Social Media and Selling the Sauerkraut

Does Captain Cook look like he likes sauerkraut (or anything)?

Apparently, when famous British explorer James Cook wanted to combat scurvy on his ship, he tried to make his men eat sauerkraut. They hated the taste and refused.

In a flash of insight, he said only the officers could dine on it, the crew was forbidden from eating it….

The crew immediately requested it be put back on the menu!

OK, let’s say today the sauerkraut is social media - only now it’s the officers who don’t want to consume it. (That can often be the case with captains of industry, who tend to be older and more conservative.)

Nowadays, crew members (young navvies swabbing the corporate decks) are first to taste and enjoy social media. Indeed, they’re having it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Using the same reverse psychology as Captain Cook’s, if we make social media off-limits to the officers will they want it more?

How do we get them to take the first bite or, better yet, make a meal of it?

Social media consulting and optimization companies like mine are dealing with that challenge every day. Here are my tips - gleaned from experience in boardroom and “on deck”:

• Go slow: Officers aren’t always quick to jump into something because others shout, “C’mon in, the water’s fine!”
• Document it all: If you can prove, empirically, that the sauerkraut is nutritionally valuable, you have a much better chance of getting it down their throat. (OK, this analogy is starting to make me choke!) Hence the value of social media metrics.
• Address fears head-on: Anxiety and scepticism about the unfamiliar is standard human behavior so start the social media education process by dealing directly with the fears. (Reality is rarely as scary as we imagine!)
• Benefits galore: Highlight to management the objectives they’ll meet with social media: Increased brand awareness, “fan-sumers”, free online market research/focus groups, increased traffic leading to lead generation and sales!

Whether you’re crew or officer, let me know how the art of persuasion is coming along in your organization when it comes to social media.

(P.S. It worked: Because they ate the sauerkraut, not one of Cook’s crew died of scurvy!)