Hitting social media roadblocks? Try a redirect.

By nature, many B2B organizations are pretty darn conservative. Trying new things, experimenting and sharing opinions publicly sometimes aren’t high on the priority list for these organizations. So, it can be challenging to get upper management–or any level of management, for that matter–to buy in to social concepts and approaches.

But, just because you run into a roadblock, doesn’t mean the journey is over. Try a redirect.

If you run into a wall with legal, compliance or IT, try redirecting your efforts to a different part of the organization to get things off the ground. Remember, early on, it’s all about quick wins and demonstrating the business value of these tools. To do that, sometimes you need to find a different avenue.

So, if you’re continually butting your head against the wall, try redirecting and channeling your thoughts and energy toward one of the following areas:

Employee communications. Internal communicators face several challenges. Building pride among employees. Aligning staff with key organizational priorities and strategies. And fostering innovation and collaboration. Social media “behind the firewall” can help with all three. Plus, social tools present tremendous value to organizations with remote or geographically dispersed workforces. By giving staff the chance to connect, converse and share ideas across locations, you’re starting to harness the brainpower of ALL your employees. Just ask IBM. And, typically, using social media internally is more of a “low risk” proposition than using it out in the public eye.

Community events/sponsorships. Another lower-risk opportunity might be to activate your brand socially at a community or sponsored event. Maybe your IT consulting firm is the title sponsor of a local walk to support children’s cancer research. Why not encourage walk participants to use a branded hash tag if they tweet during the walk? After all, they’re walking, not running, right? Or, set up a “photo booth” at the end of the race, take pictures of participants and set up computers and encourage folks to upload the photos directly to their Facebook pages. There are simple steps you can usually take to active your brand at events like these without taking a huge amount of risk.

The recruiting front. OK, so maybe most organizations aren’t looking for talent right now, but they’d be wise to prepare for the next few years when boomers will start exiting the workforce. In many industries, social tools represent an ideal way to reach and communicate with the younger, millennial and Gen Y generations. Going this route may give you the opportunity to establish a corporate presence on one of the table-stakes social networks, like Facebook. Remember, we’re talking baby steps here. Set up the account. Create a plan for what kind of content you’ll share and how you’ll build this community. Then, create momentum, and “sell” those wins internally. Down the road, it will make those tough conversations with legal, compliance and IT a little easier.