1 © 2012 GSMI

Social Media Trends: How Advanced Organizations Achieve Success The demand for tangible results and a strategic perspective increases while results become achievable with proper planning January 2012

By David F. Giannetto Senior Fellow, GSMI

CEO, The Telos Group

Includes survey data, interviews and in-depth analysis from 163

social media managers and their organizations, and analysis of trends from 2011.

Sponsored by

2 © 2012 GSMI

Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 3

Methodology ................................................................................................................................................. 4

Information Taxonomy ................................................................................................................................. 4

Section 1: Majority of Brands Fully Prepared to Broadcast Marketing Messages via Social Media ............ 6

Finding 1: Social Media Established under Marketing as a New Means to Broadcast Traditional

Marketing Messages ............................................................................................................................. 6

Finding 2: Adoption of Primary Social Media Technologies Not a Barrier to Progress ........................ 7

Finding 3: Social Media Managers Personalize Distributed Content with Little Oversight from

Executive Management ...................................................................................................................... 10

Finding 4: Little to No Documented Planning in Place ........................................................................ 10

Section 2: Some Brands Employing Social Media within Discrete Business Functions .............................. 12

Finding 1: Social Media Established as a Free Standing Entity within the Organization .................... 12

Finding 2: Social Media Highly Integrate into Customer Interaction Oriented Business Functions ... 13

Finding 3: Little Formal, Documented Planning in Place .................................................................... 14

Finding 4: Legal and Human Resource Policy Designed to Allow Employee Participation Controlled

by the Office of Social Media .............................................................................................................. 15

Section 3: Select Brands Utilizing Social Media at the Enterprise-level as a Strategic Asset ..................... 17

Finding 1: Social Media Viewed as a Competitive Necessity by Senior Management ....................... 17

Finding 2: Social Media Policies, Procedures and Processes Designed to Encourage Employee

Participation ........................................................................................................................................ 18

Finding 3: Integration of Social Media into All Core Business Processes Planned ............................. 19

Finding 4: Brands Utilize Social Media Strategic Planning as a Means to Achieve Lower Total Cost of

Adoption ............................................................................................................................................. 20

Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................... 22

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 23

About the Global Strategic Management Institute .................................................................................... 24

About the Author ........................................................................................................................................ 24

Contact Information .................................................................................................................................... 25

Permissions ................................................................................................................................................. 25

3 © 2012 GSMI

Executive Summary There is a significant change occurring in the way organizations collectively view social media.

Previously, most organizations spent the majority of their effort and resources building a basic presence

on social sites, collecting fans and followers, distributing marketing content and overseeing the resulting

conversations. Within most organizations the efforts of employees responsible for social media focused

upon the tactical, day-to-day activities of these sites that are, to a large extent, the same as those

performed by individuals using social media for personal activities.

The collective view of management, that social media is an extension of marketing, re-enforced this

behavior. The often used label of “digital marketing” also infers that it is a subset of traditional

marketing, and relegates it to a new, if revolutionary, way to interact with customers and potential

customers.

Yet, social media increasingly forced management to realize that it is more than just a new way to

market, to win customers and improve brand exposure. Customers, seizing the new public voice given

to them by social media, began using these sites to demand better customer service when they were

mistreated, voiced their displeasure with products or service, and even sometimes demanded

organizations to act in a more responsible manner.

This forced a change in thinking.

Where social media was previously considered optional, it is now viewed as mandatory for any

organization seeking to compete at the top of its industry. It has gone from simply a cheaper and more

effective way to market, to an integral part of how customers are influenced to purchase and remain

loyal, influencing the design and improvement of products and even influencing executive decision-

making. Social media has worked its way into organizations to become an enterprise-level issue that

now often stands separate from marketing.

While the implementation of social media at the enterprise level remains challenging for most

organizations, there are a growing number that are figuring out how to do it, and how to use it to create

significant competitive advantage, differentiation and return on investment. This report shares key

characteristics of the most advanced organizations, comparing and contrasting them with what most

organizations are experiencing as they attempt to achieve success with their own initiatives.

4 © 2012 GSMI

Methodology This report was generated using both qualitative and quantitative information, gathered using online

surveys, interviews, detailed analysis of select organizational documentation, briefings and in-depth

interviews and analysis with client organizations. Specifically:

Online surveys of 163 social media or digital media managers responsible for the social media

initiatives within their organization conducted during the fourth quarter of 2011 and first

quarter of 2012. Respondents were solicited based upon their attendance at events in the areas

of social media and mobile marketing, their job title/positions being made available through

public information, or their relationship with GSMI or The Telos Group.

