I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that many of the executives I’ve met just don’t get the whole social media thing.  Their concerns range from fear of the unknown, to discomfort with potential and current customers being a little too candid, to hesitation with creating something whose ROI they can’t measure in the typical black and white manner.

I don’t know if this is a typical attitude for Generation-X’ers, but in the midst of a tumbling world economy and a transformation from old forms of advertising to new, social media is more important than ever.  And it might just be you who needs to prove that to your bosses.

Have specific goals in mind.

You have used integrated marketing campaigns in the past; what were you trying to achieve with those?  Do you want to simply increase web site traffic?  Do you want more conversions on your web site?  Do you want your name to show up in major online publications?  Figure out what you want to achieve, and plan accordingly.  Then show the boss your ideas.

Be one step ahead of your boss.

I was recently asked about the potential for a blog on our web site, which is based in Java and therefore is not compatible with standard installations of Wordpress, for example.  Instead, I had chatted with a colleague earlier to find out about open source, Java-based blogging platforms, and was quick to bring up Roller as an option for us.  By having an option already in your back pocket prior to speaking with your boss, you save your boss from hemming and hawing about how your company “wouldn’t know where to begin,” thus delaying things further.

Stress the low cost.

I’m not saying that social media is free.  One must consider the fact that social media marketing, if done right, can be extremely time consuming – and in this day and age, time is money.  But many bosses are more concerned with specific dollar amounts, which is where social media really shines.  As far as finance is concerned, if you aren’t spending large amounts of money, you’re doing a fine job.  And in this poor economy, not spending money is going to sound pretty darn good to your superiors.

Give real-life examples of how social media has worked for other companies.

You know the value of social media for business; otherwise this wouldn’t be an issue for you at all.  But you can’t very well expect to convince anyone of the many merits of using social media as a marketing tool if you have nothing to back it up.  If you’re in the food industry, cite Coca-Cola’s use of Mentos in YouTube videos to send its sales of Diet Coke skyrocketing.  If you’re in the Internet services industry, refer to HubSpot’s fast-paced growth over the last year thanks to its blogs, webcasts, and “Grader” toolset.  Dell has an entire island dedicated to its products on Second Life, and Starbucks has both Facebook and Twitter pages to connect with its community.  It is important that your boss sees success stories with regard to companies in your particular sector or industry to further bolster your arguments.

Prove it.

Especially if you work in a small company, there is no harm in doing some small-scale experiments to prove to your boss that social media marketing really can work.  If you don’t have a PR team or communications pro that is accustomed to doing so, take it upon yourself to respond to blog posts about your company.  Digg or Stumble articles that reflect your company favorably.  Start a Twitter account that allows you to deliver and intermix objective articles about your industry while slipping in an invitation to a company webcast here and there, for example.  Once you have something going, something solid, you’ll have a lot more pull when you finally talk to your boss.

For those of you who do use social media marketing in your company, and were the champions of such an act, how did you sell the idea to your boss?  Did you address his fears (consumers with not-so-flattering things to say about your company), or did you focus on his practical side (cutting costs)?

Special thanks to @RichBecker, @ChristySeason, and @candyhog for their feedback!

• Building the Social Media Marketing Foundation
• Should My Company Join the Social Media Revolution?
• Social Media and the Marketing Opportunity

“How much money do you make?”

It’s one of the longest-lasting taboos in society today. From the cubicle to the dinner table, mentioning one’s salary, or even bringing up the subject, makes for awkward silences and a general sense that the speaker has never been taught manners.

For Generation Y, however, the lines have become blurred. The New York Times posted an article yesterday related to this precise issue. To our generation,

“salary information is now fair game, at least among friends. Many consider it crucial to prosper in an increasingly transient, winner-take-all workplace — regardless of the envy that full disclosure can raise. Besides, when the Internet already offers a cornucopia of personal information, it almost seems coy to keep personal income private.”

My parents raised me with the belief that one’s salary is an extremely private matter. To this day, I cannot tell you how much my parents make, though this would be a juicy bit of information to have. But I can tell you how much my sister and a number of close friends make, simply because, it seems, the closer one is to having graduated from college, the less closed-lipped one becomes about salary … at least with friends. Bill Coleman, chief compensation officer of Salary.com, is quoted in the Times article as saying, “This is a generation that is much more attuned to teamwork, collaboration and sharing information. Everything they do is a kind of group event. How do you know, when you get your first job offer, if $45,000 is a good offer, a bad offer or an O.K. offer? You go to your friends.”

The exception does still exist with regard to divulging such information to co-workers. A Money Magazine study found that 84 percent of people under the age of 35 believe that one should never reveal to work colleagues how much money he or she makes. Divulging one’s salary to co-workers at jobs I’ve had in the past could result in immediate termination; it ranked as a very serious offense.

Thankfully, for those who are curious, the Internet makes it very easy to figure out the salaries of other professionals at your level. Salary.com offers a one-click summary of the going rates for your job title in any specific zip code, and from what I’ve tested, this seems to be a fairly accurate record. Also, PayScale.com provides users with a full, in-depth, and totally free salary report that compares your total salary, benefits, and further compensation (bonuses, stock options, vacation time, etc.) within categories such as gender, experience, skill, age, location, and degree of study. In addition, you can view anonymous profiles of professionals in your area detailing all of the categories (see screenshot below). This is highly beneficial, some say, with regard to annual or semi-annual reviews, in which one can present the median or even a range of salaries to one’s manager in an effort to receive proper, or standard, compensation for one’s job responsibilities and experience.

However, as I get older and tack on more years under my employment belt, I’m finding myself less and less inclined to discuss salary with anyone but those with whom I have the most intimate relationships. I felt extremely awkward at one point a few months ago, when my girlfriend made a slight reference to my salary in front of some of my college friends … people with whom I would not have hesitated to discuss it just two years ago. My general response to something like that is, “Oh, I’m managing,” and a quick change of subject. But in review-like situations at work, salary discussion is fair play, and will continue to be a strong negotiation tool.