community, connection, conversation or channel

8/3/2019 Community, connection, conversation or channel

1/13

Copyright Quocirca 2011

Rob Bamforth

Quocirca Ltd

Tel : +44 7802 175796

Email: [email protected]

Clive Longbottom

Quocirca Ltd

Tel: +44 118 9483360

Email:[email protected]

Community,connection,conversationor

channel

Abusinessframeworkforevaluatingandembracingsocialmedia

November2011

Socialmedia, social networking orthesocialweb, alongwith companies

that deliver all things social, are dominating discussions about the

internet, advertising and communication inbusiness aswell as personal

life.Thisappearstobeanunstoppablebandwagonthatallorganisations

mustleaponbeforetheyareleftbehind;butisitthatsimple?Thesocialnetworklandscapeispackedwithchoicesandpitfallsfortheunwary,soa

careful,wellthoughtoutandappropriatelynuancedresponseisrequired.


2/13

Community,connection,conversationorchannel

Quocirca 2011 - 2 -

Community,connection,conversationor

channel

Abusinessframeworkforevaluatingandembracingsocialmedia

Socialmaybealltherage,andwhiletherearemanyopportunitiesforittoaddbusinessvalue,organisationsneedtobeclear

aboutwhattheyaredoing,andwhy.

Theinternetisnowa

socialwebofpeople,

notjustcomputers

Theubiquityofanopennetwork,theinternet,hasledtoanumberofservicesbeingcreatedto

takeadvantageofthisuniversalconnection,butfewhavehadsuchalargeimpactastheability

toformonlineconnectionsthatcoalesceintohighlydynamicgroupsthatmirrorandamplify

realworldconnections.

Socialnetworks

appeartoholdgreat

promisefor

organisations

Many customers, partnersand employees alike are, nodoubt, using social media for their

personalcontactsand communications,andmanywill increasinglybeusing it informallyfor

businesspurposes.Itseemsasimplenextstepfororganisationstoformalisethisprocess.This

couldusefully spill across intomany businessprocesses from salesandmarketing, through

customerservicetoproductdevelopment,withtheadditionaladvantagethatsocialprotocols

canseamlessspanthesefunctionaldivisions,enablingamorecollaborativeworkingmodel.

Businessesarein

dangerof

overplayingthe

socialcard

Theabilitytoreachoutandcommunicatedirectlywithcustomersandprospectsis tantalising

but,likeothermarketing,it canbe abused.Organisationsneed totread carefullyand social

networksmightprovidethemwithafarmoreusefulwayofgatheringinformationandmarket

intelligencethansimplypushingoutsalesandmarketingmessages.Theselinesofconnection

tocustomersarehighlypersonalandneedtobetreatedwithrespect.

Thesocialwebisnot

auniformentity,but

diverseandcomplex

Asthesocialnetworkingtoolsmatureandevolve,theystarttofulfilalargeanddiversemixofhumanneedsforsocialinteraction,butasacollectionofseparatethreads,notasingleholistic

solution.EvenFacebook,thelargestofthesocialnetworks,hasebbsandflowsofinterestand

manypeoplehavemultipleidentitiesandmultiplenetworksthattheyregularlyuse.

Comprehensionisfar

morevaluablethan

conversion

Thewealthofintelligencethatcanbegatheredfromsocialnetworksisimmense.Organisations

thatusethistolearnmoreabouttheirprospects,customers,productsandservicesandthen

reflectthisintelligencebackintothecommunitywillbenefitthemost.Thosethattrytocontrol

orusethemediainamanipulativewaywillstruggletomeetonlinesocialnormsandmayfind

thattheydriveprospectsandcustomersaway.

Businessuseofsocial

mediaismaturing,

butbenefitsstill

needtobequantified

Even at this relatively early and experimental stage in the use of social networking by

organisations,itisnecessarytothinkaboutformalisingtheprocesses.Notonlydoesitneedtobebasedonasoundbusinessstrategy,goalsalsoneedtobesetthatcanbemeasuredagainst

inordertojustifythelevelsofinvestmentthatwillberequiredtobringsuccess.

Conclusions

Social networks offermany opportunities for organisations to have a far closer engagement with the outside world and, in

particular,withcustomers.However,ratherthansimplyachannelforovertoutboundsalesormarketingmessages,itisonethatis

bestsuitedforlistening,understandingandthenreflectingrealvaluebacktothecommunitythroughacustomerserviceoriented

conversation.


