How to Get Executive Buy-in for Community Initiatives

Getting executive support for community initiatives can be a herculean task for community managers. However, making sure that these initiatives are also successful is essential. Getting support for community initiatives from an executive who simply just doesn't "get it" is something every community manager can relate to.

C-Level executives may lack a complete understanding of how communities function or may not yet share your vision for the community. It's also possible that they are unaware of the community's importance within the organization.

Regardless of the reason, a lack of executive support can negatively impact your community. It may hinder your ability to understand the decision-making processes within the organization or create difficulties with personnel and budgeting. Additionally, you may observe a decline in community engagement following the launch of a project, making it challenging to recapture the initial excitement.

In this article, I will outline several steps that community managers can take to secure executive support for their initiatives.

1. Understand the Business Objectives

Understanding the organisation's business objectives is the first step in gaining support from the leadership team. You must be able to clearly explain how the community activities align with these objectives and how they will help the organisation succeed. Be prepared to offer statistics and figures that demonstrate the financial impact the community activities will have on the organisation.

For instance, you may show how the community's activities would develop a sense of belonging and relationships between customers and the brand if the organisation's goal is to improve customers’ loyalty. You might also offer information on how devoted clients boost sales and lower turnover.

2. Develop a Clear Plan

Gaining the support of the executive team requires a clear and comprehensive approach. The goals, plans, methods, and KPIs for the community efforts should be outlined in your strategy. A schedule, budget, and the resources needed for the endeavour should also be included. Be ready to respond to inquiries and offer more details as necessary.

Your strategy must be precise and actionable. It should expressly state the problem you are attempting to solve, the intended audience, and the expected results. It ought to include a plan for reaching these goals as well as a mechanism to measure achievement.

3. Identify Key Stakeholders

Identifying key stakeholders is crucial in achieving executive buy-in. Executives, managers, staff members, clients, business partners, and other stakeholders are examples of these stakeholders. You should be aware of their priorities, needs, and issues so that you can address them in your plan.

You could, for instance, break down the costs and benefits and show how the initiatives will result in a positive return on investment if the executive team is worried about the cost of the community initiatives.

4. Communicate Effectively

You must explain your idea to the stakeholders in a concise and clear way that they will understand. Use facts, anecdotes, comparisons and examples to explain the effect of the community activities. Be prepared to listen and address any questions or concerns.

Your communication should be targeted at the audience. For example, if you are presenting to the CEO, you should focus on the broad picture and deliver a high-level summary of the strategy. If you are presenting to the marketing team, you should focus on particular methods and KPIs.

5. Define Your Metric for Success

Generally, metrics for success are quantifiable measures that are used to evaluate the performance, progress, and achievements of a particular project or activity. More importantly, avoid vanity metrics. Here are some KPIs that can be used to measure the success of community initiatives: active users, engagement rate, retention rate, user satisfaction, referral rate, conversion rate, brand awareness, reach etc.

For example, if the goal is to increase the number of active users in a community, metrics for success may include the number of new sign-ups, the number of members who participate in discussions or events, or the level of engagement on the platform. The key to defining metrics for success is to identify specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals that are aligned with the overall objectives of the project or activity. By defining metrics for success, it becomes easier to track progress, identify areas that need improvement, and make data-driven decisions to achieve the desired outcomes.

6. Highlight the Benefits

Gaining the support of the executive team requires highlighting the advantages of the community’s activities. Increased engagement, client loyalty, brand reputation, and revenue growth are a few examples of these advantages. Be prepared to substantiate your statements with statistics and analytics and to demonstrate how community activities will affect these advantages.

For instance, you may present statistics showing that loyal consumers are more inclined to recommend the company to others and spend more money there. You might also give instances of how neighbourhood efforts have aided other organisations in achieving outcomes.

7. Show Proof of Concept

You should be able to provide examples of how the community efforts have been successful in other businesses or professions. To demonstrate the success of the efforts, present case studies, testimonies, and other proof.

You may, for instance, offer case studies of how other businesses have improved consumer involvement and loyalty through community projects. Additionally, you may include endorsements from clients who have benefited from the programs.

8. Emphasise the Long-Term Value

Emphasising the long-term value of community initiatives is important in gaining executive buy-in. You should show how the initiatives will contribute to the organisation's long-term goals and sustainability. Highlight the potential for growth, innovation, and impact.

9. Build Relationships

Building relationships is crucial in gaining executive buy-in. You should engage with executives, managers, and other stakeholders to understand their needs, concerns, and priorities. Build trust and rapport by being transparent, responsive, and accountable.

Gaining executive buy-in for community initiatives requires careful planning, effective communication, and relationship building. Community managers should understand the business objectives, develop a clear plan, identify key stakeholders, communicate effectively, highlight the benefits, show proof of concept, emphasise the long-term value, and build relationships. By following these steps, community managers can gain the support they need to ensure the success of their initiatives.