizes addressing management fears, creating a culture of adaptability, and securing buy-in from leadership and various departments for successful implementation. The process involves identifying department needs, operational deployment, and ongoing management to foster change and leverage the benefits of social media for organizational growth.

1. THE FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIAL MEDI
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
FOR BUSINESS MANAGERS
Module 2: Selling your program.
Olivier Blanchard
Sample deck from the Fusion Marketing
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2. Your next challenge: properly selling the idea.

3. What are some areas / business functions that a
social media program might help improve?

4. Sales
Net New Customers, Increased Frequency of Transactions, promo exposure
Increased yield (average $ value per transaction), and product penetration
Customer Support
Immediate feedback and response, positive impact in public forum, cost reduction
Human Resources
More effective recruiting, online monitoring of employee behavior (risk management)
Public Relations
Online Reputation Management, improved brand image via Social Web
Customer Loyalty
Increased interactions, better quality of interactions, deeper relationship with brand,
Increased trust in brand, increased mindshare of brand, greater values alignment
Business Intelligence
Know everything.

5. Understanding the medium and seeing the
opportunities aren’t enough.
Objections aren’t always logical.

6. FEARIS THE MIND KILLER.

7. In a perfect world, managers are leaders.
We do not live in a perfect world.

8. Top leadership has the burden of responsibility.
Middle management has the burden of being
stretched too thin.
Worker bees have the burden of feeling powerless.

9. CULTURAL CONTRADICTION:
Pioneers and innovators are admired.
Failure is feared above all else.

10. Pioneers and innovators’ model of discovery is systematic
failure: Fail often to succeed faster.

11. Our culture idolizes rebels and risk-takers.

12. Attributes / qualities of leadership:
-Courage
-Vision
-Wisdom
-Benevolence
-Selflessness
-Magnanimity
-Boldness

13. John Glenn
Ernest Shackleton

14. Our mythologies and inherent need for hero worship create
models of archetypal leadership.
As a result, we expect certain attributes from leaders.
One of these key attributes is courage.
Ironically, it is the most lacking in the corporate world.
Ask yourself what has made companies like
Apple, Starbucks, Facebook and Virgin so exceptional:
Everything begins with visionary, courageous leadership.

15. Business schools don’t train execs to be heroes.
(They should.)

16. The traits and behaviors that lead a promising manager to
become CEO don’t necessarily touch on courage.
Results
Consensus
Trust
Cultural fit
Management vs. Leadership

17. Remember the Mac vs. PC ads?
Think of the problem this way…

18. What the corporate world sees:
CEO ???

19. In reality, the effective model is this:
CEO COO

20. The worst thing that can happen to a company:
CEO COO
I’m leaving
to start
another
company.
I am taking
over as
CEO.

21. Two very different types of humans:
CEO COO
Logistics
Operations
Risk Management
Structure
Innovative ideas
Experimentation
Vision
Cultural Sensitivity

22. Put the right people in the right roles:
Special Forces are very good at winning battles.
They are highly adaptive, capable and motivated.
They have all of the “hero” traits we seek in a leader.
Special Forces are terrible at being administrators.
Their specialty is winning,
Not making sure the trash gets picked up on time.

23. Most of the corporate leadership you will run into today is
made up of excellent managers and administrators, not
leaders in the core cultural sense of the term.
Leaders generally leave the corporate system on their own
or are pushed out of it because they don’t fit in a box.
Problem 1.1:

24. Most corporate environments are male dominated cultures.
If you understand biology, you understand the Alpha Male
phenomenon.
Artificial hierarchies vs. Natural hierarchies
create dysfunctions.
The result: unspoken animosity & fear of failure.
Problem 1.2:

25. If the CEO is the biological alpha in the room and he is self-
actualized, you will have an easier time of selling
and building your social media program.
If the CEO is not the biological alpha in the room,
you will have to deal with risk-aversion
and operational paralysis.
Problem 1.3:

26. Three models:
A)Starting from scratch?
B)Rebooting a program that stalled?
C)Rebooting a program that imploded?
Now that you understand what you are up against…
First things first: get your bearings

