The Social and Rachel Happe!
Principal & Co-Founder
Community Strategist The Community Roundtable
Role
Image by Dave Gray, The Connected Company

What is a Social or Community Strategist?
An individual who has tacit or explicit authority to define enterprise-
wide standards for social media and community engagement. This
includes approaches to strategy, leadership, culture, community
management, content and programming, measurement, policies/
governance and tools.
The corporate social strategist is the business decision maker for social programs
who provides leadership, roadmap definition, and governance; and directly
influences the spending on technology vendors and service agencies.
– Jeremiah Owyang, Career Path of the Corporate Social Strategist
www.community-roundtable.com

Strategists Play A Critical Role
Roles Supporting Cast and Tools
Futurist • Analysts
• Research
• External connections to peers and thought
leaders
Connector of dots • In-person meetings
• Telephone
• Internal advocates
• Peer support
Leader • Time alone to reflect
• Supportive mentors and peers
Storyteller • Practice audiences
• Training and reading
Therapist • Training
• Peer support
www.community-roundtable.com

Skills and Qualities of Strategists
Skills
Qualities
• Research and analysis
• Persuasive
• Marketing or communications
• Persistent
• Program and resource • Passionate but tempered
management
• Open minded and collaborative
• Business development
• Optimistic
• Curious
• Modest
• Calm
• Fascinated with humanity
• Authentic and trustworthy
• Comfortable with ambiguity
www.community-roundtable.com

Strategists Face Unique Challenges
Keystone
A Foot in Each World
Matrixed Responsibilities
Isolating Perspective
www.community-roundtable.com

Approach

First: Define What Success Will Look
Like
1. Personally
Example: Executives who understand the
social opportunities and risks. Approval
from compliance groups to execute.
Successfully getting investment to execute.
2. Organizationally
Example: Organization has a consistent
approach to social initiatives, there is a
governance model in place, staff
participating in social initiatives are trained.
www.community-roundtable.com

Second: Articulate Three Basics
Purpose
Business
Advocacy
Case
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Third: Define an Adoption Approach
Full-Frontal Attack Pincer Movement Networked
Pros Cons Pros Cons Pros Cons
Clarity before Resource Conserves Can be slow Builds diverse Requires you
and after intensive resources support to cede
control
Big, hairy, Requires Can reduce Can backfire Creates Interim
audacious significant initial with multiple shared milestones
goal C-level buy- resistance groups ownership of are less
energizes in success predictable
people
Raises stakes Raises Can produce a Difficult to see Aligns with Few models
and anxiety stakes and fait accompli the complete social to copy
levels anxiety for executives picture business
levels strategy
Structured Emergent
www.community-roundtable.com

Deciding on Your Approach
Influencing Factors:
• Executive commitment and
decision making style
• Cultural support for
experimentation and initiative
• Level of current activity in the
social space
• Frank assessment of
strategists’ influence in the
organization
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An Enterprise Relationship Roadmap"
The Community Maturity Model
www.community-roundtable.com

Fourth: Develop Your Supporting Cast—
Internally
Marketing
Customer
IT
Support
Community
Business
Owner
Product/
Compliance Innovation
Group
HR
www.community-roundtable.com

Fifth: Develop Your Supporting Cast —
Externally
Accenture
CMSWire
Deloitte
Fast Company
McKinsey
InformationWeek/The Brainyard
Protiviti
Social Business News Management PWC
Social Media Examiner Consulting
Social Media Today Firms Edelman Digital
The Community Manager Fleishman Hillard
Porter Novelli/Voce
Marketing Social Media Group
Media
Agencies Weber Shandwick
Acquia
Awareness
Get Satisfaction
IBM Community
Igloo Community
Business
Jive Business
Ants Eye View
Owner
Owner
Niche
Lithium ComBlu
Moxie Vendors Consulting Dachis
NewsGator Firms Roberts Golden
Telligent SideraWorks
BlogWorld
DeFrag
Analyst
Enterprise 2.0 Conferences
Firms Altimeter
SocialFresh Constellation
WOMMA Summit Forrester
MarketingProfs Gartner
Pivot Conference IDC
Web 2.0 RedMonk
www.community-roundtable.com

