Social business is in its infancy. Like many organizations, associations are discovering that becoming a social business is much more than engaging in social media marketing. It means leveraging insights learned – both offline and online – to be more responsive enabling members to engage with each other as well as your organization’s domain experts, share best practices and address professional and business objectives with an emphasis on solving problems faster. This means understanding member requirements and how your organization can leverage social business to deliver the right features and content at the right time. However, this involves more than turning on a digital megaphone – associations have to be ready to enter into a continuous dialog with their members and respond in a meaningful way. In this presentation, we will share the findings from a collaborative research project entitled The Social Business Benchmark Study - launched in partnership with The Society For New Communications Research (SNCR) and Fusion Productions examines: How associations are currently leveraging social business to support their membership value proposition The life cycle of social business evolution within associations Where associations stand in terms of strategic intention, operational impact, staffing, governance, tool use and organizational readiness What are the critical metrics that association leaders should focus on? Learning outcomes: Understand the state of social business for associations and organizations Gain in-depth understanding of what is required to support an organizational social business strategy and operations Gain exposure to best practices and common pitfalls in social business to enable social business efforts to thrive long term.

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Copyright © 2014 Leader Networks, LLC 1
Social Business Benchmark 2014
for Association Leaders
Presented at DigitalNow 2014
Vanessa DiMauro, BA, MA
CEO & Managing Partner, Leader Networks, LLC

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Purpose of the Social Business Benchmark Study
Examine what companies are (really) doing with their social business
activities and to benchmark organizations readiness for social business &
provide future guideposts
Key research questions:
• Do organizations differentiate social media marketing from social
business?
• What are the social strategic intention, operational alignment,
staffing, policy, and governance structures norms for social?

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Social Business Benchmark Research Methods
3
Starting in 2011, The Social Business Benchmark is
a mixed method research study in partnership
with Society for New Communications Research
(SNCR) and, for 2014 an Association-focused
edition conducted in partnership with Fusion
Productions.
Study composition:
191 organizations as of March 2014
25 interviews between Nov. 2012 – Feb. 2013
15+ industries
Organization size ranged from <100 - >50K
employees
About SNCR
The Society for New
Communications Research is a
global nonprofit 501(c)(3) research
and education foundation, think
tank, and public service
organization, dedicated to the
advanced study of the latest
developments in new and emerging
communications tools and
technologies such as digital, social
media, and mobile, and their effect
on business, culture, and society.
Unless noted, Associations tracked the same as all other respondents

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2.
Present
4.
Integrated
1. Familiar
3.
Enabled
None Limited Moderate RobustHealthy
Strategic
Operations
Staffing
Governance
Tool Use
Strategic
Operations
Staffing
Governance
Tool Use
Strategic
Operations
Staffing
Governance
Tool Use
Social Business Performance
Strategic
Operations
Staffing
Governance
Tool Use

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Social Business Performance Scale
5
Stage 1:
Familiar
Stage 2:
Present
Stage 3:
Enabled
Stage 4:
Integrated
Strategic
Intentions
No strategic goals Reach and awareness
Social goals support
business goals
Social business transforms
the value chain
Operations Detached projects
Marketing
participates &
monitors social
channel
Social business COE
Executive support
Social media pervades all
lines of business
Staffing
No dedicated staff Informal part of
marketing role
Built into many job
descriptions
Integrated into key roles &
executive sponsorship
Governance
No social media
policy
Guidance is offered Policy in place
Policy, education &
training
Organizational
readiness
Org. tolerates
experiments
Marketing shares
results
Impact, outcomes,
ROI are tracked
Cultural transparency,
responsive organization
Tool Use
Mainly “unofficial”
social media
accounts
Tool adoption grows
& proliferates
Departmental use of
tools (e.g. sales uses
LinkedIn)
Tool standards established

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0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Organizational Readiness
Tool Use
Governance
Staffing
Operations
Strategic Intentions
None Limited Moderate Healthy Robust
Social Business Maturity Overview
6
Familiar Present Enabled Integrated

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Strategic Intentions
• Close to two in ten report either no or limited strategic maturity.
• Only about one in twenty-five report that their organizations have robust strategies.
7
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Strategic Intention
None Limited Moderate Healthy Robust
No strategic goals Reach and awareness
Social goals support
business goals
Social business transforms
the value chain
Familiar Present Enabled Integrated

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32%
49%
51%
59%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Well defined
Integrated into the larger organization's
operations
Strategic
Generally supported by key stakeholders
across the organization
How would you categorize your organization’s strategic framework, goals or
intentions for social initiatives? (check all that apply)
78% Of Organizations Do Not Consider Their Social
Strategies To Be Well Defined
2014 n= 138
8

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n=191
9
Yes, 43%
No, 57%
Does your organization differentiate social
media marketing from social business?
The Lines Between Social Media And Social Business
Are (Still) Blurred
Social Media: The spaces where we
interact with one another over the
web, including public, private and
semi-private spaces defined within,
and by certain contexts.
Social Media Marketing: The use of
social media spaces for marketing.
Social Business: Using the elements
above to enable more efficient,
effective, and net-new connections
between people, information, and
assets to drive business decision,
action, and outcome across the
enterprise. Source: Deloitte: The Social
Business Initiative

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Operations Maturity
• Only one in ten report that their organization has robust maturity in the area of operations.
10
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Operations
None Limited Moderate Healthy Robust
Famili Prese Enabl IntegrDetached projects
Marketing participates
& monitors social
channel
Social business COE
Executive support
Social media pervades all
lines of business
Familiar Present Enabled Integrated

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Most Organizations Do Not Leverage What They Learn
Through The Social Channel
Yes, 41%
No, 45%
I Don't Know, 15%
Does your organization use or leverage social data to impact core operations (customer care, R&D etc.)?
n = 164
Associations were less likely
to report that their
organization uses or
leverages social data to
impact core operations.

