Ideas for how to spread Groundswell to a broad audience

[jbernoff]

If you're here you probably read our blog post on the topic.

What are your ideas on how to get a broad collection of businesspeople to adopt groundswell ideas -- and by extension, embrace the social Internet?

[mike spataro]

Josh,

I have had great success convincing business leaders by showing them concrete examples of the impact of strategic social media thinking by other industry leading companies. It's easy for C-level executives to think that social media doesn't apply to their business when they don't see any of their competitors doing anything either, but smart executives pay attention to what other leading brands do and there are plenty of examples (thanks to your great book) to point out the positives associated with getting involved and developing a meaningful strategy and the negatives for sitting on the sidelines and not paying attention to these new trends.

[cohwill]

Josh,

I have been taking the book with me to various meetings, seminars and conferences I attend with non-social media aware folks. I show it to them, explain some of the concepts and send them the citation on email.

Even though they are not on in tune with the various social media applications, almost all of them understand email and know how to read it. Using this basic medium is an excellent way of reaching people.

As a cybrarian, I often broadcast information this way.

Anita Cohen-Williams
MySearchGuru.com

[JRErickson]

This is similar to bringing any new emerging technology or concept to a mature company. First start small and with a concept that will ensure ROI. Second educate the people you are trying to convince to try the new techniques, especially if you can show how your "largest or admired" competitors is already implementing the techniques. Also tailor the strategy to correlate to existing branding or messaging techniques.

As a consultant to companies in this space (both large and small) they need the education first, as people think FaceBook, Twitter, etc. is for posting about your date last night or what you had for dinner. When I start to show them the rich market data and branding information that can exist in these conversations and the ability to enrich the customer loyalty and buying behaviors by providing social networking opportunities, they usually have bought into the concept. Then the struggle is to get them to focus on small steps but with a big vision for a strategy.

Also it clearly helps if the company is a risk taker vs. being risk averse. If you want to discuss this further just send me at tweet at jonofsma or at http://www.friendfeed.com/jonofsonoma.

[SalFalko]

I was discussing this very subject with John Gerstner from Communitelligence yesterday at the Executing Social Media conference in Pasadena, CA. And he has the same problem: Half the audience were insiders are we were preaching to the choir. (Groundswell was recommended as a must read for educating execs, by the way) OUr concusion is that managers and execs need to understnad the basics and we need to make this data aviable to them. Theonly way they wil reach for the data is if it addresses a pain point for them. They don't see it that way yet. When they see it as a fundametal change in the way a business operates and that not operating this way will cripple their bottom line, they will want to know about it. It needs to be positioned differently.

[jbernoff]

I am beginning to get the impression from this discussion that a database of examples by industry, country, objective, etc. would be helpful. It would be a tool for insiders to persuade outsiders.

Still looking for other new ideas . . .

[philbaumann]

I don't think anybody is going to "get" social media until he or she actually just dig(g)s right in. You can't understand Twitter until you sign up, poke around, follow others, be followed, and see what's its capable of. Same thing applies to social networking, bookmarking and other social tools. Personal exposure and experience are the hurdles here.

I would encourage business leaders to just start signing in to the various services. And explain the difference between the different tools: Digg is not del.icio.us is not Twitter! This is basic stuff, but it's the basic stuff which is the hurdle.

Maybe some execs have a fear of exposure on the web. But that's something that can be overcome by education.

I just think you won't have success in conversion if the leadership just doesn't tap the keyboard and sees things first-hand. The most interactive video on swimming isn't going to make swimmers out of anybody. These folks are going to have to plunge right in--or sink.

That's where I would start: give a list of the different tools by category and let them explore until they "get it". Then you can refine and redirect where their focus aught to be.

[jbernoff]

In one workshop I did, the guy who ran it gave all the people some homework beforehand. He made them all join Facebook and friend him. Simple to describe, and easy to verify if they did it. And sort of fun.

[art sindlinger]

Just two quick comments.

First, I agree with the hands-on/dig in approach. I help teach new hires at our company 2 - 3x/year and we include specific hands-on assignments before the sessions so they have some familiarity and sense of the space's relevance to their desk. As a 101/introductory exercise we ask them to set up a Google Reader account and pull in feeds of the search results for their brands (we're a media agency) from sources like icerocket, truveo, flickr, boardreader, etc. It's admittedly crude compared to the more sophisticated brand monitoring packages, but it's a useful baby step to open some eyes.

Second, another way to help ignite the visceral connection (as opposed to just the rational business case) is to show someone how the space can help feed his or her personal passion. My wife, a crafty person and one of PaperSource's best customers, had a fairly basic digital appetite until I introduced her to etsy. If you can find a social site/service that really aligns with a manager's interests, I think that increases the likelihood that they will engage meaningfully with the space and begin to 'get it' a bit more directly.

[dtheus]

I'll toss my hat into the "gotta use it understand it" ring - and the one about ROI. The former being easier to demonstrate than the latter these days, I am convinced that as people find ways to use it to enhance their day job (instead of eat up their sleep time), social media/networking will become immediately relevant to them. Once they do this, they'll internalize the promise it has for their customers, prospects, employees, shareholders etc. As for the CXO set, they tend to be even more overwhelmed with info than the rest of us and so it's going to take longer - meaning it's got to become easier to use for them to take the time to use it.

My theory is that when these folks go to a web site and click into something they want that has social features (when they 'breathe it like air' as Charlene says), they'll find themselves using and valuing social media without even knowing that's what they're doing. This is much like the web became (and becomes, as one commenter said above) ubiquitous.

And this will happen when social networking features become integrated into applications and content-area-specific web sites in ways that are simply difficult today due to lack of standards - both in usability and technology. I blogged about this today, too in my post (Un)usability: The Social Web's Dirty Little Secret. http://m-2-m.typepad.com/m2m/2008/05/unusability-the-social-webs-dirty-little-secret.html

Also, regarding ROI, as customer sets become social web-savvy, things will change for the CXO set. Particularly in the B2B space, this may be a little slow until social networks integrate themselves into the workplace more fully. It frankly may come through collaboration tools before it comes from Facebook. I spoke with Chris Dorobek of Federal Computer Week recently and he's taken to talking to government IT people about "collaboration" instead of "Web 2.0" for this very reason. He blogged about it this week too. http://www.fcw.com/blogs/editor/152604-1.html

My advice on reaching them with the Groundswell? I'm working on it as I build my own social network community for B2B marketers and blogging about what I'm learning as I go. I'm still in the early stages and I'll let you know when it's up and you can give me your feedback. My social network, B2B Expert's Forum will be here: http://www.b2bmarketingexcellence.com/ExpertsForum/tabid/70/Default.aspx