46 interviews with respondents that held overall responsibility for the social media initiatives

within their organization conducted during the period of November 2011 and January 2012.

Information made available to GSMI as a result of speaker, practitioner or vendor participation

in GSMI events during the second half of 2011. Information regarding these participants can be

found on the GSMI website: http://events.gsmiweb.com/events.php.

Detailed analysis and in-depth discussions with clients of GSMI and/or The Telos Group.

Information Taxonomy The information collected for this white paper was organized into a logical flow to benefit the reader. It

is organized so that each major section and the underlying findings build upon the section(s) and

finding(s) previous to it. This is done for two reasons:

First, it aids the reader in understanding the characteristics of organizations that have achieved

similar levels of maturity in the usage of social media.

Second, the information gathered for this report shows that as organizations mature in their

usage of social media they tend to follow a set pattern, with their maturity building upon what

they have previously accomplished. Therefore, a vast majority of organizations that have

achieved the usage of social media at the enterprise-level (a characteristic of mature or

advanced “social enterprises”) began their initiative as immature users of social media and did,

at one time in the past, display the characteristics described in the previous sections of this

report. In the achievement of this advance usage of social media they either continue to exhibit

the characteristics shown in the previous section when the characteristic is beneficial or have

evolved beyond these characteristics as they improved their program.

Brands that did not follow this logical progression are highlighted in section 3: Select Brands

Utilizing Social Media at the Enterprise-level as a Strategic Asset, Finding 4: Brands Utilize Social

Media Strategic Planning as a Means to Achieve Lower Total Cost of Adoption.

Based upon this approach, the information is organized to first reflect how the majority of brands are

utilizing social media (section one), then how fewer brands are utilizing social media in a more advanced

5 © 2012 GSMI

manner (section two), and finally how the most advanced users of social media are approaching its

usage (section three).

It is worth noting that throughout this report organizations are referred to as having more, or less,

mature social media initiatives. Most organizations begin a social media initiative with the intention of

having it mature and make greater contribution over time, yet some organizations reached a state of

maturity where their initiative would not be considered mature, but they choose not to develop it any

further. Although this is a small segment of the population, a lack of maturity can be intentional. The

reasons and/or impact of this choice are not analyzed within this report.

This survey only includes organizations that consider themselves as having established a formal social

media program, regardless of its maturity or effectiveness.

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Section 1: Majority of Brands Fully Prepared to Broadcast Marketing

Messages via Social Media A clear majority of those incorporated into this survey, 66% of the report

population, show characteristics that can be considered average for

organizations utilizing social media to connect with customers, potential

customers and influencers. These organizations show a high degree of

adoption, interaction and satisfaction with their usage of social media sites

such as Facebook, twitter and YouTube, with these sites primarily used by

marketing for outbound communications. The majority of

communications delivered via these sites supported what would be

considered the traditional marketing messages of each organization,

although the messages were typically parsed into smaller segments and

delivered with a more personal tone, as is typical of today’s social media communications.

Those responsible for these communications are typically found reporting to the organization’s

marketing department, with little formal interaction relative to social media occurring with other

departments throughout their organization. Social media continues to largely exist within a silo of those

passionately believing in its potential, with tacit support from management, and little formal,

documented policies, procedures and processes.

The research leads to five primary findings that characterize the majority of organizations participating

in social media today:

Finding 1: Social Media Established under Marketing as a New Means to Broadcast

Traditional Marketing Messages

Organizations in the early stages of adopting social media, or those that have not progressed to mature

initiatives, primarily utilize social media as a means to communicate their organization’s traditional

marketing messages to this new, wider audience. Therefore, social media activities are typically viewed

as a sub-set of the traditional marketing department (sometimes called digital marketing). The social

media efforts of practitioners within these organizations are often restricted by this narrow view of

social media. The integration of their initiatives into business functions outside of marketing is further

complicated by a general lack of understanding of, and often respect for, social media’s impact on

broader business functions, strategic objectives and the customer relationship, by those outside of the

marketing department (and in some cases also within it).

