The C-Suite is Getting It Wrong (No Offense)

by Robert McEvily

Was having a conversation with a friend over the weekend about my new position here at Shareablee. “Very cool,” he said. He congratulated me. “So… you also do the social media for the company itself? Like its Facebook and Instagram and all that stuff?” I told him yes, and I could feel what was coming next. (You have to know this guy. But to his credit - because he’s my friend - he wasn’t rude about his misguided opinion.) “Gotta say, no offense,” he started, “but I don’t really see how all that stuff affects the bottom line. With businesses I mean."

Okay, at the risk of overstatement, here I go…

It’s 2019. Nothing is more important than valuing social media data.

What’s really troubling is that my friend’s opinion is shockingly common in the C-Suite. There was a recent study - forgive me for not remembering the name; just wanna make a quick point - that shone light on something that really surprised me. (Tania mentioned this to me last Thursday as she was leaving to speak at a conference.) An amazingly high percentage of marketing executives feel that the impact of social media on their businesses is nonexistent or minimal. (Tania said 44% - pretty sure of that.)

Clearly the industry doesn’t yet see or fully understand how social media can impact their businesses. Am I the only one who’s surprised by this? No doubt - this lack of understanding has to translate into a pretty narrow view of social’s value, the incredible value of its data and analytics, and what both can do for the bottom line.

At Shareablee, we know - and can demonstrate -  that people engaged with products on social go ahead and buy those products. These days, it’s hard to imagine anything more important (or more exciting from a business standpoint) than knowing how to consistently produce ROI from social media.

Lots more on this to come. Enjoy your Monday…