There are a number of reasons why a corporation or a not-for-profit should adopt Web 2.0 or Enterprise 2.0 tools. Enhancing communications and collaboration with customers and employees is the primary, over-arching driver for most. But there’s another more pressing need: snooze or lose.
“You really have no choice,” says Steve Krol, EVP of Professional Services with Lyons Consulting Group, which has worked with the likes of AON, Porsche and even Playboy. “Social media represents a full-fledge media /communication channel that will evolve with or without you. It’s another accepted form of communications that people want.
According to a web survey by the Software Information & Industry Association, only 41% of participants are using social media, but 35% plan to use it. While the survey is not scientifically significant for all organizations in all industries and is biased towards the audience that participated, the numbers are pretty close to the mark. As it relates to large organizations, the numbers echo other recent study findings from CIO and Forrester. However, the adoption numbers are far smaller in small and medium size organizations.
Though 45% of the survey respondents had $10 million or less in annual revenue Krol points out that it’s a misnomer that social media is only for the big guys and points the company Moose Jaw Mountaineering as an example. Moose Jaw is an online retailer and a pioneer in mobile e-commerce which uses text messaging to reach customers via their PDA or phone, and employs a site that is optimized for PDAs and mobile phones.
While there are many benefits that most organizations can reap from employing Enteprise 2.0 tools, Krol cites five over-arching benefits:
• Collaboration
• Cost Reduction
• Market Research
• Customer Service (Employee Engagement)
• Brand Participation
While the softer more ethereal benefits such as “collaboration” and “brand participation” will not excite too many accountants, there are plenty of case studies that demonstrate real return on investment (ROI) including costs savings and increased revenue.
ENTERPRISE 2.0 CASE STUDIES
Dell Forums allows users to post questions to the “Dell Community” of customers and it encourages the community of customers to communicate with others which also promotes idea sharing and trouble-shooting. Each post saves (often) a call or request to Dell customer service (some people have made over 25,000 posts!). Dell estimates the cost to respond to a customer request at $10.
Dell’s IdeaStorm started as a corporate blog discussing Web 2.0. It evolved into a full social networking site that solicits ideas from users. As of recent, customers had contributed 5,363 ideas and 23,235 comments were posted. Dell has implemented 20 of those ideas in the first year including Linux deployed machines.
As for little guys, my firm, Prescient Digital Media, has enjoyed great success directly attributed to one of our key blogs: IntranetBlog.com. Among the measurable benefits from this blog alone:
• greatly improved search engine rankings for our corporate site
• more leads and prospects
• $100,000s in additonal revenue
• a number of new, big brand and Fortune 500 clients
For undertaking and implementing your own Enterprise 2.0 or social media tool(s), here are a number of suggestions for proceeding:
• Listen – find out what your employees what: would they use wikis if they knew the value? Would they read a blog by your SVP of Marketing?
• Benchmark - Understand the ingredients of a good blog, wiki or podcast; watch and cherry-pick from the leaders
• Leadership – Senior management must set the tone; your executives must be leading the dialogue and controlling the message
• Plan - Planning is an essential requisite for success; develop a plan that is based on a thorough assessment and contains key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Governance – very tool needs an owner and a policy (terms of use)
• Technology - choose your vendors carefully based on business requirements & needs
• Refresh – keep your content and tools relevant and fresh, and ensure they cross-promote your latest products and services
• Measure - Document the link between social media and the business and develop a set of performance metrics with baselines that are regularly measured
• Engage – gather constant feedback and act quickly on necessary changes
Finally, consider an Enterprise 2.0 undertaking as “evolution not revolution” – there’s no need to solve the world on your first attempt; test and pilot solutions and enhance as necessary before trying to conquer the world.
10 SOCIAL MEDIA SITES THAT ARE ‘MUST KNOW’:
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Wikipedia.org
• Flickr
• Deli.co.us
• Google Gadgets
• Twitter
• Blue Shirt Nation (BSN)
• 43 Things
• MyStarbucksIdea.com
READ THE INTRANET 2.0 VERSION WITH INTRANET CASE EXAMPLES:Intranet 2.0: A must have
