Get People to Opt-In to Social Media

Although you are a firm believer in social media and all that it offers, you are still bound to come across business associates who don’t seem to understand its value and how amazing it can be for their business. 
The nonbeliever
Social media nonbelievers are generally intelligent and well-educated people. They are well rounded and interesting. The only thing that is missing when it comes to online activities is their desire and their need for social media (or so they believe). Nonbelievers come from the school of thought that aspires to see no value in all things technologic.
However, if you can see your way clear to opening up a discussion with a nonbeliever about social media, in other words, if you can pique their interest enough for them to want to know what it is all about, you have a chance at converting them from nonbelievers to believers. Nonbelievers initially believe that it is not possible to have discussions online that will lead to any real business. Everyone who understands anything about social media knows that interactions through are based on interactions among people. Although it isn’t always obvious how discussions turn into revenue, it is easy to explain how this happens. Conversations lead to a relationship that is built on trust and credibility and trust and credibility eventually leads to people wanting to buy what you are selling because you have a relationship that has become important to them.
The stereotype of social media
It is entirely possible that people who have no involvement in social media have been paying enough attention to remember some of the names of the various online channels. Remember that their familiarity with some of the more popular names, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, doesn’t mean that they have an understanding of the capabilities of those channels. As you know, social media has gotten some seriously bad press over time and there are still many people who actually believe that the more popular social networks are only interesting and appropriate for teenagers. Of course, that couldn’t be any further from the truth. In your mission to convert a nonbeliever, one of your principle obligations is to educate him/her about the tremendous usefulness that social media has for business.
Your online business marketing strategy
Once you have had the conversation about social media only being useful for teenagers, you next line of defense is producing solid evidence that proves that you can actually successfully do business online and truly increase your business’s revenue. Please don’t be surprised if the reaction that you get is still rather skeptical. Once you have produced positive proof that social media seriously contributes to the bottom line of your business, it should hopefully get that person to start thinking that maybe there is something to it. Even if the conversion seems rather slow at first, you should try to be patient. Your goal was not to snap your fingers and poof, the nonbeliever was converted instantly (although that would be delightful). Rather, your goal was to create a small crack in his or her solid wall of nonbelief and skepticism. Once you have created that small crack, you can inundate the person with more and more useful information on social media. The more information you supply, the wider the crack will become until eventually, the wall will completely crumble and the nonbeliever will become one of social media’s most loyal and passionate fans.
Putting social media in terms that the nonbeliever can understand
If you speak in terms of advantages that he/she can appreciate and apply to his/her own business, you have a good chance of truly making him/her see what you see. For example, a good angle to discuss is how the Internet allows you to keep a close watch on your business activities, how the information that you gather online allows you to categorize your online connections very effectively, and how the Internet allows you to gather solid metrics that will enable you to hone your activities so that you can serve your target market most appropriately and successfully.
Conclusion
Fortunately, the majority of people whom you come across in business understand and believe in the power of social media and its vast and extremely positive implications for your business. On the rare occasion when you come across (or perhaps have known for a long time) the nonbeliever, you should consider it a welcome challenge to educate that person and really enlighten him or her about all that social media has to offer their business.