Social media is becoming integrated across all business functions from marketing to HR. It is important for companies to embrace social business and develop a centralized social media strategy with executive support. This requires establishing objectives, guidelines, training, and cross-functional collaboration to mitigate risks and maximize opportunities from social media engagement both internally and externally.
4. “As companies embark on social media, the key is to embed it throughout every facet of the organization—from sales to marketing to engineering to customer service to HR to finance.” Karen Quintos, senior vice president and Chief Marketing Officer at Dell* *Zócalo Group client
5. A few reasons why it’s important: It’s not going away Social business is internalas well as external To mitigate potential risks and manage crisis Consumer discussion impacts business – shaping perceptions and influencing buying decisions The insights learned can be applied and acted upon And a hundred other reasons… Efficiencies, economies, intelligence, etc.
12. Clear objectiveWhile every department will have its own goals and metrics, becoming a social business requires clearly stated and supported strategic business objectives.
15. Social PlaybookSocial media policy Guidelines Behavior Disclosure Guardrails Uniform success metrics Program filters to appropriately align efforts Process Customer care Crisis management Internal engagement
24. Centralize, Collaborate, Coordinate Cross-functional team provide enterprise-wide guidance, governance Facilitate information sharing, best practices Share plans, calendars, content
30. Socialize best practicesShare and operationalizebest practices Encourage contributions Benchmark and learn from others Seed, facilitate and capture discussion Learn from failure
31. Share. Ask questions. Give feedback.@patrick1rooneyfacebook.com/patrickrooneylinkedin.com/in/patrickrooneyhttp://zocalogroup.com/zg_leadership/patrick-rooney
Hinweis der Redaktion
Have you ever been at dinner and started talking about a car you liked, or a cool digital device you drooled over, or a restaurant you wanted to try?
Business is catching on and everyone wants into the action, whether it’s official or not.
It’s not going away. It’s how consumers communicate, and expect brands to communicate. If not, it’s at the brand’s peril one way or the other.Take employee collaboration. The ability to have teams huddle or share ideas from wherever – on a platform that is light, easy and free. Security may be an issue now, but you can see where employees will find ways to use these tools. So why not embrace them, incorporate them and put guardrails around them to protect both the employee and the organization?There are legal issues that go along with social media, and if your employees are active – which they are – then its important to have policies in place. In addition, an active and ready presence can help early crisis detention and resolution by having policies and teams in place.A recent Altimeter report showed that consumers sharing their Poor Experience with a brand was the leading cause of crisis. Motrin Moms showed us how quickly these things take on a life of their own, and how much of an impact they can have.Social shopping has been around for a bit now, but as social commerce becomes more prominent, with the help of incentive-based engagement, There is so much to be learned by actively participating. Listening is the first step, but there is a wealth of opportunity by tapping into, activating and involving social communities.
As with anything, there is a ying to the yang. And as companies become increasingly active in social – whether it is marketing, PR, HR, IT, customer care, there are also challenges and risks to be managed. To be sure, these will present themselves regardless of whether the brand actively engages. They are legal issues, employee issues, crisis management (or often times mismanagement),
As business becomes increasingly social, the number of tools, users, handles, accounts and voices grows exponentially. Each group with its own agenda, most often not talking to other groups. The result – mixed messaging, audience saturation, decreased effectiveness at best. Unprepared and uncoordinated crisis response at worst. Another example is access: how do you manage all of the users, passwords, permissions across dozens or hundreds of accounts? And if someone leaves to organization, how to do manage that? As it stands, companies now leave themselves open to rogue messaging, sabotage, and other activities. As social business becomes SOP, the challenges and risks increase that require attention, planning and coordination.
You may have wrestled with this question, and in fact I was surprised to be asked it just recently. The answer, I thought, was obvious. Perhaps a better, and easier question, is…
This is not Facebook, twitter, or another channel tactic. This means having a clear reason and roadmap that will serve as the True North of all social activity.
Balancing autonomy with structure is a tricky, yet essential, element to creating and efficient, effective social business. Not only does this help to set guardrails, but also to ensure shared best practices, continuous education, and uniform metrics.