A question on the Birmingham Post discussion group on LinkedIn has got my mind whirring. The question asked ‘Do you find it difficult communicating the usefulness of tools like LinkedIn?’
I think that the key here is to actually step away from the social media/web 2.0 table for a second and also park the apparent usefulness/benefits to one side too.
I see LinkedIn and alike as tools – a means to achieve an end – so I believe that the initial focus needs to be on those end objectives. As a crass example, if you’re renovating a house, you decide what you want to do before heading to the DIY store – you wouldn’t first head to B&Q, buy a load of tools and then decide what to do with them.
Business or other organisational objectives are the best opening gambit as they’re largely time immemorial, widely understood by the management population – and are what people actually need/want to achieve. Try this for size:
Q1) Do you want to increase sales by reaching new customers?
Answer – Yes.
Response – You could achieve this with x, y or z tools.
Q2) Do you want to use LinkedIn, it’s great for networking?
Answer – Ummm, excuse me?
Now, for sure, that is a little contrived – but all the same, the business objective-led approach is more compelling. There’s no strange technical terms or names, just straightforward business speak that you wouldn’t say no to.
There are so many business objectives that social media tools could be means to help achieve, not just the marketing-oriented ones that are most talked about. However, I believe that the mass adoption of these new tools can only happen if we initially put the tools back in the box and focus on the business objectives people need to achieve first.
Lead by business needs, not technology tools.
