Principles for Building a Successful Social Business Strategy

Principles for Building a Successful Social Business Strategy

Baruch College, EMBA 31

Executive Summary

The objective of a social business strategy is to improve business results by listening to and learning from constituents in new community settings. This also translates to information that can help an organization design products and services to better serve their customers. If successfully implemented, business results should improve over time. Of course social business comes with its own set of new business risks as well.

Not all businesses are created equal. For many organizations, the implementation of a social business strategy means a significant change to their workforce and culture. Companies have trained their employees to think about the needs of the organization first and not the community. Because no standard process for implementing a strategy exists, Baruch College’s Executive MBA Cohort 31 established nine key principles for a successful transformation from a traditional business to a business with a significant social business strategy.

Establishing a social business does not mean stopping all other activities related to marketing, public relations, and communications. Social business effectively compliments those activities by delivering value on the customers’ terms in a social setting.

The Nine Principles

I. Objectives Should Complement Strengths and Help Overcome Weaknesses

A successful social business strategy can require significant financial and human resources. It is important to have a clear understanding of what a successful strategy means and what it will do for the organization. Specifically, organizations should use social media to emphasize the strength of its brand and reputation. If the organization has strategic gaps then a strong social business strategy can help. Organizations can use social media to address concerns and to minimize damage done to its reputation. Goals and objectives should clearly align with corporate values and the broad corporate mission.

II. An Executive Sponsor (VP Social Business) Should Champion Social Business Strategy and Lead Culture Change

For many organizations adopting a social business culture will require a complete makeover. In order to be successful, an influential senior leader who reports into the C-suite must champion change. He or she should work with other senior leaders to make sure that the entire organization understands how they contribute to the new strategy. Depending on the organization, formal change management steps should be taken.

III. A Single Department Should Own Social Media

Organizations are still trying to figure out how to organize themselves around their social business strategy. Who should own the strategy? Does the marketing department have the skills needed to implement an effective strategy? The ideal situation would be to form an independent Social Business Department. At the very least a group should be formed within Marketing or Communications that is completely accountable for social business strategies and nothing else. The department’s size can vary depending on the corporate objectives and planned activities. The Social Business Department should report into the VP of social business. The group should consist of strategic thinkers, industry thought leaders, and project managers. The department should understand and connect with all areas of the company in a cross-functional manner. They should be particularly connected with sales and customer service as well as marketing, PR, and communications. The Social Business department is responsible for developing social network content.

IV. A Social Media Policy and Process Toolkit is Necessary

Creating a new department and launching a cohesive social business strategy means rules, policies and workflows must be created. A virtual toolkit should be branded and made available to employees on an intranet if possible. Organizations should create the toolkit in the most transparent way possible. This means sharing more information with employees than ever before and engaging front line employees in the decision making process. The toolkit should consist of, but not be limited to, governance policies, roles and responsibilities, specific guidelines for individual contributors as well as managers and other leaders. This toolkit can also be used to develop an internal knowledgebase and tutorials on how to handle difficult situations, crisis management communications guidelines so that employees are aware of communication expectations with the war room (communications hub, discussed later in this document).

V. Technology Platforms and Investment Decisions Must be Identified Early

There is no shortage of information about available enterprise technology platforms as organizations hope to tap into those capabilities as a way to improve employee productivity, collaboration and communication (both internal and external). The common social media brands like Facebook and Twitter exist, but organizations should think carefully about other communities they are looking to form or create. There are many ways to connect with constituents who share the same passions, so careful consideration should be given to technology assets. There is a long line of software vendors looking to position themselves as the “platform” of choice, but the organization has to ask if the available technology will work for them and will it be worth their investment. Implementation plans should be developed for every part of the organization that may engage in social media activities. Milestones and key indicators should be built into the plan to track the progress and effectiveness. Reports of key matrices can also be developed to monitor the effectiveness of technology platforms and investment decisions. Additionally, an IT Internal Controls Unit should be established that works in conjunction with the Social Business Department to develop and maintain system provisions and processes that will enforce company policies, yet continue to embrace and cultivate a spirit of collaboration and community throughout its organization—both internally and externally.

VI. A Communications Hub Should be Created by the Social Business Dept

Sometimes called a “war room”, the communications hub is the center of activity for social business. The hub is the distributor of knowledge management information developed by the Social Business Departments which has overall responsibility for the communications hub. Led by a Community Manager, responsibilities include everything from daily analytics to crisis management. If a negative situation arises, the hub should be the first area alerted to the crisis whether big or small in nature. The Community Manager would work regularly with matrix partners to develop rapid responses. Liaisons to the hub should be identified within other departments in order to create the optimal collaborative environment. Other activities would include management of an organization’s social media accounts as well as competitive analytics.

VII. Trust, Train, and Certify

A social business strategy is about people. Unlike any time in our history, employees will be empowered to speak as representatives of the company in a permanent way. While it is critical that companies empower their employees to engage in communities using social media, it is equally important to make sure that employees are properly trained. Employees need to understand the evolving nature of social business. Legally, a lot is still unknown so everyone must navigate carefully. The Internet is full of rules that offer helpful guidelines for companies to follow. To ensure understanding, companies should require some sort of certification process for those employees who will use social media as a way of doing business. A social business Code of Ethics should be established by the company to clearly define expectations of employee conduct. Ongoing training should include helpful tips from the Social Business Department as well as legal advice from the Legal Department. Finally, penalties should exist for those who abuse social media as it can very easily and quickly tarnish the reputation of a company. Human Resources as well as Learning and Performance should be heavily involved implementing this principle.

VIII. Be Human, Be Transparent

If the point of a social business strategy is to improve business results by listening and learning from constituents in community settings, then employees must be encouraged to participate! However, there are variances in the way people interact socially. In a corporate setting, the interaction can be used to evaluate performance internally and communicate with customers externally. Employees can easily become overwhelmed with too much information so training will be a significant investment for the company. Once employees have been trained and they understand how social media can improve business results or even personal results, they should feel comfortable and safe communicating externally. Employees should learn to be as transparent as possible on behalf of the company. Transparency has to first be established internally and then externally. Transparency is not the goal of social business but it’s a way of establishing trust within relationships.

IX. Social Analytics Must Drive Key Strategic Decisions

Listening to the external and internal environment is the first step to becoming part of or creating a community. It is important for an organization to use analytics to set engagement strategies related to planning social business activities and future growth opportunities. Businesses should listen and use analytics to make decisions about changes to products and services, monitor effectiveness of marketing and branding strategies; and to determine which market segments should be targeted for growth and entry. As traditional analytics takes a "social" form, it is important to realize that using social media to gather information about the customer is just the beginning. The ultimate goal would be to transform terabytes of data into valuable information which can facilitate quicker and smarter decisions. This will ultimately give the company a winning edge over others.

Conclusion

Speed and flexibility are important corporate attributes that are needed in all phases of a social business strategy. It is important to be able to keep up with the external dynamics of social media. Slow reaction times can have severe consequences and a lack of flexibility and agility can destroy good intentions.

The social business phenomenon is here to stay. ROI measurements are improving and analytics are being developed in a way that will continue to reshape corporate strategy. Consumers are demanding change. Hopefully our principles are guideposts for successful navigation in this new and dynamic world of social business.