For marketing managers having trouble getting colleagues to buy in to social media strategies, Ken Gordon has an idea: make them sign a contract.  Gordon writes, at Marketing Profs:

The idea comes from a fine book by behavioral economist Dan Ariely, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape our Decisions. In one chapter, Ariely writes about crafting several experiments to test how honest MIT students were when offered the opportunity to cheat on an exam. The most interesting part: When the students signed their names next to a kind of oath, a statement that they'd take the test in the spirit of the "MIT Honor Code"—which did not exist—no one cheated.

Moral of the story: when people pledge to do the right thing (in our case, engage in social media) and sign their name to said pledge, they will behave properly.

Here's the contract Gordon proposes:

Social Media Contract
Month, Day, Year
 
I promise to

1. Visit our organization's Facebook page at least once a day.
2. Respond to our Facebook posts by "Liking," commenting, or sharing.
3. Invite at least 15 appropriate people who are genuinely invested in our community but haven't yet "Liked" our page... to "Like" our page.

Would this work in your organization?  Read the full article here.