You need your boss to buy-in

Email is an investment

Invest in email marketing. With email you can drastically reduce your postage fees, reduce the time you spend calling prospects and clients and you are able to automate many of your marketing processes which saves staff time. In order to spend the money to invest in email marketing, your boss has to be on board.

Email needs to be merged into your overall marketing strategy

Email marketing must be a part of your total marketing strategy. It can’t be a project that’s handled on the side. You need to take a holistic view of marketing. Email is a key piece of an overall marketing method and strategy.

What your boss wants to know

How much is this going to cost?

Email marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. Many service providers have email plans that start around $20 per month.

Who’s going to manage this?

If you are reading this then you are most likely the champion of your email marketing. But it is critical to identify the person or department that will be managing the campaigns. If this is not you, your boss will obviously need to know who it is.

How much time will it take?

Every business is different. Ultimately, your customers will tell you how often they want to receive information from you. I’ve found that in the businesses I’ve worked with, most send an email about once a week.

To break that down for your boss, someone will need to outline the content and call to action, write up the email, have it approved and then schedule it to be sent. This takes time but it’s far less consuming than printing a postcard and mailing to several thousand people.

When will your boss see results?

This is the most exciting part of email. As your business develops a responsive list (one that knows, likes and trusts you) your job actually gets easier. The response you get from readers goes up as your list grows and you provide them with information.

How to get your boss to focus on email

Show her the numbers

Email is widely used and preferred by your customers. Here are some of the numbers

• Over 90% of internet users between age 18 and 72 and 74% of internet users age 64 and older send and receive email, making it the most popular online activity for all age groups. ?- Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2009
• Email has the highest ROI (return on investment) for all online media. For every dollar spent on email marketing, marketers can expect an estimated $45.06 ROI. ?–DMA, 2008

An eMail Data Source 2007 research study found that:

• 88% of adults have personal email accounts
• 46% of adults have work email accounts
• 147 million Americans use email every day (Juniper Research)

Assure your boss you aren’t here to change the world

It may be a stretch to get your boss to agree to scrap all your traditional marketing channels and solely focus on email marketing… but that’s not what you are trying to do anyway. The goal is to use email to augment the current marketing systems you are using. Then over time, rely more and more on email and faze out your expensive print advertising and mailings.

Do a small test

Testing is great. It can show your boss and other staff the possibilities of email marketing. Start by placing all your current customers on an email list. Use one of our recommended providers. Send them a simple email giving away something of value for free. Watch and see how people respond. Use your email provider to track the results and report back to your boss.

Show some examples from successful companies

It is also a good idea to show samples of other companies and businesses that are using email marketing. Subscribe to these businesses and study how they are using email to drive customers to take action. Share your findings with your boss.

Today’s 10 Minute Exercise: Find and use some friendly competition

Find three email newsletters in your industry and subscribe to them. Notice what they do in their emails. Show your boss some of the emails from your most fierce competitor. There is power in competition. Use this to your advantage.

Now go take action.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership and How To Use Social Media To Find A Better Job. He is a producer, author, and speaker who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

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*Photo By Mzelle Biscotte

Why You Need To Sell Twitter To Your Boss

Your boss (or executives) stand between you and your organization using Twitter. Before you can get your boss to buy-in – you need to arm yourself with the facts.

Ask any professional or business owner why they use Twitter and you will get many different answers. Here are a few ways people are using Twitter.

Distribute Company Info

Every organization has information they need to get out to the public, employees, stockholders, or constituents. These include press releases, memos, news items, etc. Twitter is a great mechanism to use for these short, informal alerts.

Get feedback

Twitter can be used as a feedback loop for your organization. It is great for asking for comments and responses from clients, customers, and prospects in real time.

Search the current conversation

Twitter is a giant public text conversation. The text is short, concise, and searchable. When you have the power to search what millions of people are talking about right now, you wield power for your organization’s marketing and communication efforts.

Twitter automatically lists the current top trending topics on your main page. You can scan over these and begin to see trends and how they catch on with Twitter users.

