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Social Media and the Enterprise
This month’s CIO column by Bob Worrall discusses social networking from the standpoint of the CIO. To provide a business perspective, Inner Circle is pleased to welcome social media industry expert Charlene Li. Charlene is the founder of The Altimeter Group and co-author of the business bestseller, “Groundswell: Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies.” She frequently consults and speaks on social and emerging technologies and publishes a blog, The Altimeter. Q: Social media has clearly taken off in the consumer world. To what extent are you finding enterprises embracing or avoiding social media compared to a year ago? Charlene: For many companies, it’s a mixture of excitement and terror. Enterprises are very excited about social media because many of their employees or customers are using it. The key question many are asking is, with all this social engagement, how do we turn the focus onto our company, products, and services? At the same time, companies have employees saying things they shouldn’t on blogs or on Facebook or Twitter. Or, they’re hearing negative conversations about their company on discussion boards. Companies are torn between finding a comfort level with this new form of communication and wanting it to go away. But the fact is, it’s not going away. If anything, it's going to grow, and companies will need to become skilled at having this new, open dialogue with customers. Q: What are customer expectations around enterprises using social media? Customers are starting to expect the companies they do business with to use these tools and communities. If I have a problem with a product and I blog or Tweet about it, it’s really nice when the company shows up and helps me. The expectation of many consumers is that their technology or media companies will use social media. The expectation for, say, financial services companies, is lower (except for Wells Fargo, which happens to use Twitter). But companies can’t afford to ignore these tools because they’re a brick and mortar retailer. Coca-Cola has 3.5 million fans on Facebook. Starbucks has close to that number and is actively engaging with customers there. How do you look if you don’t have a presence on Facebook? Customers are saying, “This is where I live, where I want to have a dialogue, and if you don’t want to engage with me here, you probably don’t want my business.” Q: How do companies that see social media as a threat turn that into an opportunity? A: The key is to connect whatever you’re doing with social media with a very specific corporate goal. The closer that goal is to an important strategic objective, the more likely that social media will get support and funding in your company. The worst thing you can do is arbitrarily start a blog or a Twitter account or a Facebook page without any context. Rather, let’s say that you want to increase customer satisfaction and retention from 86% to 89% — something very measurable. You could propose a blog to talk about key customer service issues and address them as they come along. They become searchable because you've put a search engine question around keywords and your company shows up. That’s a strategy that is more likely to get backing than saying, “I want a blog.” Q: Once a company decides to embrace a social media strategy, where do they begin? A: Once you decide to do this, it’s important to be present. I encourage everyone to begin small, because this is really hard to do. Take on something manageable: a project, or even an event, and try it. If you fail, it’ll be small scale. You're better off failing at it than doing nothing, because every time you fail, you’ll learn something new. Some companies have social media experts, but increasingly, companies are training others within the organization so that it becomes part of their everyday job.
Pick an objective and start something you can do within the week. The biggest problem I see is people getting frozen. Many feel they need an eight-month planning session to strategize. Meanwhile, it doesn’t go away. You’re better off throwing your hat into the ring and being ready to give up the controls if it fails. Companies are often amazed at the instantaneous responses they get and quickly realize they have a lot to learn. If they goof up, people give them gentle (or not-so-gentle) suggestions about how to do things differently. Sometimes comments are adamant, strident and negative due to pent-up frustrations which people just need to get off their chests. It’ll settle down eventually; you have to expect that. Q: Do companies need to hire social media specialists to manage this? A: Some companies have social media experts, but increasingly, companies are training others within the organization so that it becomes part of their everyday job. Whose job is it to monitor what’s happening in social media? It is somebody in market research? That to me has failure written all over it. It may be a place to begin, but your goal should be that everyone in the organization is empowered to do this. Everyone, when they see an opportunity to interact with customers, should feel comfortable and confident that they can do so at the level the company requires. Q: Is there a bottom line return for companies who embrace social media or is it primarily a cost center? A: There has to be a return, otherwise why bother? Whether in cost savings, innovation or reaching new audiences, there needs to be a business impact. In writing “Groundswell,” my co-author Josh Bernoff and I insisted that every example we used point to a business impact. I was on a panel recently and asked the audience how many of them could point to a measurable business impact from their social networking activities. A couple hands went up. Then I asked how many had social media initiatives, and three times as many hands went up. I told the second group to stop what they're doing until they figure out why they're doing it, because they’re setting a precedent for failure. If you’re in business and not doing this because it’s a passion, you owe your shareholders a return. If you don’t know why you have a blog or why you're on Facebook, that's a recipe for disaster. Moreover, the people you’re interacting with don’t know what to expect from you. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of company blogs or Twitter pages that have no traction. Q: You spoke on a Web 2.0 Expo panel that asked why social media marketing fails. Does it fail and if so, why? A: It fails all the time. It’s designed to fail. Social media marketing is not about sending out messages or shouting at your customers. It's about building relationships. And relationships fail sometimes. You have to realize it’s not going to be perfect. You will disappoint, you will stick your foot in your mouth. But relationships also become stronger because of these things. You apologize and tell your customers you’ll try harder. Customers will typically forgive you for not being perfect. People want the companies they work with to try new things and accept feedback — positive or negative. These are the components of a healthy relationship. Dialogue is being built along with trust. So, does social media marketing fail? I think the bigger question is, does it work? It absolutely can work if done correctly. Q: Where do you think the world is headed with social media? A: Social media is growing, not only in terms of more sites, but also where it’s going. We are quickly moving to a place where anything we do where people can make a difference, is going to be social. Recipe exchanges, travel planning, and photo sharing are all social. Email will become much more social in terms of helping you determine what's relevant and what's not. For example, if someone important opens an email that you’re copied on, you'll be alerted to open it quickly as well. It will become more intelligent. Your inbox will know to up level emails from someone you communicate with often and put them at the top of your social network. Social intelligence and socialgraphic information are going to be everywhere you look — they will become like air. If I’m a friend of someone, it’s probably because we have something in common — we share a common trait or interest. And if they like something, chances are good that I will too. So targeting folks in this manner will be better in some ways than looking at demographics or psychographics. | ||
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