Many marketing managers have come across a stubborn CEO in their office who refuses to believe in social media and inbound marketing. Do you have senior management that won't buy-in to anything besides traditional marketing strategies? Businesses everywhere are leveraging social media for marketing purposes, and those that don't use social media are being left out in the dark. As a leading CT Web Design Company, we've put together some ammo to help make the case.

According to the Social Media Examiner, a significant 83% of marketers said that social media is important to their business. Plus, a staggering 56% of the U.S. population has at least one account on a social network. Even with this huge movement toward social media marketing, 73% of CEO's still think social media marketers lack business credibility. Whether they are stuck in the outbound marketing stone age, or they're just not sold on inbound marketing yet, it is your job to convince your boss to embrace social media.

5 Ways To Convince Your Boss to Embrace Social Media

1) Show Them Your Competition is Stealing Your Keywords

Nothing can motivate a CEO more than business competition. Google your businesses best keywords, and then show your boss all of your competitors who rank higher. For example, type in simple search term like "Riverdale CT insurance companies" and watch your boss turn green with envy when your business doesn't show up first. Allow your boss to type in his or her own search terms and see that competition is already in your online space.

2) Show Them Measurable Results are Possible

Traditional marketing and advertising can be extremely difficult to measure and quantify. With outbound marketing, it is almost impossible to track where exact leads and sales come from. Social media and inbound marketing, however, can precisely track every mouse click, new lead and final sale. A well-executed social media campaign will show results, and help you prove that social media is worthwhile. If your boss is looking for a Return-On-Investment (ROI) then show him or her that social media will provide the statistics they've been yearning for.

3) Show Them The Money They Could Be Saving

If there is one thing that will get your boss to use social media, it's by offering to save money. Many CEOs have no idea how much their business is spending on yearly marketing that may (or may not) be working. Traditional outbound marketing is costly, and like we mentioned before, doesn't show exact ROI. Take the time to show him or her the high dollar amount spent on outbound marketing and the much lower amount that could be spent on social media. Suggest a mix of traditional marketing and social media marketing to help convince your boss a little more.

4) Show Them How Much Buzz You Can Create

Log on to a few social networks and show your boss where all of your customers are. Show him or her conversations that could be around your business, or find conversations that are already happening. Check out your competition's social presence, and see how many consumers they are engaging with. Chances are, your boss will see that people are already talking about your business, but your business is not talking back.

5) Show Them Case Studies

If your CEO or boss is the kind of person who likes to see examples, then provide him or her with a binder of excellent social media case studies. There is a case study available for every industry, no matter how technical or specific. Check out some of inbound marketing mega-giant Hubspot's case studies, and watch your CEO's jaw drop. Your CEO will realize that social media can really work for any business, and jump to help you create inbound marketing initiatives. 

Now, go forth and convince your boss that social media and inbound marketing are the "real deal" for your business! In the meantime, download our free Internet marketing ebook below.