3/13


Quocirca 2011 - 3 -

Introduction

Socialmedia,socialnetworksorthesocialweb?Theprecisenamedoesnotreallymatter,buttheimpactofsocial

connectionson thedrily-technicalworldof computersand ITnetworksis havinga profoundeffecton individuals

andconsequentlyontheorganisationstheymaybuyfromorworkfor.

Somethingthatis attimesengaging, fun, entertaining, informative, supportive andcatharticfor theindividualis

somewhatmoredifficultfororganisationstograsp.Thesocialworld,justliketheinternetitself,belongstonoone,

soexertinginfluencecanbedifficultandproblematic,butitmayofferorganisationsaconnectionorchannelto

participateinconversationswiththecommunityatlarge.Thisreportaimstounderstandhowandwhy.

Socialspreadandreach

Onlinecommunitiesarenotnewbut,duringtheearlyuseofemaillistsandbulletinboardsfromthe1970sonwards,

communicationwasslowand limited to text, the interactionwasstiltedand those involved reflected a narrow

cross-sectionofsocietymainlyITgeeks.Theexplosivegrowthoftheinternetasamass-marketpublicsystemin

themid1990sevolvedfromtoolstobrowsethewebofcomputersandinformationavailableandubiquitous,fast

networks.Chatroomsandonlinecommunitywebsitessprunguptooffermoreinstantcommunicationbetween

groupsofindividualsandtheacronymwwwsometimesbecameknownastheworldwildweb.

Awebofpeoplenotmachines

While someserviceprovidersstilltriedtocontrolonlinecommunitiesandorientthemaroundtheirownuseror

clientbaseCompuserve,AOLand,latterly,mobileoperatorportalsitturnedoutuserspreferredtochoosetheir

ownassociatesandfriends,evenonline.Increasingly,thewebofmachinesandserverswasturningintoawebof

people.

So began networking sites oriented around shared

social topics or issues past schools, college clubs,

friends, shared interests etc. The ease with which

additional forms of media images, sound and,

notably, video could be added further fuelled the

valueofsuchsites.Earlysystems,builtaroundbulletin

boards, were still for the geeks only. Then came

systems such as Friends Reunited that brought the

consumerintousingsomethingthatenabledthemto

bring their pasts back to them. LinkedIn provided a

business means of building a fairly basic way of

communicatingwitha setofpeers. Then, true social

interaction arrived with the likes of MySpace, Bebo

andFacebook.

What,inmanycases,startedoutasasimplerollcallofnameshasbecomefarmorepowerfulbecauseoftheextra

information shared, aswell as the original shared interest or connection. The concepthas evolved from social

networkandsocialmediaintoa socialweb,whichis rapidlymovingtodominateotheronlineactivities.Eventhe

largeretail sites,suchasAmazonandeBay,encouragefeedbackandcommentingfromusersthatothersmaybe

influenced by when it comes to purchasing items. The growth of social interactions has made it difficult for

businessestobeableto trackwhatisbeingsaidaboutthem,togaugetheoverallsentimentofspecificgroupsof

peopleagainsttheirbrandorproduct,ortoidentifyideasthatmaybeofusetothebusinessthroughthewisdom

ofthecrowd.


4/13


Quocirca 2011 - 4 -

Thenextwaveismobile

Astheinternetspreadfromthedesktop,mobileusehasprovidedanewformofimmediacyofaccess.Theupsideis

fasterresponseandtheemergenceofcontextperson,place,timeasavaluablemechanismtofeedintelligence

intothesocialmix.

A person can inform their social web of friends or

followers that they have checked in to a particular

location, so feedback becomes more precise and

intense.However,themobileexperiencebringswith it

screenandinputlimitations, furtherencouragingterse

exchangesofmessages.

Theprevalenceof mobile socialnetworkingmayseem

tobecurrentlyafairlymodestpercentagein2010(see

Figure2)but,giventhegrowthinsmartphoneandnow

tabletinstalledbases,andfinallytheemergenceofvery

capablemobilesocialsoftwaretools,thesepercentages,

across allagegroups, look likely to rise significantly andrapidly. Thismobilesocialweb will generate even

morerealtimeandincreasinglychaoticbehaviours.

Noboundaries

DespiteanapparentdominanceofWesternandperhapsevenparticularWestCoastUSbrandsFacebook,Twitter,

LinkedIn theenthusiasticuse ofsocialnetworkinghas spread round theworld.Unlikeearlierincarnations,like

bulletinboardsorchatrooms,usageisnotdominatedbyanarrowdemographic,suchasgeekyyoungmalesinthe

ITindustryorteenagersgossipingandlearninglifelessonsindigitalplaygrounds.Hobbies,sharedexperiencesand

common interests bring together many diverse groups in all walks of life, all levels of education and work

experience.