27. Three models:
A)Starting from scratch?
A lot of education ahead. Red flag: why such a late start?
A)Rebooting a program that stalled?
Look for operational dysfunctions and lack of focus.
A)Rebooting a program that imploded?
You will have to deal with trauma across the organization.
Tackling risk-averse objections
First things first: get your bearings

28. Step 1: Identifying rational reasons.

29. Step 2: Addressing irrational fears.

30. Step 1: Why should you be there?
- The social media program can solve a problem for the organization.
-The social media program is a matter of strategic necessity for the
organization.
-The social media program offers key opportunities for growth for the
organization.
-The social media program can help the organization penetrate new
markets. (Younger demos, mobile commerce, etc.)
-The social media program can provide new degrees of business
intelligence.
-The social media program will lower operating costs.
-The social media program will enable the organization to outclass the
competition in key areas.
If you cannot identify key business objectives on your own, turn this
list into questions. Look across the organization, at every department.

31. Sales
Net New Customers, Increased Frequency of Transactions, promo exposure
Increased yield (average $ value per transaction), and product penetration
Customer Support
Immediate feedback and response, positive impact in public forum, cost reduction
Human Resources
More effective recruiting, online monitoring of employee behavior (risk management)
Public Relations
Online Reputation Management, improved brand image via Social Web
Customer Loyalty
Increased interactions, better quality of interactions, deeper relationship with brand,
Increased trust in brand, increased mindshare of brand, greater values alignment
Business Intelligence
Know everything.

32. Avoid this:

33. @intersection1
Mark Smiciklas

34. Tackling risk-averse objections

35. Identifying & addressing fears / risk
You understand the difference between management vs. leadership
and its role in creating risk-averse cultures, silo’ed organizations, and
operational paralysis.
Now it is time to bring out those fears and give them shape. This is
closer to therapy than you think.
Typical answers:

36. Identifying & addressing fears / risk
You understand the difference between management vs. leadership
and its role in creating risk-averse cultures, silo’ed organizations, and
operational paralysis.
Now it is time to bring out those fears and give them shape. This is
closer to therapy than you think.
Typical answers:
-Loss of control & potential embarrassment. (What if people say bad things
about us? What if one of our employees makes a mistake?)

37. Identifying & addressing fears / risk
You understand the difference between management vs. leadership
and its role in creating risk-averse cultures, silo’ed organizations, and
operational paralysis.
Now it is time to bring out those fears and give them shape. This is
closer to therapy than you think.
Typical answers:
-Loss of control & potential embarrassment. (What if people say bad things
about us? What if one of our employees makes a mistake?)
-Loss of control & status inside the org. (Who will own this program? How
will my budget be affected?  Budgets control what gets done & exec status.)

38. Identifying & addressing fears / risk
You understand the difference between management vs. leadership
and its role in creating risk-averse cultures, silo’ed organizations, and
operational paralysis.
Now it is time to bring out those fears and give them shape. This is
closer to therapy than you think.
Typical answers:
-Loss of control & potential embarrassment. (What if people say bad things
about us? What if one of our employees makes a mistake?)
-Loss of control & status inside the org. (Who will own this program? How
will my budget be affected?  Budgets control what gets done & exec status.)
-Cost terror. (How much will this cost? What are the hidden costs?)

39. Identifying & addressing fears / risk
You understand the difference between management vs. leadership
and its role in creating risk-averse cultures, silo’ed organizations, and
operational paralysis.
Now it is time to bring out those fears and give them shape. This is
closer to therapy than you think.
Typical answers:
-Loss of control & potential embarrassment. (What if people say bad things
about us? What if one of our employees makes a mistake?)
-Loss of control & status inside the org. (Who will own this program? How
will my budget be affected?  Budgets control what gets done & exec status.)
-Cost terror. (How much will this cost? What are the hidden costs?)
-Operational Hurdles: (Our culture isn’t social. We are too silo’ed. We are too
risk-averse. We don’t have the manpower or the time. We don’t have the skill-set,
the framework or the tools. I don’t have time to devote to this.) Middle-
management concerns stem from being stretched too thin.

