I have a unique situation, whereby I have offered my social media talents (the few that I have) to a friend who has a successful company in epoxy coatings.  He manufacturers, sells and distributes his products.  I have expressed to him the importance of getting on board the social media train with a huge amount of resistance on his behalf.  Although I have started to implement a few areas, such as Twitter, Facebook, and a blog to his website, I intend to follow through with Google+ and LinkedIn pages as well.  Yet, the owner has still been reticent about the ROI.  He has asked me for a proposal and I’m stumped.  I’m not sure how to provide him the necessary information to prove ROI in the long-run.  Effectively, I am also to prove my participation and how my work will influence/benefit his company.  How do I explain the amount of time it takes and the value of my work when he clearly doesn’t see the benefits??  

I provide social media for my own network of rare disease families, as well as act as Content Editor, Writer, and Director for a rare disease blog.  I work approximately 30 hours per week just writing, editing and coordinating blog material. 

I would appreciate anyone’s insight.  I have been requested to have this S&M proposal and my fee structure by this Friday!  LOL

Thanks!!

Check out this site for a sample proposal you can download:http://bundlepost.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/important-elements-of-an-agency-social-media-proposal-part-5-the-template/

Thank you!!  I will check it out now.
@digitaldeans

I would expect that he isn’t into technology that much.  If he doesn’t have a Facebook page it’s going to take a lot to get him to say yes.  I would start with recommending one media.  The first thing to get him to buy into is a website.  Build a simple website to start with.  Get the SEO done right.  Put it on any of his marketing materials.

I work for a John Deere dealership.  I started with a website 6 years ago and the visits have been growing.  We have sold used equipment across the United State and some worldwide because people found us on the web.

I Started a Facebook page that isn’t growing fast at all.  The one thing that is getting quite a bit of hits is my YouTube channel.  I video tape the used equipment in motion and build a video.  

What I face is while the farmers have GPs on their tractors, and computers in their offices, they don’t get on Facebook.  And forget about Twitter or any blogs.  

You have to know your customer.  If his customer uses this kind of social media then try one before going hog wild.  If you want to do the proposal first of all identify his customers and their habits.  Then address those.  Also include the WIIFM What’s In It For Me.  What are the benefits.  Don’t’ tell him what he needs, ask him what his goals are and what he wants to accomplish.  If you can address his needs and goals then he may go for it.   

@heatherearley Hi Heather

He doesn’t see the benefits because you don’t see the benefits. Why did you start a Facebook page, Twitter account and blog in the first place? If you are stumped over a proposal then you haven’t put enough planning into it.

If you don’t know why you have started this, what the return will be and why he should care, how do you expect him to?

I agree that most industries can use social media to help their business, but why are you using so many channels? Why have you started a Facebook page? If it is just because everyone does, then you are doing it wrong.

How is Twitter going to help his business? Not social media – Twitter. Would it be better if he used a personal account rather than a business account?

Answer these questions and you will have your proposal.

It sounds like you have started this without must planning or thought behind it.

To my mind (from what you have said so far) you should focus on LinkedIn and a blog. And maybe Twitter. That’s it.

Also, use some examples of people/businesses using social media in a similar industries as part of your report – think case study.

I hope this didn’t come off too harsh but these are fundamantals when creating a social media campaign for any business.

If you have any questions please let me know.

Russell

@heatherearley No problems, Heather. Good luck, and let me know how it goes!

Russell

Heather, thank you for asking this question and being open to the answers. Russell, you are spot on. (You have consistently offered great advice on SME, thanks.) @heatherearley @russellallert Youtube is a great idea, Rich. @rich-brooks

@heatherearley Every business owner wants to know “if I spend $$$ on something, what’s the ROI?”

If the answer were that easy, everyone would know the answer. There are humongous companies whole soul purpose is to gather and crunch numbers to come up with predictive models.

As developers and designers, we don’t really have that.

What we do have is our intuition and talents to help prove ROI on a case by case basis. Here’s how I like to do this:

• Make sure SEO is ship-shape
• Setup all the right things to be measured and create realistic goals and conversions ala Google Analytics
• Try to leverage ROI based on existing marketing and sales activities. If there’s an annual conference and it generates 10 leads/connections and 1 new sale, is that the ROI?
• Review search engine organic results and incorporate into copy
• Explain ROI for SEO/SEM is not exact science and set bar a little low for now
• Put together all the costs of doing this work, then set a range of predictability like 10 squeeze page RFI and 20 new contacts in 6 months. If there’s seasonal timeframes, take that into account
• Setup future meeting to review results

With good design and some keen insight into business, customers, and the sales/marketing lifecycles, you’ll do just fine.

Good luck!

I think you’ve got your answer when you say:

“I actually wrote their first blog and it spurred the correctional industry to write an article in their magazine.”

As @Russell Allert points out, don’t just get into social media because it is the thing to do. Make sure you’ve set clear objectives and a reason for doing it.

If your first blog post was picked up by a magazine speaking directly to your target audience than you have obviously done something right. Now go back and repeat the process.

You have proven that there is an audience for the information you can produce. What else can you create that is of interest to your target audience? (@Jason Reilly offers good suggestions). You’ve apparently caught the ear of an important industry publication, make the most of it. Reach out to them personally when your next blog post is ready.

I would think that publicity of that sort would be reason enough to justify the blog.

I would highly recommend starting by making sure that you’ve got a website that can serve as a publishing platform and a place to cultivate leads coming from publications such as industry magazines where you are featured. From there, figure out what social media channels your target audience is using and build out.