Thisdiversitycouldbecateredforwithinasinglesocialnetwork,buttherealityisthatdifferentinterfaces,services

andattributeshaveverydifferentaudienceappeal.Thismeans thatwhilethebignamesocialbrandsattract the

headlines,therearehundredsofothersocialnetworkingenterprisesinconstantuse,sometimesappealingmorein

certaincountriesorspecificdemographicgroups.AccordingtoitsanalysisofsocialnetworksconductedbyIgnitein

2011,thescaleofvarietyinsocialnetworkingsitesappealisvasthereisasample2:

- DoubanismainlyChinaandHongKong,medianagearound25- HabboisstronginFinland,VenezuelaandChile,mostlyunder20- HyvesisalmostexclusivelyDutch,medianage40- PlaxoisstrongestinSouthAfricaandUS,medianage45- ReunionismainlyUS,medianagearound50

Some,clearly,onlyappealtoaparticularregion,othersmoretoaparticularagegroup,sexorlevelofeducation,but

therearestillplentyofwhatappeartobespecialistnetworksthathavebroadappealamongtheirmembers.The

marketstrengthofthebignamesdoeshaveconsequencesinstimulatingalotofchurnaroundtheedgeofthe

industry. There isa strong impression that themarketis opento furtherinnovationandworth tackling, sonew

entrants keep appearing, but also existing sites stumble and decline, ultimately shutting down or becoming

essentiallydormant.Notalloftheseareperipheralorniche,soitpaystokeepanopenmindabouttheevolutionof

thesocialmedialandscape.


5/13


Quocirca 2011 - 5 -

Socialnetworkingandbusiness

Therapidgrowthandbroad reachofsocialconnectionsmake them very appealing forexploitation forbusiness

purposes.Many people orient their lives around their socialnetworks, receiving frequentalertsand pointersto

somethinginterestingwhilefeedingbackintothemwithstatusupdates,photosandcomments.Athome,atwork

oronthemove,thelinktothesocialnetworkisapreciousbond.

Wheremightsocialnetworkstouchanorganisation?

Inadditiontoinformationandentertainment,socialconnectionshaveotherbenefits.Mostpeoplewouldvaluea

recommendationoropinionfromafriend,relativeorpeermorehighlythanadvertisingorsalescollateral.Theywill

almostcertainlytakeevenmorenoteofnegativecomments,disastrousexperiencesorbadcustomerservice,and

wanttohearrecommendationsonwhotoavoid.

Gatheringtheseexperiencesfromsomeonetheytrust,orsomeonewhoisinasimilarposition,hasgreatervalue.So

belongingto orbeing involvedin something aclub, supportgroup,department, team ratherthanoperating

alonehasmoremerit,aswellassatisfyingastronghumanneedtobond.Itseemsonlynaturalthentoexpect

businessestobeinterestedinhowtheymightusesocialnetworksforcommunicationsbothwithinandbeyondthe

organisationinanumberofways:

- Marketing Thismight be inbound to gathermarket intelligence or outbound to generateawareness,visibilityand leads orsimplyto putout broadermessages such asgreen credentialsor corporate social

responsibility.

- Selling Ultimately,most organisations have something to sell and the openness of social networks,combinedwithinstantresponseandpotentialforpeerrecommendations,cancreatesellingopportunities.

- Support Organisationscan usesocial connections to appearmoreopen and responsive, butcanalsofostercommunitiesof interest that areself-supporting, especially ifthey candynamically createvalued

socialcontent.

- InternallyWhilstallowingemployeesaccesstosocialmediawhileworkingcanposesomerisks,employeeinvolvementcanboostmoraleandsatisfactionandmayhelpwithrecruitment.

Shouldthebusinessbeinvolvedatall?

Despitethepotentialvalueofsocialnetworks,thereisequallysignificantrisktothebusinessfromgettingitwrong.

