The social enterprise - beyond digital marketing

Published: 14 November 2013

In this week's business newsletter we look at the idea of social enterprise and how it extends beyond merely using social media for marketing.

What are the benefits of social networking?

Warren Bennis is a leading thinker around leadership in the digital world, and points out that organisations will increasingly use digital pathways to drive transparency and leadership. You may think this sounds naive - but what he is basically saying is that digital channels will change the power structure in organisations. New leaders need to look at how they use social media to lead both internally and externally in their organisation.

A range of leading thinkers state that organisations need to consider the value it creates for its customers. In a digital world, this is becoming increasingly measurable.

So are you ready to open up the conversation and let your sales people engage in social media to source customers? You may be surprised to find that not only your marketing and sales people, but also your HR, finance and operations people may use social media as critical tools in their business processes. Employees are increasingly using messaging to reduce complex email communications. Likewise, they have interactive conversations over voice, internet messaging and private (in-house) company social networks. It is becoming very difficult to distinguish between the mobile as a business and a personal tool.

Recent research by Forrester indicates that 80% of customers will consult with and rely on what their colleagues and family say about products and services before they decide for themselves. Only 36% of customers rely on sales people. People also take to social media to source products, complain, and sometimes even to praise good service. They find their jobs through websites and decide which companies to work for on the basis of what others say. They even Google-search the next person they are meeting in search of commonalities and interest points in conversations to be initiated. In fact, if you cannot find someone online it may raise suspicion and reduce the perception of transparency regarding that person. Customers are also increasingly choosing to interact with products and services in more complex applications that allow them to see inside the enterprise while at the same time comparing themselves with others.

How do you measure social media activity?

Measurements have changed with likes, referrals and promotions on key sites being the order of the day for daily activities. Some thinkers are moving beyond these basic measures. In this regard, Zachary Reiss Davis from Forrester hints that companies need to rethink their digital measures: They need to move beyond acquiring digital measures to understand them through 'social selling'.

The first measure he proposes to achieve this is through 'social reach', where you measure your ability to inform people who may or may not know about the brand. As a company, you can increase your social reach through your employees' association with your brands, as they publish relevant information on social networks and in well-placed advertising. Campaigns and sites on social media attract others to understand you better. Regular communication and active network growth ensure that you remain relevant, much as in the real world you use advertising to expand your reach. More importantly, you enable others to advertise on your behalf by leveraging the real power of digital marketing.

The next stage of measures then becomes 'social depth'. Sales can greatly impact this stage because it communicates crucial messages and forms deeper relationships with those who are good targets, but not yet customers. The question is to what extent the company understands and acts upon the needs and intents of their followership. It is great to have a lot of followers but if you don't understand what drives them, things can backfire quite badly. By analysing followers and interested parties, and by responding to their needs, the company can maximise both the impact of its messaging and the growth of its target base. This can be optimised through analysing the properties that organisations control, e.g. communities and forums on their websites and social networks. Most companies have not understood in real terms who is interested in building a digital relationship with them.

The most crucial aspect, and the third stage, is to define the 'social relationship' that your organisation wants with the customer. Your customers have purchased from you and are already engaged with your brand, so they are most inclined to pay attention and interact with what you're saying on social networks such as Google Plus, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. By fostering an open relationship with your customers and giving them the tools to advocate you, you can create a powerful exponential followership. On the other hand, being ignorant of what people are saying can destroy masses of brand equity in a short space of time.

These three ideas ('social reach', 'social depth' and 'social relationship') together have united in the concept 'social selling', which brings back the personal touch through mass customised selling process.

Companies are moving beyond email marketing, as blogs, webinars and structured data make the enterprise accessible by allowing customers to compare experiences and form part of the process of delivering goods and services in the organisation. Blog posts drive applications while YouTube videos show you how to use them. In addition, adverts remind you of their existence. This type of integrated messaging is how selling will happen in the future and for many it is already happening today.

Not just selling is affected - supplier relationships, recruitment, sourcing and selling are all deeply impacted by social media. Therefore, it is only a matter of time until communities become more open and applications more universally and commonly utilised to conduct business in new ways.

It is already standard practice for firms to review candidates' social media profiles. Increasingly, suppliers look for referrals and location-based searching, as well as mobile advertising and integrated supply chains, to ensure that the product gets to the customer.

Most IT people will almost automatically quote Gartner on the major trends in IT - cloud, mobile, big data, automation, ect. They all seem to miss the obvious and biggest trends since the idea of time was invented - social media. It may be because they have no good way to spend money on it and because there is no big thing to buy to make it work. What they do is put in new firewalls to block people from using it. This just re-emphasises the fact that digital strategy and IT strategy seem to have very little to do with each other. Potentially, the business is put on a path to miss a major part of what is happening with their customer base. Business is becoming social faster than any other trend in business or in IT in recent history.

While all this is going on, there are actually firms that still try to restrict their staffs' access to the Internet. There are still sceptics who believe that social media is a hoax by marketing firms.

Reed's research reveals one third of companies allow access to social networking at work, another third allows limited access, and another third does not allow any access at all. In companies that do allow access, people typically check their social media sites one to three times a day, with only 36% of users doing so on the company computer. Those who refrain from using the company computer check their social networking 5-10 times per day by means of mobile and other devices.

With an increasingly young workforce in a world where developing economies rule the markets - social media will increasingly differentiate between those who are linked to the new economy and those who are not. While there may be industries in which social media may not be immediately relevant, it is evident that the future for all enterprises must clearly answer how the company will respond to the digital world. This includes what mechanisms and strategies it will put in place to manage its digital presence and integrated digital business processes.
- Regenesys