More specifically, senior management’s lack of support to promote social media at the enterprise-level

limits social media to this marketing role, with the tasks of social media restricted to those activities

closely related to the requirements of sites such as Facebook, twitter, and YouTube. One exception to

this trend is the interaction of social media with customer service. Consumers have become

accustomed to voicing unresolved complaints via social media since its public nature makes resolution

more likely when they have exhausted traditional avenues.

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Finding 2: Adoption of Primary Social Media Technologies Not a Barrier to Progress

Nearly all organizations in the survey began their social media initiative by first creating a presence upon

leading social media websites (typically 2 to 3 sites at one time). This was primarily done for two

reasons. First, and most obviously, an organization cannot engage with customers, potential customers

or influencers if the mechanics to engage are not first in place to do so. Second, there was no direction

from management on actions that should occur prior to establishing a presence on these sites.

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This second reason is important because it shows that social media technology is not being applied in

the traditional manner. Traditionally, technology (especially technologies with a diverse ability to

interact with users via various connection points and styles as is the case with social media – Facebook,

twitter, YouTube, blogs, etc.) is implemented by first creating a set of user or functional requirements.

These requirements take into account the objectives of the organization and then look at the various

possible applications or configurations of technologies before moving into implementation. This is not

being done with social media. Little thought is given to which technology is most applicable to an

organization’s goals prior to creating a presence. In some part this can be attributed to the high

percentage of market share by leading applications along with the organization’s lack of ability to

customize each application in use, however, when viewed as a suite of products, organizations do have

the ability to customize the type of interaction people have with their brand. To-date there has been

little impact because of this approach, although it is likely this will affect social media initiatives as they

mature, especially unsuccessful initiatives (see recommendations). This approach will also have a

greater impact on how successfully organizations will utilize technology that supports social media, such

as analytical tools, than it has on internet websites.

It should be noted that there are cases where blogging or engagement on technically-oriented message

boards actually begins prior to the establishment of a social media effort within an organization, but

these efforts are largely independent and unconnected to any formal effort to utilize social media to the

organization’s overall benefit.

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Finding 3: Social Media Managers Personalize Distributed Content with Little

Oversight from Executive Management

Nearly all content distributed via social media is created outside the marketing/social media department

and personalized for social media by an analyst or coordinator level employee. While over 50% of these

social media analysts report to a manager, within this group of companies that manager is typically not

as familiar with social media as the analyst. This, combined with the high transactional rate of social

media, does not allow for direct supervision of each posting or the majority of work done on social

media sites by the analyst. During interviews, most employees responsible for social media updates

reported that their supervisor or manager did not review company social media sites even on an

infrequent, cursory basis, providing little to no guidance on what should be posted.

This management approach allows the employee updating social media sites the freedom to personalize

messages and update sites, thereby creating the market message of the organization, with a freedom

largely unknown by this level of employee within traditional marketing departments, and, most likely,

within nearly any functional area of the organization. As the organization’s social media initiative gains

traction within the market, especially for those who are most successful, this analyst potentially touch

more people relative to the brand than any other single employee or marketing effort within the

organization.

It should also be noted that during interviews, social media coordinators/analysts with this level of

freedom cited this freedom as the most rewarding aspect of their job and ‘freedom to connect with

customers’ as the single biggest reason for not wanting to return to a traditional marketing department.

Finding 4: Little to No Documented Planning in Place

As would be expected within this group of companies there is little to no documentation of policies,

procedures or process relative to social media within the organization. Most documentation found

within these organizations is created by the legal, human resources or risk management departments.

These organizations show a much greater ability to put policies in place when the documentation

process is managed by these other departments. While there is no quantitative data that defines the

“openness” of such policies, interviewees typically expressed that policies drafted by legal and human

11 © 2012 GSMI

resources are not aligned with the long-term goals of their initiative, with the limiting of employee

involvement their primary concern.

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Section 2: Some Brands Employing Social Media within Discrete Business

Functions 23% of organizations incorporated into this report display characteristics

that move their initiative beyond the initial actions associated with the

initial stages of a social media initiative. These include the realization that

to be effective using social media to drive business performance requires

dedicated resources and a separate skill set than those found amongst

traditional marketers (although social media professionals often begin in

marketing). With this dedicated resource the organization begins to

incorporate social media into its existing processes, policies and

procedures, although control of these activities remains within the

traditional business department they would typically be found within (i.e.

legal creates social media policy with advice from the social media department, human resources

creates procedures for education and training, etc.).