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Social Strategy Execution Generally Falters
n = 175
13%
62%
11%
14%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Excellent
Somewhat well
Not well
We do not have a well-articulated strategy
How well is the social strategy being executed within your organization?

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49%
Collect social outcomes data but rarely
use them to drive change, account for
success or failure of a larger strategic
initiative.
13

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Reach/Awareness And Collaboration With Customers
Are Primary Drivers For Social Strategy
7%
5%
17%
17%
21%
27%
28%
34%
62%
76%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
If other, please specify
Beta test new products or services
Competitive intelligence
Collaboration with suppliers and / or business…
Generation of new products / services / ideas
Better account management / coverage /…
Collaboration within the organization
Lead generation
Collaboration with customers / clients
Reach / Awareness
What are the primary drivers for your social strategy? (Please select the top 3)
2014 n = 175, 2013 n = 56
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Associations were more likely to report that Reach/ Awareness is a primary driver for social strategy and
less likely to report that lead generation or better account management is a primary driver.

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Staffing Maturity
• About a quarter of respondents report that their organizations have a robust level of
maturity in this area.
15
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Staffing
None Limited Moderate Healthy Robust
Familiar Present Enabled Integrated
No dedicated staff Informal part of
marketing role
Built into many job
descriptions
Integrated into key roles &
executive sponsorship

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Many staff
using, 27%
Select staff
experimenting,
43%
Trained key
personnel,
24%
Not using social
tools or
strategies, 6%
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Only 24% Of Organizations Have Trained Key
Personnel In Social Media Skills
Question: What is the level of staff proficiency with social media skills?
Staff Proficiency
Yes, 49%
No, 51%
Competitive Differentiator
n = 169
Question: Do you consider your organization's social strategy skills to be a competitive differentiator?n = 170
Associations were more likely to report that select staff are experimenting with social tools and
less likely to report that they are not using social tools or strategies at all.

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Governance Maturity
• A third of respondents report robust Governance maturity.
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0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Governance
None Limited Moderate Healthy Robust
No social media
policy
Guidance is offered Policy in place Policy, education & training
Familiar Present Enabled Integrated

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Governance Maturity
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• Organizations were strongest in the area of communicating and collaborating with external
constituents and Millennial Satisfaction with Policy and had the most challenges with their
social media policy guidelines.
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Social Media
Policy Guidelines
Millenial
Satisfaction with
Policy
Management
Satisfaction with
Policy
Executive
Satisfaction with
Policy
Communicate
with External
Constituents
Benchmark

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Close To Half Report Having A Written Social Media Policy
n = 162
Formal Written
Policy and
Trained Staff,
27%
Formal Written
Policy, 19%Unwritten
Policy, 25%
No Policy, 28%
Prohibit Staff
from Using, 2%
What is the state of your social media policy guidelines?

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Tool Use Maturity
• Close to one third report No or Limited maturity in their Social Tool Use.
• Les than one in ten are robust in this area.
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0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Tool Use
None Limited Moderate Healthy Robust
Familiar Present Enabled Integrated
Mainly “unofficial”
social media
accounts
Tool adoption grows &
proliferates
Departmental use of
tools (LinkedIn for sales)
Tool standards established

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Which Social Platforms Does Your Organization Use?
To extend the
brand
To engage
Public social networks (Twitter, YouTube) 82% 68%
Public selective platforms (Facebook, G+) 81% 66%
Public professional social networking platforms (LinkedIn) 74% 69%
Blog platform 58% 49%
Public social content sharing (Pintrest, Flickr) 43% 25%
Mobile applications 36% 40%
Org. sponsored video channel 31% 20%
Org. sponsored online community 27% 27%
Participation or sponsorship of online community that org. doesn’t run 15% 12%
Private label online community platforms (Jive, Telligent) 13% 28%
Social CRM platform 12% 17%
Internal collaboration tools (Yammer) 10% 14%
Social games 10% 6%
21
n = 169
Arrows indicate response of Association members vs. others.

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Organizational Readiness Maturity
• Four in ten respondents report no or limited Organizational Readiness maturity.
• About one in nine report that their organizations are robust in this area.
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0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Organizational Readiness
None Limited Moderate Healthy Robust
Familiar Present Enabled Integrated
Org. tolerates
experiments
Marketing shares
results
Impact, outcomes,
ROI are tracked
Cultural transparency,
responsive org.

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Organizational Readiness Maturity
• Organizations were strongest in the area of having a social strategy that is embraced by
management.
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0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Strategy
Embraced by
Management
Budget Dedicated
to Social Projects
Future Budget for
Social Projects
Leverage Social
Data to Impact
Core Operations
Benchmark
See right
41% of Benchmark
participants leverage
social data to impact
core operations.
Yes, 41%
No, 45%
I Don't
Know, 15%
Leverage Social Data

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Observations About Associations Social Business Benchmarks
Associations tracked largely the same as enterprise with a few, notable
differences:
• Associations are less likely to report that they use or leverages social data to
impact core operations.
• More likely to report that staff leads the social media marketing, and less likely
to report that marketing does.
• More likely to using social for external staffing activities than internally
focused efforts.
• More likely to report that select staff are experimenting with social tools.
• More likely to use blogs and less likely to host online communities.
• Reach and awareness was more likely to be a primary driver for Associations
social activities.
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