Additional Reading
2012 State of Community Management Report:
http://community-roundtable.com/socm-2012/
Altimeter: The Career Path of the Social Strategist -
http://bit.ly/TPOBP9
CSC Case Study - http://slidesha.re/OH8YcN
SAP Case Study - http://slidesha.re/Px41aO
Dell Case Study - http://slidesha.re/NkUi31
www.community-roundtable.com

Research: The State of Community
Management 2012
• Market analysis
• Industry and market
perspectives
• Artifacts, patterns, initiatives
and resources by maturity
stage
Download 2012 report here:
http://community-roundtable.com/socm-2012

About The Community Roundtable
Mission:
Advance
the
Business
of
Community
Services
1. Champion:
Advocate
for
the
needs
of
community
• TheCR
Network
business
owners
and
teams
• TheCR
Focus
2. Educate:
Provide
training
soluHons
to
community
&
• TheCR
Advisory
social
business
leaders
• TheCR
Research
3. Curate:
Aggregate,
document,
and
share
community
• Community
Management
management
best
pracHces
Training
Member
OrganizaHons
&
Clients
Leadership
Team
Rachel
Happe
Principal
and
Co-­‐Founder
@rhappe
Jim
Storer
Principal
and
Co-­‐Founder
@jimstorer
www.community-roundtable.com

TheCR’s Solutions
We develop client competencies through training, professional
development and research
Start Build Grow
TheCR Training
TheCR Training
TheCR Training
• Community Lead
• Community Team
• Stakeholders
TheCR Network
TheCR Network
TheCR Network
• Community Lead
• Community Team
• Community Team
Stage Stage Stage Stage
1 Research
2 Research
3 Research
4
• TheCR Focus for • TheCR Focus for • TheCR Focus for
Executive Sponsors
Executive Sponsors
Executive Sponsors
• TheCR Focus for • TheCR Focus for
TheCR Advisory
Stakeholders
Stakeholders
• Executive Education
TheCR Advisory
TheCR Advisory
• Stakeholder • Stakeholder
Education
Education
• Workshop
• Workshop
www.community-roundtable.com

TheCR’s Services
Our services are designed to educate different audiences at different
stages of the social business journey
TheCR Network Training
A membership-based network of On demand and in person training
community, social media and social modules for a variety of community
business leaders which provides:
roles:
• Peer and expert interaction
• Specialist/Moderator
• Report library of peer practices
• Community Manager
• Tools and templates
• Social or Community
• Professional concierge services
Strategist
TheCR Focus TheCR Advisory
A monthly report subscription Industry experts that deliver
providing insights gleaned from customized solutions in the following
practitioners and for:
ways:
• Executive sponsors
• Keynotes
• Operational stakeholders
• Executive Education
• Advocates and part-time • Workshops
community managers
• Retained Advisory

TheCR Thought Leadership
Our research platforms
educate the market, inform our services, and
enable partner services
State
of
Community
The
Social
Execu6ve
Management
TSE
looks
at
execu6ve
The
SOCM
provides
adop6on
and
the
insight
on
community
TheCR’s research portfolio linkage
between
programs
and
prac6ces,
business
strategy
and
learned
from
leading
is designed to provide a
the
use
of
social
prac66oners.
comprehensive view of technologies.
how leading organizations
are succeeding in social
business.
Career
Path
of
the
Community
Maturity
ModelTM
Community
Professional
By
capturing
the
This
research
looks
at
maturity
of
different
compensa6on,
roles
organiza6ons,
we
help
and
experience
of
the
market
mature
community
more
quickly.
professionals.
www.community-roundtable.com

Ways We Partner
We partner with vendors, consulting firms and agencies to enable
their
success in marketing, customer support and service development
Content Sponsorships
Experiences
Thought
• Subscription Research
• Webinars
Leadership
• eBooks & white papers
• Keynotes
• Reports
• Workshops
A La Carte Services
Solution Packages
Customer Success • Training
• Start
• TheCR Network • Build
Membership
• Grow
• Advisory
Research Based
Staff Training
Partner Services • Maturity Assessments
• Specialist
• The Social Executive • Manager
Assessments
• Strategist

Thank you!
Questions?
Rachel Happe
rachel@community-roundtable.com
@rhappe
www.community-roundtable.com