Dedicated social media professionals begin integrating their initiative into the organization starting with

the most customer oriented processes first, with customer service being the most prominent starting

place. The majority of communication remains marketing-oriented, however the dedicated social media

resources will respond proactively to customer complaints, and while not able to solve them directly,

will attempt to resolve issues via information delivery or prompting customer service or sales

department activity. The majority of these efforts are manual and time consuming, with little formal,

documented processes in place.

At this stage of development, social media professionals are not modifying or improving core business

processes. They are interacting with other departments throughout the organization based upon the

processes, policies and procedures of each department.

The primary characteristics of organizations at this stage of development are as follows:

Finding 1: Social Media Established as a Free Standing Entity within the Organization

Amongst interviews conducted with respondents, many cited the creation of a formal social media

department (often called digital marketing and typically reporting to the VP of Marketing) as the point at

which their initiative began to be taken seriously within the organization, and the point at which they

would consider “real progress” was made.

When organizations within this group are looked at specifically, the reporting structure of social media

reflects the greater importance placed upon social media. Analysts and coordinators responsible for the

day-to-day activities of social media typically report to a mid-level manager. It is not unusual to find that

these employees also have other job responsibilities outside of social media, but as the social initiative

of the organization grows full-time employees entirely dedicated to social media develop as would be

expected.

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Organizations with dedicated social media group typically still treat this group as a subset of the

marketing department, but the formal role and position of the social media manager provides access to

organizational resources that they would not otherwise have access to.

Finding 2: Social Media Highly Integrate into Customer Interaction Oriented

Business Functions

Social media in its early stages of adoption focus almost exclusively upon pushing marketing messages

out to customers and potential customers (other sub-groups within the fan base will also receive these

messages but they are not being directly targeted with non-marketing messages by the organization as

they are by more mature applications of social media). Once an organization has established a presence

on social media other conversations typically begin that separate into product/brand advocacy, social

responsibility if applicable and organizational performance. The greater the organization’s social media

presence, the greater the likelihood that these other areas of conversation will grow. As the social

media presence grows, conversations relative to organizational performance inevitably pull the

organization away from pure marketing, towards the traditional roles of customer service and sales or

sales support (depending upon the business model/product mix). This result is a by-product of a

maturing social media initiative.

These trends highlight the larger influence social media is having upon the customer-corporate

relationship. Customers are aware that they have a louder voice on social media sites than they do

through traditional customer service channels because there is a third party watching the transaction

about which the organization cares. This is forcing organizations to create and employ new customer

service processes highly integrated with the office of social media.

In the worst cases, cases that often receive the highest publicity, NGOs are utilizing this public platform

to target brands in an effort to change company policies, practices or objectives. The practice of simply

deleting negative comments often utilized by immature organizations is becoming increasingly less

tolerated.

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(Total report population)

Finding 3: Little Formal, Documented Planning in Place

Although few organizations at any level of maturity responded that they believe they had adequate

documentation for any social media policy, process or procedure within their organization, including

both crisis management and employee usage, more advanced organizations typically have policies in

place to control: employees acting as company representatives via social media, employee usage

including mobile devices, crisis management, and training and certification.

Follow-up was conducted with 61% of the respondents that stated they had an enterprise-level social

media strategy in place (54% of total respondents). Of this 61% less than 32% stated that the goals and

approach of their initiative were documented, with the remaining 68% stating that higher-level

documentation relative to their initiative was in draft form or incomplete. This further clarification

reinforces that organizations continue to have difficulty adequately documenting and communicating

the goals and approach of their initiative to their larger organization. During follow-up discussions, a

clear majority of interviewees stated that a goal for the upcoming year was to properly document the

goals, processes, policies and procedures of their initiative.

Only amongst organizations categorized in section three, finding 4 did formal planning documents

relative to a strategic application of social media exist in a state that would easily allow the goals and

objectives of the organization’s social media initiative to be easy communicated.

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Finding 4: Legal and Human Resource Policy Designed to Allow Employee

Participation Controlled by the Office of Social Media

Perhaps because of the formal role and responsibility created by more advanced organizations, the

responsibility to create policies and procedures shifts from the traditional departments to the office of

social media within this group of organizations. The process to create these policies and procedures

becomes more interactive, holistic and inclusive. For all intensive purposes these documents are jointly

created.