Tomakeanyseriousattemptatcapitalisingonsocialnetworks,therewillalsoneedtobeasignificantinvestmentin

people, time and budgets. So the first thing an organisation needs to do as part of defining its strategy is to

understandwhathasledittothepointofconsideringthatitmightusesocialnetworkingforbusinesspurposesat

all.Whatarethe issues thathavebroughtsocial networkingto greaterprominencewithin theorganisation?Are

theyattemptingto:

- Counteractorcorrectnegativeopinionsbeingvoicedonsocialnetworks?- Domarketresearch?- Sellmoreproducts?- Lowersupportcosts?- Appearcool?- Findtestersorchampionsfornewproducts?- Fosterfeedbackfromcustomersgoodand/orbad?- Reactagainstcompetitorssocialnetworkactivities?

Someofthesearegoodreasonsforwantingtoengagewithcustomers,prospectsandthewidercommunityusing

socialmediabut,whileothersmightbeworthyeventualoutcomes,theyshouldnotbeusedasaknee-jerkreaction.

Anyorganisationsinvolvementinsocialnetworkingneedstobebasedonawellthoughtoutstrategy.


6/13


Quocirca 2011 - 6 -


Morebroadly,indeterminingitsstrategy,anorganisationhastodecidewhatarethe importantaspectsofsocial

networksfromabusinessperspective.Thisisimportantforworkingoutifandhowanyinteractionswillfitwiththe

needsofthebusinessandwhetheritmightbeworthwhile.Viewedfromanexternalperspective,thereareseveral

elementsthattheorganisationmightconsider:

Community - There are readymade communities of

interestwithinsocialnetworks,andmanyorganisations

trytostarttheirown.Thesecansometimesbeseenasa

modern day equivalent of the Tupperware party an

opportunity for current and potential customers to

shareviewsandhopefullybuymore,oftenguidedbya

fully- or semi-independent expert. Many online

communitiesandwebforumsdefendvigorouslyagainst

whatisoftenseenasvendorintrusionintotheirworld.

Well-informedcommunitiescan,however,becomeself-

supporting, reducing customer service impact on the

organisationandprovidingvaluablefeedback.

ConnectionOrganisationshavebecomemuchhardertoreach.Whereoncetheymighthavehadcustomerservice

desks ordepartments respond to lettersof complaint,they nowsubject their customers to IVRhell (Interactive

VoiceRecordingsystemspress1todoX,etc.)overthephone,oraconfusionofdistractingoptionsonwebsites.

Nowondersomanycustomersdonotfeeltheirvoiceisbeingheardorthattheycancomplainaboutaproblem

withoutbeingthreatenedthatitmightbeconstruedasabusingstaff.Smartuseofsocialnetworkingservicescan

provideafreshandresponsivewayinbutonlybeadditiontoexistingconnections,notacompletereplacement.

ConversationOnceaconnectionhasbeenestablished,fullbidirectionalcommunicationcanoccur.Alltoooften,

businesseshavebroadcasttheiropinions,productsandservicesthroughvariousformsofmarketing,targetedtoa

greaterorlesserextent.Sadly,eventhebesttargetedmarketingrarelyresultsinaconversationandoftennothing

more thana singleresponse,which,atbest,onlyincrementallyaddsto theintelligenceof acustomerdatabase.Customerserviceresearchoftenindicatesthattheprimaryreasonthatcustomersleaveistheyfeeltheyarebeing

ignored.Well-structured and suitably staffed investments in social networking can ensure that customers feel

valued,getimmediateresponsesandareabletofullydiscusstheirneedsinanopenandcompletedialogue.

Channel There are times when something needs to be distributed en masse to all or large sections of a

community.Notperhapsamarketingexercise,butsomethingthataffectsasignificantnumber,suchasaproduct

recall,upgradeavailability,orperhapsanoffer,althoughthiswouldneedtobecarefullycouched.Videoisonearea

inparticularwherethechannelelementofsocialnetworkinghasbeenusedtogreateffect.

Organisationscantacklesocialnetworkinginoneoftwoways.Eithertheyengagewithexistingsocialnetworksor

they create their own, perhaps a forum community on their website, or through dedicated services in social

networks, suchascorporateFacebookpagesorTwitterfeeds.Iftheycreate theirown,theycancontrolwhohasaccessandusemoderatorstocontroland,essentially,sensorcomment.Thisisoftenthemodelemployedbythose

mostcautiousaboutcontentleakage,suchasthetraditionalmedia,wherebusinessisdependentoncontrollingand

sellinginformation.However,considerableworkhastobedonetoattractpeopletosuchasite.