Search your industry or competitors

You can bet that other businesses and organizations are harnessing the power of Twitter. Because of Twitter’s powerful real-time search features, you are able to keep track of your industry including your competitors. Also you can search for product announcements, company news, and key leaders in your industry.

What The Heck Is Twitter Anyway?

Twitter is sort of like a hammer

Much like a hammer, Twitter is a tool. It is an online tool for posting short messages (140 characters in length) to the internet. That’s it. Nothing more – nothing less.

But like any tool, Twitter can be used for various purposes. The same hammer can be used to hang a picture in your living room or build a house. The tool itself is neutral. It is inanimate.

Twitter is the same way. It can be used to keep in touch with friends or family, get on-the-ground breaking news from reporters, or be used to market products and services.

Watch a short video: What Is Twitter?

But Twitter is more than a tool – it’s a platform for leadership.

For the smart PR professional or marketer, Twitter is a PLATFORM that gets your ideas and thoughts to the world. Much like Oprah uses television to reach her audience or Stephen Covey uses books, you can use Twitter to become a thought leader in your industry. This is powerful.

Twitter Is A Distribution Platform

Simply put – Twitter allows you to DISTRIBUTE information to people who follow you. This information can be links, resources, tips, ideas, questions, etc.

Twitter Is A Discussion Platform

But Twitter is also a feedback platform. You can get response, in real time from those who you are connected to online.

How You Can Sell Twitter To Your Boss

You must first sell to yourself

It goes without saying, that you must first realize the power of Twitter before you can boast the virtues to others. Spend the time absorbing the benefits. Understand Twitter and its power for yourself.

Twitter is where the people are. That’s worth repeating. Twitter is WHERE the PEOPLE are. If your business reaches out to people – then this is the platform you need to be using.

Show your boss metrics (keep score and show the points)

Metrics are key to showing your boss the value of Twitter and social media. There are many tools that you can use to track Twitter click through rates – and online mentions.

Feedback

Imagine having a superpower that allows you to listen when people talk about you behind your back. It is possible. Twitter Search will allow you to do just that. It is easy to work up searches that show your boss what people are already saying about your business or industry. People are most likely talking about you or your industry. Show your boss the data.

Highlight some key organizations who are using Twitter

There is nothing like good old competition that will motivate bosses at any level. Show your boss the competition and how they are using Twitter. Search for competitors and industry leaders. They are out there. Your boss won’t be able to resist.

Show your boss how people are engaged with online media

Don’t forget – social media is more about engagement than numbers. You may launch your official company Twitter and end up with low numbers at first.  But, keep in mind, the people who are visiting may tend to be targeted and more valuable. Plus when your audience is engaged, they end up becoming long-term readers and customers.

It is important to explain this to your executives. Success in online social media takes time and investment. Your biggest role as “social media champion” for your organization is to educate those around you. They may not understand the power and value of social media like you do.

You need to give them statistics, examples, case studies, and proof that social media is not a waste of time. In fact, in the current economic climate, social media may end up saving many businesses who can’t afford to advertise like they once did. Who knows – maybe you’ll be the hero who took some risk and saved your company. That’s worth a raise and promotion – right?

Consider risking your job for the sake of your career

If all of the above suggestions fail and your boss won’t budge, consider risking your job for the sake of your career. Most likely if your boss is that opposed to Twitter and social media, then he/she has no clue about how it works. So you can probably get away with posting to Twitter and they will never know. At the same time, you will be building up your company and your own career in the process. It is risky – but what good things in life don’t involve some risk?

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Joel Mark Witt is a producer, author, and speaker who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. He is also the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership Send him an eMail: joelmarkwitt (at) folkmedia.org or follow him on Twitter.

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Get the book “21 Days To Twitter Leadership” The Step-By-Step Guide To Get Twitter Followers And Position Yourself As The Leader In Your Industry In Less Than 10 Minutes Per Day.

*Hammer Photo By Darren Hester
*Tightrope Photo By frankh