The next time you are preparing for a pitch with a CEO about why s/he should invest in the new communications channels a.k.a social media, do a little digging. If the company is public, search through Seeking Alpha for a transcript of his or hers last few transcripts of investor calls. I'll bet you a shot of Cabo Wabo that you'll find a quote about his/her company doing a better job of 'listening' to their customers. Quotes about how they are developing new experiences, new products/services, tweaking customer service based on that 'mysterious' input and feedback.
Pull out the juiciest quote from him/her and make it the first slide in your presentation. Remind him/her that listening is part of their agenda and something they've told Wall Street. Tell them that they can remind The Street that they've implemented new ways to capture feedback in real-time & can almost instantaneously inject change into their business. The learning organizations are the ones that create great value. They'll listen.
Unless you're presenting to Tony Hsieh or Michael Dell, that CEO is looking for the straight-line between investment in the new communications channels and the value creation. That value creation search will most likely be for sales/revenue. But if you are reading this blog post, you already know that the new dialogue-channels create value in other ways that are measurable. In this case, listening & responding. It's no secret that world-class brands are deriving value from minimal investments (relative to an SAP implementation or a TV campaign) by turning on a new dial-tone through social platforms. In fact, I have always wondered how much value has been created for social brands simply through the use of their case studies and logos in the presentations given to senior executives.
Then, after you've hooked them with the listening agenda through social platforms, show them how they can create values in other ways with the social influencer strategies - whether through marketing, internal functions, employee relations and so on.
Wirestone is uniquely ranked on both Top 50 lists for Advertising Age's Integrated Marketing and Interactive Agencies. We're also in the top 2% of marketing services agencies in the United States ranked by billings. 