Formostotherorganisationsthisisprobablytoostrictanapproachandwilllimitanyvaluetheycangarnerfrom

socialconnections.Tofitintotheetiquetteofsocialnetworks,organisationsneedtobemuchbetteratlisteningand

evaluatingcommunicationsandreflecting theiranalysisbackto stimulateandgentlyinfluenceiftheywant tobe

seenasvaluedparticipantsinthesocialcommunity.Theyalsowanttoreachouttothegreatestpossiblenumberof

people but in a targetedmanner.The large social sites, such as Facebook, Twitter andLinkedIn, provide this

capabilitybutwithlessoverallcontroltothebusiness.Othersitesmayhavedistinctdemographicsthattheyare

aimedatthatmakethemveryusefulastargetsforthebusiness.


7/13


Quocirca 2011 - 7 -

Challengesofsocialmedia

Whilesocialnetworkingcanoffermanybenefitstoanorganisation,therearealsomanychallengestomakeitsuse

effective.Onemajorissuerelatestotherelativeimmaturityofthemasssocialnetworkphenomena.Whileonline

communitieshaveexistedforsometime,thecurrentcropofevenmajorsocialnetworkingsitesarestillrelatively

new,areexperimentingwithmanyaspectsfromsecuritytohowtobecomeevenmorestickytotheirusers,andare

stillsubjecttorapidchange.

Therearesomeindustrycommentatorswhopredictthatsocialnetworkswilltakeoverfromestablishedformsof

businesscommunication,such asemail,withina matterof years,and yetotherswho proclaim themarketas a

bubbleeerilyreminiscentofthedotcomcrash.Withthesesortsofwildlydifferingopinions,organisationsneedto

takeacloselookatwhattheymightbegettinginto:

- Evaluatetherearemanydifferentformsofsocialmedia;somearedestinationsiteswhereusersbrowseandcommunicateforawhile,othersarequickfire-and-forgetupdates,yetothersaresimplywaystoshare

recommendations. Each type will require a different approach. Within the different types there arepotentiallyhundredsofindividualsitesorservices.Itisimpossibletoaddressthemall,buteasytomissout

onesthatmightbereallyuseful.

- Segmentdespitethemassappealofcertainsitesandservices,thesearenotnecessarilytherightplacesfor all businesses, products or services. A good social strategywill look to apply traditionalmarketing

techniquesforsegmentationandtargetingofthemostworthwhilegroups.

- Relevanceandreachitisnotsufficienttosimplyconnect,butalsotoengageand,todothis,bothpartiesneedto be relevant toeach other.Understandingwhouseswhichsites,and forwhat purposes, in the

socialmedialandscapeisfundamentalforreachingouttopeople,andworkingoutwhattheymightvalue

inreturnfortheconnection.

- BalancedparticipationCommunitiesmaynottakekindlytothosewhoappeartobedirectlytoutingfor

businessorareperceivedtobeabusingtheiraccess.Thiswillvaryenormouslyfromgrouptogroupanditis

vitaltounderstandandcorrectlyuseanynetworkssocialprotocols.

- Filtering andweighting Not all social media is real, and there are already mini-industries trying tosubvert, overload andotherwisecreateartificial commentor recommendations;therehavebeenmedia

claims citing evidence of this in the hospitality industry. There are also individuals who are

unrepresentativeofthecommunity,andthosewhoshoutloudestmightnotbeasimportantasotherswho

apparentlysilentlyinfluence.Organisationsneedtoknowhowtobestfilterandunderstandwhatisreally

happeningandnotfallpreytoengineeredsocialmediaorsocialmalwareandhowtoleveragethetruly

independentproponenttocountertheoutlieropponentstothebusiness,itsproductsorservices.

- Privacy,intrusionandcensorshipApplyingcontrolandmoderationdirectlytothesocialflowisdifficult

toaccomplishandwilloftenbeseenas interferingoranunwelcomeintrusionintowhatpeoplefeelare

their own spaces,personal commentsand communication (despite them being open, unencryptedand

public). Organisations not only have to respect the appropriate social etiquettes, they also have to be

carefulaboutthesecurityandprivacyofanypersonalinformationtheyaccess.

- Internal integration all organisations will interact with their customers, suppliers, stakeholders andemployeesinavarietyofways,andthereisagreatriskinover-focusingonsocialnetworkingasameansof

connectionto thedetrimentofothermeans.Thisrisk isexacerbated iftheorganisationallows separate

internal departments of groups to do their own thing with social networking, and leads to confused

communications.


8/13


Quocirca 2011 - 8 -

Asbusinessuseandexploitationofsocialmediasoars,

thesecurityandprivacyissueswillrisesignificantlytoo.

