How to get buy-in for your comms or social media strategy
You’ve worked hard on that strategy - doing diligent diagnosis, crafting an exciting hypothesis, and getting ready to move into execution mode.
Hell yeah.
Getting buy-in for a communications or social media strategy can be harder than developing the strategy itself.
Because it always pays to have the rest of your team and organisation on board - or at least aware of what you’re trying to achieve.
Only problem is, everyone else already has plenty of other things to worry about, and helping you with your strategy is not necessarily one of them.
So where do you start? How do you get busy people to stop, pay attention, and engage with the beautiful baby that is your new strategy?
Well, read on to find out, friend.
Get buy-in early in the strategy process
Yeah, yeah, we know. This is how it’s supposed to work. But still, far too often we leave key people out of the strategy process.
Sometimes this is accidental, but often it’s deliberate - because it’s easier to avoid annoying questions, challenges, and general downer vibes while you’re trying to get something done.
But if Grumpy Old Steve or Sue is going to be helping execute the strategy, they need to be involved in developing it.
Otherwise they’ll zone out and resist.
TBH, they may do that anyway, but at least if they had the chance to have their say during the process, they’ve got less of a leg to stand on when they pretend to forget the new processes or objectives.
Grumpy Old Steve or Sue will also surface legitimate issues with the strategy because they want to poke holes in it (they literally relish doing this). And that’s actually incredibly useful.
When assembling participants at the start of the process, make sure you have a good cross-section of roles, responsibilities and perspectives - not just the enthusiasts.
A good strategy benefits from some friction during development.
Give progress updates to leaders
For leaders not directly involved in the strategy process, make sure they’re across the key ideas before you get to the final draft.
This avoids the classic situation where you unveil the strategy with great enthusiasm … and a senior leader immediately asks a question that derails the whole conversation.
Regular short updates help them feel involved and give them the chance to raise concerns early.
And importantly, they’re much more likely to support something they feel they’ve had visibility of along the way. So no surprises.
Tell a story - and make it stick
I don’t know why so many good comms people forget the basics of storytelling when presenting a strategy.
We are natural storytellers. And if we want the strategy to land (and stick), we need to bring those skills to the presentation.
Think about:
the story arc of the presentation
the flow of the argument
the visuals and examples
emotion and inspiration
the triumphant ending
A classic narrative structure works perfectly here:
Start with the problem
Introduce the solution
Show where your audience fits in
If people can see the journey clearly, they’re more likely to come along for the ride.
Be clear about one memorable thing
Most strategies contain a lot of ideas, but there’s often one practical takeaway that matters most. The thing that actually changes behaviour.
Maybe it’s:
a new email address people must use
a new approval pathway
a new expectation around engagement or tone
Whatever that thing is, it needs to be crystal clear by the end of the presentation.
People may forget most of the strategy details - fine - but they should remember that one thing. If you can print it out on a card or postcard and hand one out to everyone, even better.
Present your strategy in person
Online presentations may work for large or dispersed organisations, but whenever possible, strategy presentations should be done in person.
I always ask clients: “How many people are in your organisation? How long would it take to get in front of them all?”
Every team, business unit, or department has regular meetings. These are perfect opportunities to present your strategy.
Keep it brief, tell a story, and make it extremely clear what their role is. Plus always leave time for questions.
You probably don’t need to visit every team - finance might not need a deep dive into your social media strategy. But if you need content, cooperation, or behavioural change from a particular team, it’s worth visiting them.
Even if it takes six months to get around everyone. A strategy is a long-term investment in focus and direction. The effort is worthwhile.
Use your other channels too
Your internal communication channels are your friend.
Think about:
intranet posts
Teams channels
drop-in sessions
AMAs
posters
internal newsletters
Use them to reinforce key messages and keep the strategy visible. Think like a comms or marketing professional. Because you are one.
Make it fun - but also non-negotiable
A good strategy should be fun and inspiring. It should excite people about what’s possible.
But strategies also naturally involve change, and change can feel threatening, which is normal.
You should absolutely take that into account and perhaps address it, but you also need to make it clear that this is the new way of doing things.
It might take time to bed the new processes in perfectly, but bedded in they will be.
Your strategy is a train that has left the station. It’s heading somewhere, and it’s not going to stop and return to the platform because a few people don’t like the destination.
It is happening.
Showcase the fans and the successes
Some people will be enthusiastic from the start, while others will never be convinced.
It can be tempting to spend a lot of time trying to win over the naysayers. In my experience, that energy is better spent elsewhere.
Instead, identify the early adopters and support and celebrate them. Once you have a few examples of teams embracing the strategy - and getting good results - you have proof of concept.
Share those stories widely. Use internal channels, staff newsletters, Teams groups, or even your personal LinkedIn to highlight the successes. Whatever it takes to spread the word.
Recognising people publicly not only rewards good behaviour - it also shows others what success looks like. It can also make other managers and leaders jealous (‘why isn’t our great work getting showcased?’).
And that’s often what creates the next wave of buy-in.
What do you reckon? Comment below or email me@seamus.nz