Follow-up interviews conducted with these organizations revealed a higher degree of confidence by the

responsible manager that the policies jointly created more accurately reflected the level of openness

that the organization is striving for. While the social media manager often expressed dissatisfaction

with the final degree of openness adopted by senior management, they also expressed that the

organization is probably not ready for a greater degree of openness. Social media managers also

expressed that these policies give them the freedom necessary to selectively include specific employees

from other departments in their social media activities as necessary.

Along with the generally expressed opinion that social media is not adequately documented, social

media manager also expressed that previously created policies and procedures quickly become

outdated and need to be revised. This reflects the rapidly changing attitude of management towards

the role social media has upon the success of their organization, along with the realization that social

media is a new, mandatory business function, and no longer optional.

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Section 3: Select Brands Utilizing Social Media at the Enterprise-level as

a Strategic Asset The most advanced organizations currently utilizing social media, 11% of

the report population, are characterized by a dedicated staff, recognition

of the need to develop their internal social media skill set, significant

support from senior management and a focused effort to integrate social

media into as many business functions as possible while developing a

formal, strategic approach for their initiative.

These organizations have adopted the mindset that from a strategic

perspective social media builds upon the current value proposition of the

organization, helping achieve objectives more effectively, while connecting

with customers in more creative ways. The process used by these organizations takes a more creative

approach than traditional strategic planning and attempts to views the organization through a new

“social lens,” attempting to change the organization itself, utilizing social media as a true competitive

differentiator. These organizations also focus significant effort to determine how their social media

initiative will create a return on investment (as they would with any other strategic initiative).

Select organizations within this section focused efforts and resources to develop a social media strategic

plan as early in their initiative as possible, thereby moving from the characteristics describe in section 1

of this report to section 3 of this report with minimal time and cost (from initial stages to mature).

Primary characteristics associated with advanced practitioners of social media lead to these finding:

Finding 1: Social Media Viewed as a Competitive Necessity by Senior Management

All organizations within this category share significant support from senior management, with social

media reporting to either a senior manager or executive. In some cases the most senior person is still

the VP of Marketing, but in others it is a separate VP-level position (varies by organization). Within

these organizations the “mindset” of the management team towards social media is significantly

different than within organizations with less mature programs.

During interviews, respondents within this category expressed senior management’s views on social

media’s role in the organization as complimentary to their traditional efforts or functional areas, as

integral to their future success as an organization and an important enabler of success in the

achievement of most of the organization’s strategic objectives.

While social media is still largely viewed as primarily a marketing function, the focus shifts away from

outward broadcasting of marketing messages to interacting with customers, potential customers and

people of influence. Social media is viewed as a better, more intimate means of communicating with

the customer, both to expose the audience to what is considered the organization’s value proposition

and to solicit their feedback.

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This feedback, which could range from customer service issues to product improvements, is then

brought back into the organization and used as a previously unavailable data point with which to

improve process, products and messaging. As a by-product of this interaction, the office of social media

takes on an increased role of collecting and distributing information relative to customer feedback.

Finding 2: Social Media Policies, Procedures and Processes Designed to Encourage

Employee Participation

Organizations within this section also moved from centralized interaction with their audience via social

media (as is typical in the previous two sections) to decentralized communication – what would often be

called a hub and spoke model. The office of social media still maintains control over policy, procedure

and all marketing oriented content, but other areas of the organizations are free to interact through

social media with their own view and content without direct oversight or filtering of posts (although

monitoring is typically conducted by the office of social media).

The activity of other employees interacting with audiences without direct supervision or filtering by the

office of social media in and of itself does not place an organization in this section. Some organizations

with less mature programs do have individuals or departments throughout the organization

participating on social media websites. For example, it is common in many organizations to have

technical employees (engineers, product developers or managers, etc.) participating on technical

message boards and blogs completely independent of other social media efforts and often without

policies or procedures in place. However, organizations in this section consciously choose to give

employees in various categories or departments the freedom to interact with customers via social media

in order to create and maintain the desired connection.

This approach is supported by organizational policy jointly drafted by the office of social media and

departments such as legal and human resources. This policy includes usage, representation and other

issues addressed by most organizations, but are also characterized by an initial certification program and

on-going retraining of participants. Social media analysts within these organizations also expressed an

increasingly better relationship with employees from these other departments.

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Finding 3: Integration of Social Media into All Core Business Processes Planned

Organizations within the population of this report consistently work to integrate social media with the

processes that are most customer-oriented within their organization (typically customer service and

sales but can vary into other, often unexpected areas, by business model). In some cases this is out of

necessity, while for others it is a conscious choice. For organizations in section 1 or 2 of this report, the

integration of social media into the organization rarely moves beyond these areas and is often informal.