Ifsocialnetworksdo starttotakeoverfromtraditional

toolsforcommunications,theywill,nodoubt,alsotake

over as a primary target for abuse and criminalbehaviour.

Thegrowthininappropriateactivitieshasalreadybeen

noted,withresearchfromSophosdemonstratingarise

in the use of spam, phishing and malware on social

networks(Figure4).

This may very rapidly change the dynamics of social

networks from being open and inclusive, as they are

today, tobeingmoreisolated andprotective.This will

haveasignificantimpactonhowindividualswillallowbusinessesandotherorganisationstointeractwiththemon

socialnetworksastheybecomemorewaryanddefensive.


9/13


Quocirca 2011 - 9 -

Earlystagestoday

Unliketheboldassertionofawebsiteaddressonmarketingcollateralandemployeebusinesscards,theindications

thatcompaniesareexploitingthebenefitsofsocialnetworkingcanbemoresubtle.TheremaybelistedFacebook

pagestobefriendandTwitterhandlestofollow,butthesemightonlyindicateafleetingpresence,andnothow

seriouslytheorganisationistakingtheirinvestment,howseriouslytheyarebeingtakenbythecommunity,orhow

muchtheyaregaining.

Many businesses arealready engagingin socialmedia,

buteffortsareoftenpatchyorsporadicandonlydipping

no more than a toe in the water of the social media

ocean.

The variation in what is being tried and the levels of

successinwhatis,sofar,afairlyyoungmarketplacecan

beseenfromasampleofindicationsoftheactivitiesofFTSE 100companies, according to researchconducted

byThree_D,the digital, socialmedia andconversation

divisionofPRagencythreepipe(Figure5).

Outbound communication, whether to encourage

potential new recruits, or for pushing out messages

around corporate social responsibility,have shown earlypromise,alongwithsomeuseas analternatepathfor

customersupport.Evenatthisearlystage,itispossibletodetectthatorganisationshavesomeideathatdifferent

forms of socialmediamight have different uses, but the relatively high numbers using Twitter for recruitment

suggeststhattheapproachisabitexperimental.

Theimmediacyofupdatesandviralnatureofthemediummeansthatgoodandbadsentimentcanspreadveryquickly across large numbers, and this is often seen bymany organisations as a reason to engage with social

networkstryingtostopbadcommentsor,atleast,respondtothem.Stiflingthisformoffeedbackisnotagood

approach,andwillmoreoftenthannotbackfire.Itisfarmoreusefultounderstandhownegativecommentsfit

alongside positive ones and understand any trends or recurring themes. Engaging with those with negative

perceptionsinapositivemanner(e.g.Wearesorrytohearthatyoufoundaproblemhowcanwehelp?rather

than Thatsnothow todo it doit thisway instead) can turnopponents intoproponents,andcanenablea

cascadeofknowledgeablepeoplewhocanfurthereducateothersifthesameproblemoccurselsewhere.

Evenwherecompaniesorindustrieshaveatrackrecord

ofnegativesentiment,perhapsfromadversereportsin

themainstreammedia,tacklingthoseissuesheadonby

beingopenandhonestintheapproachtosocialmediacouldproveworthwhile.

Many of the FTSE 100 companies engaged in social

mediaarefindingthatpositivecommentsoutweighthe

negativeones(Figure6)but,inmostcases,eventhose

negative comments will contain information that is of

valuetotheorganisation.Thekeyistomakesurethat

allinformationcanbecapturedgoodorbadandput

togooduse.


10/13


Quocirca 2011 - 10 -

Listeningwellandgatheringinformationisonlypartofengagingwellwithonlinesocialgroups.Beingresponsive,

providingcommentsthatareseenashelpfulandvaluableratherthansimplysalesorovertmarketingmessages,will

encouragemoreandmuchbetter responses fromsocialnetworkcommunities.Thisrequires significanttimeand

investment and, while itmight seem nice tobe liked, just as therelationshipmost employees havewiththeir

managers,itisfarmoreimportanttobetreatedfairlyandeffectively.

Theproductsandservicesofferedbycompaniessitatdifferentlevelsacrossanindividualsneeds.Noteveryonewill

want an intenserelationshipwith anorganisationsupplyingbasic shelter andfoodstuffs,but theymight have a

moreemotionalbondtoanorganisationthatsuppliesthemwithluxurygoodsortreats.Similarly,theirexpectations

will becolouredby theoverallbrandandmarketingmessages,andtheywillexpectanysocial interactionwitha

particularorganisationtomatchthoseperceptions.Withthatinmind,itisinterestingtoseehowasampleofFTSE

100companiesdiffersintheirengagementonaparticularsocialnetwork.

