As promised, please find below our revised version of our 9 Principles for building a successful social business strategy based on this blogs community feedback.
Thank you for all who contributed - EMBA 31
Principles for Building a Successful Social
Business Strategy- Revised
Baruch College, EMBA 31
2/21/12
Executive
Summary
The point of a social business strategy is to
improve business results by listening to and learning from constituents in new community
settings. If successfully implemented,
business results should improve over time. Of course social business comes with
its own new set of business risks as well.
For many organizations, the implementation of
such a 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 resources and human resources. It’s important to have a clear understanding
of what a successful strategy means and what it will do for the organization. In order to connect to people, the
organization and its brand image needs to be humanized as people interact
better with other people and this can be achieved through the use of social
media tools. Specifically, the proper
use of these tools can 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. Ownership
of Social Media is All Employees in the Organization
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,
but then the ideology of managing it in the traditional sense of a silo style
won’t work. At the very least a group
should be formed led by the VP of Social Business, as mentioned in Principle
II, which incorporates every department in the organization (Human Resources, Sales,
Customer Support, Information Technology, Product Development, Marketing,
Communications and Finance). The group
should consist of strategic and innovative thinkers, industry thought leaders,
and project managers to understand, connect and engage with all areas of the
company in a cross-functional manner. The
Social Business group is responsible for developing social network content as well as engaging every employee in the organization.
In order for the organization to be successful in Social Business, the
employees need to embrace it and be encouraged to engage with their communities
internally and externally.
IV. A Social
Media Policy and Process Toolkit is Necessary
Creating a new group and social awareness to
launch 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 maybe 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.
V. Technology
Platforms and Investment Decisions Must be Identified Early
There does not seem to be a shortage of
information about enterprise technology platforms. 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. Implementation plans should be developed for
every part of the organization that may engage in social media activities.
VI. A Communications
Hub Should be Created
Sometimes called a “war room”, the
communications hub is the center of activity for social business. Lead by a Community Manager, responsibilities
include everything from daily analytics to crisis management. If a negative
situation were to arise, the hub should be the first area to know about 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. The hub is the distributor of knowledge management
information developed by the VP of Social Business which has overall
responsibility for the communications hub.
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.
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. 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! 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’s important for
an organization to use analytics to set engagement strategies related to
planned social business activities.
Businesses should also listen and use analytics to make decisions about
changes to products and services.
Conclusion
Speed and
flexibility are important corporate attributes that are needed in all phases of
a social business strategy. It’s important to be able to keep up with the
external dynamics of social media. Slow reaction times can have serious
negative consequences and lack of flexibility and agility can dampen 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.
