Industry reaction to the seven success factors for Social Business Strategy

By
Hayden Richards

Many businesses have not been getting “social” right in the short-term. This is certainly reflected in their social media conversations. If you are having a conversation, it should be fluid. How many companies or brands actually get this right? It could be the case, social media is still perceived as a necessary mundane chore as 2013 draws to a close.

Altimeter’s social gurus Brian Solis and Charlene Li, recently released their new e-book titled:The Seven Success Factors of Social Business Strategy. The aim of the e-book was to provide companies with the latest methods of aligning social media strategies with business objectives to deliver ROI and realistic results. Over a 12 month period the analysts examined how businesses used social media strategies practically and how their businesses improved as a result of doing so.

The 6 Stages of Social Business Transformation detailed the initial findings. Scott Monty, Head of Social Media for Ford Motor Company commented on the report:

“Social business is anything but easy. It requires a vision, strategy, governance, people, processes, tools, technologies and more. Aside from all of these components, it requires true leadership and the ability to rethink your company and how it is positioned to succeed in today’s world. ”

In their exploration of creating the perfect roadmap, these are the recommendations of Brian Solis and Charlene Li:

  1. Define the overall business goals
  2. Establish the long-term vision
  3. Ensure executive support
  4. Define the strategy roadmap and identify initiatives
  5. Establish governance and guidelines
  6. Secure staff, resources, and funding.
  7. Invest in technology platforms that support the greater vision and objectives

On that last point ,you should avoid the hype and instead focus on the technology that will actually bring you results. So if you are getting results on Twitter, then invest resources there. Continuously evolve your strategy.

Brian Solis says the approachability of the several strategic factors resonated with readers and that the same factors can apply to the approach of any business strategy. He was not exaggerating. Fans of the e-book have responded with insightful infographics and visual suggestions of how to solve your social business strategy dilemma.

Vala Afshar, CMO and Chief Customer Officer of Enterasys Networks writing in a Huffington Post article designed a bespoke infographic while making the point that the business world still treats social as an experiment:

“The majority of businesses using social media today have few clear connections between their social activities and business goals. Social media metrics, if they exist, focus instead on engagement activity metrics like ‘likes’ and ‘follows’ and not the actual business value creation like revenue, brand reputation or cost reduction”.

Alexis van Dam produced this mindmap:

Mark Smiciklas a Digital Strategist, author and President of Intersection Consulting came up with this infographic while asking the question: Does your organization have a social business strategy in place?:

The authors found that there are common characteristics of successful social business strategies, the most important one described by Charlene as “being a laser focus on achieving business goals”. She says “In fact, the most successful businesses are those with an executive who can articulate the vision and strategy roadmap almost as well as the social strategist”. Charlene Li is the author of the book Groundswell and Brian Solis works tirelessly to help brands better align their social media experience with their company strategy.

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