Timetoanswer

questions

Averagecomments

perpostAveragelikesperpost

Aviva BT

Carnival

Morrisons

Pearson

ReckittBenckiser

Sky

Tesco Vodafone

Key

1Hourorless

1to10hours

morethan10hours

Morethan50

10to50

lessthan10

Morethan100

20to100

lessthan20

SampleFTSE100activitiesonFacebook4

Each of these companies need to understand if its interaction with the Facebook community is an accurate

reflectionofrealityand,ifso,howdoesitcomparewithsimilarorganisations.Forthistypeofbenchmarkingitmay

needexternalhelp.Thereisarapidlygrowingindustryofcompanieslookingtosupportbusinesseswiththeirsocial

networkingstrategiesas socialmediaagencies take over fromPRagencies,socialmediaconsultanciestakeoverfrommarketingconsultantsandsocialmediaoptimisation(SMO)takesoverfromsearchengineoptimisation(SEO).

However,suchservicesdoneedtobeintegratedintoexistingscoringsystemswiththeexistingmeansofinteraction

andresponseareassuchasanyfeedbackmechanismsinplacetogaugesatisfactionwithdirectresponsetoweb

activity,thecontactcentre,withmailresponseandsoon.

Thismayopenupopportunitiesforcompaniestoexperimentfurtherinsocialmedia,butforittobeoflastingvalue,

ithastobecomeembeddedintheexistingbusinessprocessesandnotberegardedassometrendyadd-on,inthe

waythatmanycompaniesinitiallyaddressedtheinternet.Thiswill,mostlikely,stillinvolvethesupportofanumber

ofdifferentlyskilledagenciesandotherthirdpartiesbut,ultimately,theorganisationhastotakeownershipofits

socialnetworkingstrategy.


11/13



Conclusionsandrecommendations

While feworganisations willlook to social networking to address their total businesscommunications needs, it

seemslikelythatmostwilluseitforsomething.ItmightbeasbasicasuploadingafewvideosontoYouTubeor

postingcommentsadvertisingjobopeningsand,whilethesemightseemtrivial,theyhavetoberecognisedasthe

corporate orofficial communications they reallyare, andshouldbesubject toat least a littlemorerigour. Few

organisationswanttobeexposedinthemediaforbeingheavyhandedorcarelesswithcustomersandtheirprivacy

orwanttheiremployeesmakinginappropriateorriskypubliccomments.

Thismeansthatthereshouldalwaysbeasocialmediastrategy,evenifitisarelativelypassiveapproachofsaying

anddoinglittle.However,thereispotentiallyalottobegainedfromengagingwith,andespeciallylisteningto,the

wider community, and social networks currently occupy a very important position. Once an organisation has

decidedthatamoreactivesocialmediastrategyisworthpursuing,thereareanumberofaspectsthatneedtobe

consideredtounderstandwherethevaluemightlayandwhatpitfallstheremightbetoavoid:

- Commitment- Shallowengagementorlackof commitmentglares,soitisveryimportanttonotjustaddsocialnetworkinglogosandlinks,buttoputpeopleandresourceinplacetoshowthatrealattentionisin

place.Thelastthingacustomerwantsistobegivenanopportunitytobeignored.Anysocialmediaplan

shouldbeforalong-termengagement.Whileitisimportanttodefinesuccesscriteriaandmeasurethe

returnonsocialmediainvestment,thismustbetemperedwithknowledgethatittakestimetounderstand

andshapecustomerbehaviour.

- Balancingimportantvsinteresting becausethereissomuchpersonalinvolvementinsocialnetworking,itisalltooeasytoworkinareasthatindividualsfindtobeofpersonalinterest.Theseareunlikelytobein

precisealignmentwiththebusinessgoals,andmaysometimesworkdirectlyagainstthem.Forexample,

theorganisationmight be trying to quietly understandmore about itsmarket,butwithout alerting its

competitors.

- SocialdataminingTheinformationthatcanbegleanedfromsocialnetworksisimmense.Theycontain

personaldata,behaviours,responsestostimuliandacandourandimmediacythatarehardtofindany

otherway. Rather than simply using this to personalise and target responses back that appear heavy

handed,thisdatacanbeusedtogeneratenewinformationandintelligencebasedonsocialdynamics.

