Introduction
The most progressive organizations have
recognized the value of being social across their
entire business. Realizing the benefits to
customer relationships, employee recruiting and
retention, customer service, sales, and of course
marketing, the expanse of social across the
enterprise has given rise to the social business.
This white paper serves to provide a quick read
to guide your thought process as you consider
where your business is currently in the use of
social media.
Any organization on a journey from social
media to social business should consider these
five elements.
1. Pew Research Center: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/
Recent research indicates that 74% of online adults are active on social media. Social media use originated for personal use, but we’ve seen businesses adopt social media, largely in a marketing capacity.
An organization of any size can use
this as a framework when making the
move to becoming a social business.
01 C-Suite Support• Have a Plan.• Foster a Culture of Transparency.• Uphold a Service Mindset.• Build on the Collaboration Mindset.• Cultivate a Content Mindset!
02 Marketing is not a department• Source Content from within your company. Have
subject matter experts contribute knowledge.• Everyone should be involved in marketing. HR,
sales, customer service, even the C-Suite should
contribute.
03 Employee Branding is Embraced
• Provide Governance and Training on social media to
give employees a sense of guidance while
developing advocates for your brand.
04 Investment in Social Technology• Be willing to allocate budget on
social software and tools for
productivity gains.
05 Data Driven Mindset• Stay up to date with the market trends, customer
comments, employee engagement, competitors, etc.• Utilize metrics to analyze activities that support
business goals and to enable decision making.
Episodes that might interest you on this topic are:
EPISODE 60
25 Global Social Business LeadersShattering Tradition
Maria Huntalas, Senior Marketing Manager at IBM
EPISODE 61
How to Charm the Skeptics toEmbrace Social
Alan Belniak, The MathWorks
What is a Social Media Marketing Mindset? What is a Social Business Mindset?
An organization that limits their use of social media
to their online marketing and advertising strategy
has a social media marketing mindset.
Depending on your content and posting strategy,
having a regularly active social media presence is
beneficial for most companies’ marketing plans. But
“being social” is different than “doing social” when
you’re posting through Twitter, Facebook, and other
social media channels.
Measuring vanity metrics such as followers and fans
are also part of the social media marketing mindset.
These vanity metrics have little or no measurable
significance to the business.
A social business embraces the culture and
technology of social into every aspect of the
business.
Social business is the utilization of people and social
channels to create unique and productive
experiences for everyone involved, including
employees, partners, customers and the community
at large touched by the brand.
This Forbes article states that taking what works best
in social (collaboration, real-time data, and brand
awareness) and applying it to other areas of the
business besides marketing (sales, customer service,
recruiting) is what makes up a successful social
business.2. Shaughnessy, Haydn. (2011, December). Is Social
Business the Same as Social Media? Forbes.http://www.forbes.com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2011/12/09/is-social-business-the-same-as-social-media/
When it comes to crafting new policies and guidelines for areas of the business touched by the social aspect...
Everyone must be on board.
In order for social collaboration to work, its ideals and options need to be embraced by everyone.
Why Become a Social Business
Consider these compelling business reasons to make the transition from a
social media marketing mindset to a social business.
• To humanize your products, services, and employees.
• Foster internal and external collaboration through social tools
and platforms.
• To deliver better customer service.
• To improve sales cycles.
• To create thought leadership value in your industry.
• To better meet customer’s expectations.
• To attract and retain talent.
While social business is a journey, success is not an overnight process. It’s
important to focus on how the culture and technology of social can make a
business better, and how people are at the center of it starting in the C-Suite.
Then take steps to make the transition a reality.
EPISODE 41
The Coming Social Business RevolutionMichael Brenner, Head of Strategy at NewsCred
EPISODE 16
Deloitte’s Global Social Business Journey
Janet Chang, Deloitte
Episodes that might interest you on this topic are: