The State of Social Business 2013

By Brian Solis


A recent survey by Indeed caused controversy when it claimed that growth in positions with the title “social media manager” slowed to 50% in the past year. While still an important role, social is becoming part of everyone’s job. It’s inevitable that at some point, social media will become another channel, albeit interactive, that requires mastery and management at every level.

Is it all doom and gloom? No. Even though pundits reacted dramatically, this is all about evolution and adapting to change to the point where you create a resilient culture that shifts from reacting to leading.

For example, in the Indeed report, positions with photo sharing app “Instagram” in the title gained 644% and those with “Vine” grew at 154%. This trend will continue with emergent trends and also the given trendiness of new apps, networks, and creative.

In an interview with Quartz, Indeed’s Marketing Director Amy Crow says, “We are seeing an increased demand for social savvy candidates across the business – from human resources to product to customer service. In addition, we’re seeing this demand span many levels, from executive assistants to senior vice presidents.”

Social teams will only gain in prominence as education and governance grow in importance. But what’s important to understand is that at some point, this social core will lead a more connected digital transformation. There won’t be a social strategy; there will be an overall engagement strategy for define customer and employee experiences and relationships.


The State of Social Business 2013

Each year, the Altimeter Group hosts an annual Social Business survey to learn how social media is evolving within enterprise organizations. Data is then compared to previous reports providing a sense of movement to the numbers and also a developing benchmark for our analysts and clients. Our last survey was studied in Q3 2013 and also Q4 2012, the latter was used to provide context to a report published by Charlene LI and me in March 2013, “The Evolution of Social Business: Six Stages of Social Business Transformation.”

We are now making the data available to the public for free use under Creative Commons (cc) as part of our open research program. The figures included in this report are also compared to previous survey findings from 2011 and 2010.


Summary

Analysis of our survey results reveal that social media is extending deeper into organizations and, at the same time, strategies are maturing. What was previously a series of initiatives driven by marketing and PR is now evolving into a social business movement that looks to scale and integrate social across the organization. The following report reveals how businesses are expanding social efforts and investments.

As social approaches its first decade of enterprise integration, we still see experimentation in models and approach. There is no one way to become a social business. Instead, social businesses evolve through a series of stages that ultimately align social media strategies with business goals.
Our hope is that the data shared in this report provides some perspective on where your company is today so that you can chart your own course for social business evolution. Some ways to use the data include:

1. Benchmark where you are compared to the various business stages shared in this report.
2. Document existing challenges and opportunities that you will need to address for your 2014 social business plan.
3. Determine how social strategies can better align with business objectives and priorities.
4. Finally, follow along with Altimeter Group’s Seven Success Factors of Social Business Strategy to expedite your transition from social media to social business.


The Seven Success Factors of Social Business


1.  Define the overall business goals. You can’t align your social strategy with your business objectives if you don’t even know what your objectives are.

2. Establish the long-term vision. If you’re not striving toward the end goal, you’re likely to veer off the path. If you want your team to fully invest in your social strategy — and you need the support of your entire team– you’ll need to communicate your vision with clarity and passion.

3. Ensure executive support. In the early days you may be able to fly under the radar, but at some point, if you want to truly have an impact on the business, you’ll need the backing and support of key executives.

4. Define the strategy roadmap. You already know your business objectives and have a clear vision. But how are you going to get there? Plan out your route, what roads you’ll travel, and what roads you’ll avoid.

5. Establish governance and guidelines. Who is responsible for executing the social strategy? What’s your process of listening and responding to your customers? If you clearly define this process and then stick to it, you’ll spend less tie floating along throughout the social sphere and more time strategizing your social growth.

6. Secure staff, resources, and funding. In the early stages of social growth, you might outsource your social media campaign to an agency, and that’s fine. But you should also be looking down the road and planning to develop internal resources to take your company to the next level as your social prowess — and your business — grows.

7. Invest in technology platforms that evolve. Resist the temptation to jump on the latest technology bandwagon before you have a long-term strategic plan in place. Hold off on making significant technology investments until you’re equipped with a sound vision and strategic plan.


Highlights of Findings


In terms of social business maturity, most organizations are “intermediate,” with only 17% who are truly strategic in the execution of their social strategies.

The lack of clear leadership, organization, and strategy means that many organizations experience some form of “social anarchy,” of siloed, uncoordinated social efforts.

More companies are moving to the Multiple Hub and Spoke model to organize their social business programs, up from 18% in 2010 using this model to 23.6% in 2013.

Most dedicated social media teams continue to report to Marketing (40%) or Corporate Communications/PR (26%). But now, 13 different departments around the organization are seeing dedicated staff work on social initiatives.
Companies are committing more headcount to social media across all sizes of companies. The biggest jump is for companies with more than 100,000 employees, which now report an average of 49 full-time employees (FTEs) supporting social media in the organization, compared to 20 in 2010.

Top priorities for social include scaling for engagement, integrating data, and training/ education around social.

Measuring the impact of social is maturing, with over half of organizations able to track the impact of social on marketing efforts.

Lack of employee training around social media policies remains a significant risk area — only 18% of companies said that their employees have a good or very good understanding of their social media policies.

This post contains a powerful message. It's time this message went viral. Basil Venitis, venitis@gmail.com, http://themostsearched.blogspot.com