40. Think of this phase as an audit.
You are not there to provide answers or solutions.
You are there to let the people in the organization who can either be
your champions or your enemies give voice to their fears.
Ask the right questions:

41. Think of this phase as an audit.
You are not there to provide answers or solutions.
You are there to let the people in the organization who can either be
your champions or your enemies give voice to their fears.
Ask the right questions:
1. Get to the root of the objections. Get to the fear.
Understand the fear. (Ask if you have to.)
2. Ask what would solve the problem for them.
“What if we did x, y and z? Would that minimize the risk enough?”
3. Go back to the opportunity/reward part of the equation.
“So if we eliminated those risks, what would you want to get out of it?”

42. RISK VS. REWARDStep 1: Identify
Step 2: Minimize
Step 1: Identify
Step 2: Maximize

43. RISKVS. REWARD

44. RISK VS. REWARD
Maximize opportunity

45. This seems painfully simple.

46. This seems painfully simple.
It is the single-most important foundation for success in
building a healthy, successful social media program.

47. This seems painfully simple.
It is the single-most important foundation for success in
building a healthy, successful social media program.
99% of organizations fail in the social media space
because they did not go through this process.

48. This seems painfully simple.
It is the single-most important foundation for success in
building a healthy, successful social media program.
99% of organizations fail in the social media space
because they did not go through this process.
They rush to the tools, strategies, tactics and busy-work of
social media programs without laying the ground-work for it.
And at some point, either everything comes to a screeching
halt, or the program goes off into the weeds.
Don’t end up in the weeds.

49. Social media programs transform the way businesses operate.
If they transform processes, they transform behaviors.
And if they transform behaviors, they transform cultures.
In 2010-2020 failure = inability to adapt.
In 2010-2020 success = ability to manage change.
Change management, not social media management, is the
biggest challenge facing organizations today.

50. 5 decades separated the American Civil War and World War I
5 decades separate the establishment of modern organizational thought and the social web

51. Plan XVII: August 1914. One 62-year old French corps commander speaks of “astonishing
changes in the practice of war.” The French still fought in bright colors, out in the open, against
the modern rifle, machine guns and artillery. Failure to adapt.
At the start of the war, the British Army only had 2 machine guns per battalion.

52. A leader disconnected from his era cannot effectively lead.
Old thinking kills companies.
Reconnect the CEO and senior execs to the world they live in.
But don’t be a revolutionary. Be a trusted guide.

53. An imperfect understanding of the field always leads to bad decisions.
Educated leaders might make good decisions.
The other kind cannot.
Do not let a CEO and/or senior executives delegate knowledge.
If they don’t understand something, they entrust it to the wrong people.

54. Imperfect Understanding of the medium
Decision-makers do not understand it well enough to see how it fits.
Hiring criteria are wrong
Because the medium is not well understood, the wrong people are assigned to
managing efforts in it – from strategy to execution to measurement.
The assumption: This is marketing, right?
Too much emphasis on marketing
Trickle-down effect: The majority of social media managers come from marketing
backgrounds. Only 1% from customer service backgrounds.
Wrong goals
Wrong Assumptions about the medium = wrong focus = wrong goals
Wrong metrics
Wrong goals = wrong success metrics
Clusterf*ck
Mass confusion as to anything beyond “reach” numbers
The biggest problems with SM integration:

55. Sales
Net New Customers, Increased Frequency of Transactions, promo exposure
Increased yield (average $ value per transaction), and product penetration
Customer Support
Immediate feedback and response, positive impact in public forum, cost reduction
Human Resources
More effective recruiting, online monitoring of employee behavior (risk management)
Public Relations
Online Reputation Management, improved brand image via Social Web
Customer Loyalty
Increased interactions, better quality of interactions, deeper relationship with brand,
Increased trust in brand, increased mindshare of brand, greater values alignment
Business Intelligence
Know everything.
Back to our opportunities:

56. NOW WHAT?

57. Three-Step Process:
Step 1: Strategy & development
Identifying key departments to partner with.
Chatting with them & identifying their needs.
Talking realistically about capacity.
Setting targets.
Clarifying intent.
Getting buy-in.