Organizations within this section make a conscious choice to integrate social media into as many

different areas of their organization as possible. The progression or participation of departments in

social media typically follows the degree of interaction each department has with customers. However,

within these organizations some areas, such as research and development, which traditionally have little

or no customer interaction, begin to interact with customers via social media.

The primary purpose of this interaction moves beyond customer or potential customer attachment or

engagement to impact process improvement or product development.

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Finding 4: Brands Utilize Social Media Strategic Planning as a Means to Achieve

Lower Total Cost of Adoption

A small percentage of brands (4.9% of

the total population; 44% of

organizations in this section) adopted

a formal, strategic approach to

defining their social media initiative.

These organizations typically began

using this approach after establishing

a presence on leading social websites

(Facebook, twitter and YouTube;

typically in that order). Their intent, at a high-level, was to move their organization from section 1 to

section 3 of this report with as little cost and effort as possible. This is generally considered a ‘strategic’

approach to initiative planning and implementation.

Those who utilized this approach attributed the organization’s commitment to social media and this

approach as being influenced by: (1) a belief that while social media is still in the early stages of

adoption it is, over time, becoming mandatory for nearly all organizations (without regard to general

industry standards of customer interactions); (2) an acceptance that social media requires a special skill

set that was not initially available internally if it was to be employed at a mature level; (3) a

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management culture that embraces change and believes that their organization was or should be

“progressive” (without regard to the industry stereotype of progressive/non-progressive and sometimes

without regard to the organizations standard approach to business); and (4) previous success using a

strategic approach, or failure created by not using this approach, on other initiatives. Approximately

two-thirds of those organizations utilizing this approach required outside assistance; approximately one-

third employed a new senior level person to lead this initiative.

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Recommendations While it is still too early to create what may be considered “best practices” for the implementation of

social media into the enterprise in any deep, meaningful way, there are clearly actions that can make an

organization more successful. The following recommendations are based upon the information

presented within this report:

Accept that social media has the ability to impact the success of the entire organization. The

most successful organizations are those that adopt a broad definition of social media and

attempt to understand its ability to impact their strategic success. They follow a process to

understand and develop the connection that social media can create between the customer and

each functional area of their organization. They then use each of these connections in diverse

ways to expose their customers, potential customers, and influencers within their industry, to

the underlying, and long-established, value proposition of their brand, product and service.

Develop social media skills separate from traditional marketing. During the early phases of a

social media initiative organizations often believe that marketing experience can directly

translate to these new mediums. It often isn’t until they struggle to gain fans and followers that

they accept that to run a successful initiative they must invest significant training in current

employees, hire new staff, or seek outside assistance. Nearly every organization successfully

using social media to drive its performance has established clear responsibility for it within their

organization. Accepting, planning for and creating this separate internal resource as early as

possible will reduce long-term costs.

Prepare for more consumers utilizing social sites to resolve complaints. Like it or not

customers understand that via social media they can often get a significantly better resolution

than through traditional customer service (especially after their initial issue was not properly

handled). Organizations should focus on creating a formal connection between social media

and their customer service and sales departments to deal with the greater number of customer

inquiries and complaints that will be voiced via social media. This not only reduces negative

conversations, but also when handled properly, provides significant positive conversations.

Develop personal connections for early success. For all but the most advanced organizations,

social media practitioners must interact with managers throughout the organization from a

position of little power. Therefore, success in these environments is often achieved based upon

the ability of the social media analyst to create and build relationships with key influencers in

each critical area. For example, social media analysts who expressed less frustration at their

ability to solve problems typically worked outside of formal communication channels using a

personal connection with someone in the necessary department. While this is far from optimal,

social media analysts who focus on creating these personal connections are more likely to be

successful.

Intentionally select the platforms you will most often use. Most organizations begin their

initiative by creating a presence on every leading social media site and quickly find that they

cannot consistently deliver content via all of these sites and adequately follow-up on brand

mentions. To combat this, organizations should integrate content across sites where possible,

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and if necessary intentionally select which sites and platforms are most appropriate for their

brand (i.e. twitter versus YouTube). While it is good planning to secure your name or page on all

leading platforms, it is not necessary to maintain an active presence on all platforms. Direct

visitors to the platforms you are most active on and focus available time and effort on creating

one primary and highly active community.

