When I asked around about the reasons why companies hesitate to get involved with social media – whether misconceptions or legitimate concerns – it sparked some great discussion.

By far, the overwhelming consensus was that social media makes companies far more transparent than they’re used to being. Dave Murr and Matthew T. Grant on Twitter and Sonny Gill on Plurk all said that companies are uncomfortable not completely controlling the brand message anymore. Of course, the message we’re delivering loud and clear is that customers are the ones driving much of your brand messaging anyway, with or without you (and they started doing it the minute they became your customers). Frank Martin says that the practice of some traditional media – press releases, advertising messages – being company-controlled gives companies the illusion that they should be able to control all of their marketing. In a digital age, that’s nearly impossible.

Putting time and money toward something that doesn’t have hard ROI attached.
Beth Harte and Laura Pritchard agree that many companies want to see a hard, direct line between efforts and sales leads. So far, metrics for social media are soft and indirect, and tend to be reflected instead through measurements in other areas – website traffic, customer satisfaction levels, strength of relationships with customers and prospects. How do you think these effects compare to other cultivation efforts – like customer appreciation events, golf outings, or other business development activities?

Taking communication outside the communication department. Companies may have a hard time trusting their non-communications trained employees to do and say the right thing without intense supervision. The trick is that customer service reps are talking to customers about product issues, your accounting team is discussing the slow decision processes with their vendors, your product managers are talking about disagreement about the new widget design. Employees aren’t following the script in their everyday business interactions, anyway, and giving them a chance to communicate more openly on behalf of the company can bring to light new insights.

Thinking that social media is an all-or-nothing proposition. Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester has a great post today about how scare tactics are causing some companies to steer clear of social media. The reality is that social media isn’t an overnight sea change, nor is it a silver bullet. It’s one (important) part of a comprehensive, and well thought out communication strategy for any business.

Being faced with questions they don’t have answers to. Tara Whittle mentioned this one and I was glad she did. Sometimes, online customers will ask questions or point out issues that don’t have immediate resolutions. In these cases, I think it’s less the immediate solution to the problem, but how the company handles it that matters. Do they have the confidence to answer “We’re not sure! But we’re going to find out, and here’s how we’ll let you know when we do.” That can build trust and credibility.

Committing the resources to do it right. Social media done comprehensively takes an investment of time, capital, and human resources. As I’ve posted before, engaging in social media can be a part of anyone’s job. Listening alone takes effort – GM alone has at least 10 staff people dedicated to monitoring their brand on the web. As Sonny says, monitoring social media has become an extesion of brand mangement. And once you’ve heard what’s being said, responding and doing something of value with the feedback you receive requires new thinking and sometimes, new ways of doing things. And, as another savvy plurker pointed out, some companies might even think that shifting their position and messaging in response to feedback can make them seem weak. I’d venture to say that evolving your messaging to respond to your community does quite the opposite, but would welcome your take on this too!

It’s just new. Frank points out that it may not be fear so much as that many companies simply aren’t early adopters, and he’s right. Kellye Crane points out that much like websites once were the unproven tool, some companies are waiting to see just how other companies are making use of social media and how they in turn can leverage it for their specific business. And some may be comfortable with the status quo, thinking that “if it ain’t broke…”. The more that bellwether companies like Dell, Starbucks, Ford, Beam Global, Southwest Airlines and more blaze the trail, the more likely others are to see the value for themselves, too.

So how about you? Is your company venturing into the waters of social media, and what are your concerns? Are you the champion for social media, and how are you addressing these concerns with your clients or management? Please share in the comments!

Photo by danflo

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