- AutomatingsocialprocessesFindingthenuggetsofvaluefromthemassofsocialnetworknoiseisahugechallenge,butfullscaledatacollectionandinformationharvestingiskeytounderstandingthenuancesand

trends.Automating this process is vital, and allows feedback and responses to bemade in sufficiently

humanreal-timetofitwiththesocialexpectationsofthisformofcommunication.

- Moderationindividualsareverysensitivetowhatisperceivedtobeovertcontrolorcensorshipofonlinesocialspacesbyorganisations(withthepossibleexceptionofforumsorcommunitiesspecificallyhostedbythe organisation); for example with moderated feedback comments in online news sites. Even here,

however,theopportunityforpeerreview,feedbackandmoderationiswidelyused.Organisationsshould

aimtofoster,supportandencouragepeermoderationassocialnetworksoperateonaprincipleofshared

trust,andsomeindividualswithinthecommunitywillemergeasbalancedopinionleaders.Wheredirect

actionby thebusinessis called for, any informationdeletionmust be explained forexample, due to

inappropriatelanguageorillegality(suchasracism,sexismorwhatever).

- Looselycoupled,highlyalignedOften,newaspectsoftechnologyappliedtothebusinessareisolatedandseparatefromthemainstreambusinessprocesses.Theyarestartedbyenthusiasticadvocates,runas

scienceprojectsandoftennotsuitablychampionedatseniorlevelsoftheorganisation.Attheopposite

endof thespectrum they areembeddedtoo tightlyinto anexisting functionthatdoesnot adequately


12/13



understand thereal valueofthe newconcept. Bothapproachesare amistake. Technologyamplifiesor

exaggeratesexistinggood(andbad)businesspractice,andnewideasneedfreedomtoflourish,butalsobe

appliedinalignmentwithexistingpracticessothattheydonotappearasseparatesilosto thoseoutside

the business. A level of formality and co-ordination is required in the organisations attitude and

communicationwithsocialcontactstoensureconsistencyofvoice.

- FindingtherightskillsetManyorganisationshaveadvocatesandpowerusersofsocialmediahiddenin

theirorganisation, andnotnecessarilyin obviousdepartmentssuch asmarketing orcustomerservices.

Findandusethein-housesocialenthusiasts,butalignthemtothesocialnetworkbusinessstrategy.Thisis

likelytospanmultipledepartmentsandskillsets,socombinetalentsfromdifferentareas,butbringitunder

thecontrollinginfluence of someone familiar withcustomer engagement,supportandcommunications

ratherthanjustmessagingandbranding.Bringinexternalexpertisewhentherearegapsoritisclearthat

theexternalknowledgeisvaluable,suchasnewandbestpracticesforbusinessuseofsocialnetworking.

References

1 Ofcomcommunicationsmarketreport2010

2 IgniteSocialMedia-2011-socialnetworkanalysisreport

3 Sophossecuritythreatreport2011

4 TheCommunicatorsguidetoFTSE100socialmediause-three[d]March2011


13/13

AboutTransversal

TransversalistheUKsleadingproviderofDynamicKnowledgeManagementsolutionsforcustomer-facingwebsites

andcontactcentres.Ourblue-chipcustomerbaseincludesDirectLine,JPMorgan,FujifilmandtheBBC.

By fundamentally changing the way information is shared between customers and staff, Transversal enablesorganisationstotransformthequalityandefficiencyofcustomerservice.Wedelivertherightanswerattheright

timeandeliminatecustomerfrustrationand,ultimately,lostbusiness.

Basedin Cambridge,UK,Transversalwasfoundedin 2000byDrDavinYapandProfessorDavidMacKay,aworld

authorityinthefieldofinformationtheoryandneuralnetworks.

ThroughourclosetiestoCambridgeUniversity,weemploysomeofthemostgiftedgraduatesandPhDsenabling

Transversaltoofferworld-classproductsandservicestoallourcustomers.

AboutQuocirca

Quocircaisaprimaryresearchandanalysiscompanyspecialisinginthebusinessimpactofinformationtechnology

andcommunications(ITC).Withworld-wide,nativelanguage reach,Quocirca provides in-depthinsights intothe

viewsofbuyersandinfluencersinlarge,mid-sizedandsmallorganisations.Itsanalystteamismadeupofreal-world

practitionerswithfirst-handexperienceofITCdeliverywhocontinuouslyresearchandtracktheindustryanditsreal

usageinthemarket.

community, connection, conversation or channel

Documents