BusinessWeek: The Overlooked Side of Social Media
Posted by Tyler LeCompte on Fri, Sep 18, 2009 @ 08:17 AM
Most companies are embracing social media—but too many are wasting their efforts through sloppy management
By
The Staff of the Corporate Executive Board
More than 70% of companies are already using social media; many are
planning to increase their spending on social media across the coming
years. Whether for learning from customers, building their brands or a
range of other hoped-for outcomes, companies are clearly diving in.
Unfortunately, few have thought very hard about managing these
initiatives. In a classic case of "ready, fire, aim," companies are
committing resources to social media efforts with very little process
behind them. The result? A hodgepodge of unrelated initiatives, wheels
re-invented and resources wasted.
The Corporate Executive Board has found that the best companies
recognize that social media are just another set of promising tools and
as such are to be understood, mastered, and used efficiently.
Importantly, they also recognize that how they manage their social
media efforts depends on where they are in the journey from initial
discovery to mainstream use. That journey has three stages:
• Discovery: At this stage, the organization is just finding out
about the potential uses (and risks) of social media for its purposes
and making initial forays. The goal: understanding ("could this work
for us?"). Since few resources are necessary at this point, companies
don't need heavy managerial oversight. But they do need downside
protection. Clear, well-communicated policies on everything from
information sharing to appropriate language is in order.
• Experimentation: As an organization does more with social media,
the importance of learning efficiently becomes urgent. At this point,
companies need tighter oversight and coordination of efforts. There are
a number of ways to create that kind of transparency and sharing,
ranging from steering committees to tiger teams" to social media czars.
These bodies should develop and steward a learning agenda for the
firm's efforts, using each initiative to deliberately increase the
institutional knowledge of social media use.
Measurement standards also become more important at this stage. The
best companies settle on a consistent set of measures for similar
initiatives, using that data to test and learn over time. Metrics like
track-backs, for example, can clarify better or worse social media
vehicles for a given objective.
• Adoption: While few companies currently find themselves in this
stage, those that do loosen their managerial posture, moving away from
oversight toward support. Here, the role of any central or dedicated
management body should be one of education, coaching and provision of
expertise. Some firms are building centers of excellence, repositories
of people and knowledge about using social media. Metrics should shift
here too, tailored for assessing efficiency and effectiveness of
specific initiatives.
The short story: Social media isn't a fad about to fade away; it's a
good idea for your organization to learn how to use it to your
advantage. The best companies will learn faster and get more out of
social media by aggressively managing their efforts.
Provided by Corporate Executive Board —What the Best Companies Do™
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