One of the first times that I heard the Social Media Swami of Network Solutions, Shashi Bellamkonda, speak, he was talking about how to use social media and how to have management buy into it. It was a pretty detailed discussion and there were some questions that the audience had on how to creatively go about it and what advice could be given to sell it to the decision makers.

These days, there are still discussions as to how marketers or others dealing with the Internet can convince their supervisors. Some are able to succeed but there are those that just run into what has been termed curmudgeons. Just what is a curmudgeon? The dictionary has it defined as “an ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions” but for the sake of this topic, we’ll just leave out “ill-tempered” and just stick with it being “a person with stubborn notions.”

Just how does this relate to what’s going on online? Well for any company, whether you’re a successful Fortune 500 or a small “mom & pop” business, there may be someone that you report to that just may not think that certain web programs will work, regardless of what metrics, case studies, facts & figures you throw at them. But Charlene Li, founder of the Altimeter Group and co-author of the well-respected book Groundswell, says that no matter how stubborn of a person you’re dealing with, there is a way to succeed.

If the curmudgeon you’re dealing with is calling you out and saying that there’s no such thing as an ROI or it’s a fad or too risky, Charlene states that you need to make it real for them. Perhaps one of the best ways to show that it’s a real thing is to have a genuine conversation with customers that teaches them something, thereby helping to create a positive impression on your brand. With respect to the issue about the ROI, you might need to do a little bit more work, but it is possible. Instead of harping on the technology that you can use to garner a great ROI, perhaps focus more on the relationship. Take a look at how your interactions with your customers is going. Do you have an impersonal and short-term rapport or do you have a passionate, constant and loyal following? These will help you ascertain your ROI in the long-term.

Just today, the Interactive Advertising Bureau released their Social Media Metrics Definition Guide which gives some good tidbits on what metrics are recommended to be tracked in order to ensure that your campaign strategy is a good one. After all, you don’t want to start something only to not have a way to measure its success, right? You can view this guide here, but the point is that once you’ve figured out the relationship, set some goals for how you want to use that conversation with your customers. By having a passionate loyal image with John Doe, you may want to figure out that the goal is to help answer their questions – so what’s the best technology to help accomplish this? Probably by setting up a blog, chat room, Twitter account, or perhaps use a application like GetSatisfaction to monitor your inquires?

By thinking these things through, you will have a better chance of making your case and transforming your boss from a curmudgeon to an evangelist. The principles behind web marketing aren’t fads and can truly generate success if you know how to look at them. Even things that are online but not “social media” can help change the perception of a company and brand. The power behind the web can give small businesses and advantage in bringing personalized service to a typical stale and mundane form of customer service.

The first step is listening. You need to consider where your customers are at online. Once you find the conversations are at then you can decide how to best participate. This is very different from traditional marketing & advertising efforts.

Here are 5 reasons to use listening tools & how they can help your online business:

1. identifying where conversations are taking place about your brand & identify new markets
2. building brand
3. brand reparation including crisis management
4. reporting to management about the progress of your online engagement efforts
5. monitor competitors & their products

There are a number of free tools that you can use:

Google alerts – you will need a Google account (but there are so many tools) – have the results delivered by email – you can choose ‘as it happens’ or daily

Search.Twitter.com – you can subscribe to the RSS feed or have it open in a tab during the day
Blogsearch – another tool from Google
Technorati – blog search
www.twing.com – monitors conversations in forums

BoardTracker.com – also monitors conversations in forums
The secret to using these are choosing keywords that don’t bring back too many results. Try setting them up (like Google alerts & Technorati) & if you’re getting too many results, then refine your keywords. For example if you’re a photographer like in my example then using ‘photography’ is too general. Use “portrait photography” in order to limit the results. Or “landscape photography”. I also have Google alerts set up for my name as well as the misspelled version. “connie bensen” and “connie benson”
When the results come in to your email or blog reader review them. For the results that are pertinent click thru & see what is being said. When you decide to engage you can start responding.
If you consistently monitor & respond you can accomplish the 5 items I listed above & build brand awareness online. People will think that you’re everywhere. The best thing is that it’s a very efficient use of time.
Do you monitor your brand? Have you had success?