58. Three-Step Process:
Step 1: Strategy & development
Identifying key departments to partner with.
Chatting with them & identifying their needs.
Talking realistically about capacity.
Setting targets.
Clarifying intent.
Getting buy-in.
Step 2: Operational Deployment
Getting departments up to speed
Training staff
Enabling technology and tools
Creating the internal infrastructure
Working with Legal, IT, HR, etc.
Creating guidelines
Developing the organization
Continuous improvement

59. Three-Step Process:
Step 1: Strategy & development
Identifying key departments to partner with.
Chatting with them & identifying their needs.
Talking realistically about capacity.
Setting targets.
Clarifying intent.
Getting buy-in.
Step 2: Operational Deployment
Getting departments up to speed
Training staff
Enabling technology and tools
Creating the internal infrastructure
Working with Legal, IT, HR, etc.
Creating guidelines
Developing the organization
Continuous improvement
Step 3: Management & Execution
Community management
Online reputation management
Monitoring
Measurement
Digital customer support
Internal collaboration
Etc.

60. Full 360 buy-in.
Step 1: Strategy & development
Identifying key departments to partner with.
Chatting with them & identifying their needs.
Talking realistically about capacity.
Setting targets.
Clarifying intent.
Getting buy-in.
This process involves everything we have just talked about.
Every department manager is like a micro-CEO.
In order to be successful, you must sell the value of your social
media program to the entire organization.
Not everyone needs to have the courage to be the first to move
on it, but they have to be sold on the idea if you can provide
them with a reasonable proof of concept.

61. Silos don’t matter.
(at first.)

62. Silos don’t matter.
(at first.)
Start Small. Use the silos to your advantage.
Don’t try to build too big, too soon.

63. Silos don’t matter.
(at first.)
Start Small. Use the silos to your advantage.
Don’t try to build too big, too soon.
You are not building a company-wide program yet.
You are building department-specific programs.

64. Your audit is done. (your notes.)
Pick your 3 most
promising prospects.
Lowest risk
Lowest barrier of entry
Achievable goals (S/L)
High motivation
Keep it simple:
Listening
Responding
Pushing
Reporting

65. Scarcity is a good marketing model.
Be nice to those
who were not picked.
Continue to work with them
Share what you are doing
Share what you are learning
Make them want to be next
Build internal momentum
Their turn will come
(Can they help now?)

66. Put together a proposal:
What.
Why.
Where.
How.

67. Put together a proposal:
What.
Why.
Where.
How.
Meet with:
CEO
Your boss
Department head
Other key actors
 Opportunities
 Objectives
 Targets
 Timeframe
 Cost
 Risk Management

68. Green light: Get things started.
Red light: You missed something.
Address what you missed.
Present again.
Orange Light: Fear is still a factor. See red light.
- Project is put under supervision of
someone outside your team.
- CEO wants time to think about it.
- CEO wants to run it by other senior
execs.

69. Remember:
Sell
opportunity,
change, and
big ideas.
Sell field
testing,
minimal risk &
minimal drain
on resources.

70. Don’t:
Sell field
testing,
minimal risk &
minimal drain
on resources.
Sell
opportunity,
change, and
big ideas.
Boring. Too much trouble.

71. CEO
Um…
Because you
should?
You
Why should I
trust you with
something this
big and scary?
Beware:
This almost guarantees that someone who doesn’t know how to
manage a social media program will end up running your program.

72. CEO
You
Beware:
This is how social media ends up in the hands of marketing and/or
digital departments.
I probably need
to find a digital
marketing guy.

73. Next: Building out your strategy & program
Marketing Customer
Service
Public
Relations
HR IT
Advertising
Reputation
Mgmt.
Business
Dvlpmt.
Legal
Customer
Support
Collaboration
Business Functions Business Processes
Measurement
Data Analysis
Internal
Communications
Research
How does Social Media
fit into and across my
organization?

74. You made it through another module!
Take a break. Review your notes. Now what?
Good job!