Accept that despite the short duration of transactions, social media is not a short-term

initiative. Social media is often deceptive to those who are not intimately involved with it. The

lifespan of an average post is rapidly decreasing while at the same time the need for greater

frequency of posts is increasing. This often leads to a tactical and short-term approach to asset

allocation and investment, and a shorter planning horizon. However, organizations in the most

mature section of this report all, either intentionally or by requirement, created a long-term

vision of the role of social media within their organization before their initiative showed real

success. Those organizations that showed the highest ROI for their initiative adopted a formal

planning process for their social media initiative, as is typically done for all major initiatives the

organization undertakes. When possible this approach should be taken by every organization.

Begin long-term planning for an ROI now. To date, senior executives have largely funded social

media initiatives based upon the belief that at least a basic presence must be established to

remain competitive. Initial staffing levels for these initiatives are low and early adoption

technology is often free. However, once an organization finds success, their initiative quickly

becomes uncontrollable with resources and larger expenditures are required. This, combined

with the overall increasing maturity of social media, is causing senior management to ask with

increasing frequency how these initiatives lead to a traditional return-on-investment. Social

media leaders should begin planning now for these questions since an overarching theme is that

these questions are inevitable.

Conclusion The shift of social media from primarily a marketing tool to an enterprise-level initiative impacting

nearly every aspect of an organization was not unexpected; it follows a natural progression that has

been the case with every major change in business. Yet, for most organizations this change was

unanticipated, and the majority now find themselves seeking answers on how to catch up to those who

adopted a strategic perspective much earlier. What has been less expected and anticipated was the

significance of the impact social media has had on the customer-corporate relationship, and the ever-

expanding influence of non-customers upon this relationship.

Undoubtedly more significant and potentially unexpected changes driven by social media are imminent.

Those organizations which fall into the most advanced category of this report may be in no better

position to anticipate what these changes will be, but they are most certainly in a better position to deal

with the impact and seize the opportunities these changes will create.

24 © 2012 GSMI

About the Global Strategic Management Institute GSMI is a leader in the industry of executive education,

creating conferences, summits, workshops and training

sessions that combine rich learning environments with the

opportunity to network with today’s most relevant thought-

leaders, speakers and practitioners. GSMI’s annual events have reached 70% of the Fortune 500, in over

30 countries, and cover topics that today’s leaders find most challenging and inspiring.

About the Author David F. Giannetto, CEO of the Telos Group and Senior Fellow

with GSMI, is co-Author and creator of The Performance Power

Grid, today's leading performance-oriented methodology and the

nationally recognized book of the same name. He has been listed

as a thought-leader by Business Finance Magazine and is widely

acknowledged as one of today’s most experienced practitioners

working to assist organizations in overcoming challenges

affecting performance at the enterprise-level – strategic

execution, social media, operational and financial performance

management, risk management and business intelligence. He

uses this experience to lead GSMI’s SocialAxcess25 Executive

Working Group – a peer-to-peer environment for senior social

media professionals focused upon integrating social media into

each organization to drive performance, achieve strategic objectives, create competitive advantage and

differentiation, and improve the customer experience. This experience, his work with fortune 2000

clients and his extensive experience as a writer and keynote speaker, has led to his recognition as one of

today's leading business theorists. His client list includes: award-winning initiative at FujiFilm USA and

Seattle City Light, as well as the United Nations Secretariat, the UN Joint Staff Pension Fund, FujiFilm

USA, JPMorgan, Black & Decker, Kelly Services, Mediacom Communications, WHX Handy & Harmon,

Seattle City Light and Public Utilities, BlueCross BlueShield in 6 states, Roche, Schering-Plough,

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, American Express, Scholastic books, Engelhard Chemical, Men’s

Warehouse, Huntington Learning Center and others. David is a Chairman of the Board for the Spina

Bifida Resource Network, a former Rutgers University MBA Professor and a former US Army officer.

25 © 2012 GSMI

Contact Information Global Strategic Management Institute

San Diego, California

info@GSMIweb.com

888.409.4418

www.GSMIweb.com

Twitter: GSMIonline

David F. Giannetto

The Telos Group

20 Valley View Drive

Basking Ridge, New Jersey 07920

DGiannetto@TelosConsulting.com

908.797.9306

www.TelosConsulting.com

Twitter: @dgiannetto

LinkedIn: dgiannetto

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