Photo credit: www.cramerphoto.com
Over the last few years, I have asked a lot of really smart people how they have inspired others to get on board with social media on behalf of their companies. On the phone I’ve grilled both Gini Dietrich and Elizabeth Sosnow on this topic and they both had helpful advice.
One of the first answers to my question came from Shel Israel, who said “you have to seduce them into it.” He’s right, of course. But it is not always easy to identify what’s going to make someone get interested in contributing.
My friend Janet Driscoll Miller of Search Mojo was talking about this very topic recently and she noted the same approach endorsed by others in the field who have been successful.
The approach is this: when it comes to encouraging staff members to contribute to a business’s online presence, the only — and really the only — way to be successful in doing this is to make it part of each employee’s job responsibilities. Furthermore, everyone I’ve asked finds it necessary to tie bonus compensation to social media contribution. One firm rewards the employee with the highest ranked blog post for the month with $100 cash.
If, as one firm owner found, money doesn’t motivate, then pulling the hard-core card does; if someone’s not pulling their weight, it’s going to come up in performance reviews.
It’s too bad that for some employees they don’t “get it” and find their own passion, particularly if they’re marketers. It’s sad that some people have to be bribed to do their job well. The tide is bound to turn, however, as employers place a more and more significant emphasis on an employee’s role as an ambassador for the company.
If you’ve dealt with this issue within an agency or any company trying to develop content for the social web, what have you found to be a successful form of motivation? What have you tried that doesn’t work?
Print this post and put it on your boss’s desk. Next to the coffee cup/s.
There are a few details your employees want you to know about social media.
- Brands that are the most engaged in social media saw their revenue grow during 2008 by 18 percent while the least engaged brands saw losses of negative 6 percent. [1]
- Studies show that small businesses that blog get 55% more visitors to their websites. [2]
- “Neither a press release nor a full-page ad in The New York Times will boost your search engine ratings as much as a regularly updated blog. The shortest, cheapest, fastest and easiest route to a prominent Google ranking is to blog often.” — Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, Naked Conversations
It’s important to not only consider integrating social media into your marketing, it’s imperative that you do so. Your employees need support to do this; social media takes time, and if they’re not working from a specific, strategic plan, it can take even more time.
If you have found this on your desk it’s because (lucky you!) someone who works for you cares about your business. Help them get the resources they need to integrate social media in a way that is smart, strategic and has measurable results.
Congratulations on having a smart, savvy employee and best wishes for the future of your company.
Photo credit: www.cramerphoto.com
You may have asked yourself, why is it that I teach what I do?
Why do I give away trade secrets, processes and best practices to marketing directors, potential clients and business owners.
It’s really pretty simple, actually. I’m not crazy; I am making a living doing this, and the reason why is found in the reasons why I teach what I do:
- An informed client is a good client. More than 15 years of experience has taught me that a client who understands public relations, social media and communications values the service they’re engaging their firm to provide. A good client who values what you do gets results when they take counsel and pays you on time.
- I really like teaching other marketers and entrepreneurs and, based on all the feedback I’ve had over the years, I know I’m really good at it. It gives me a tremendous amount of satisfaction.
- More often than not, even while workshop participants are learning about tools and tactics, they’re thinking, great: I’d love to hire someone else to manage this for us. I have an idea of who that might be.
- I walk the talk as much as I can. When I talk about the element of the culture of social media that is sharing, I really believe in it. I share what I know so others can be successful.
Learn more: register for the Blogging Best Practices Workshop in Charlottesville, Va. on Feb. 24, 2011.