HOW TO

construct a

social business

Many of today’s proclaimed social

businesses, aren’t social.

Having said that, the quest for

social business isn’t unattainable,

but it does take work to achieve.

Believe it or not, the hype behind

social media is only a minute

reason for businesses to get social.

Instead it comes down to a different

set of values that today’s

businesses need to have.

CONNECTEDNESS:

In a world where we are plugged in

around the clock, people and brands

(comprised of people) have a desire to be

more consistently connected.

COLLABORATIVE:

Beyond just the connection, how do

brands and their stakeholders

communicate in ways that drive more

productivity and greater levels of customer

satisfaction?

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THE VALUES OF A SOCIAL BUSINESS

MEASURABLE:

In a data driven world, almost

anything can be measured. Social

businesses are measuring their

activities with the goal of being able

to most efficiently put their resources

to use.

CUSTOMER CENTRIC:

A pillar of any great business, social

businesses leverage the channel to

drive great customer experience. This

is created by vehemently striving for

numbers 1-3.

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4

THE VALUES OF A SOCIAL BUSINESS

The rise of social business was

really proliferated by a changing

breed of consumer.

Social media itself is merely a

channel, but in a technology

driven world we are more

connected to everything all of the

time and this has created

consumers with greater

expectations for quality and

expediency from the brands they

associate with.

SO HOW DOES ONE BECOME

A SOCIAL BUSINESS

It is one thing to theorize about social, it is

another thing to suggest why a business

isn’t social, but perhaps the hardest thing

to do is really pin down the blueprint for

creating a social business. Perhaps more

simply put. What must a company do that

wants to be social?

CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION:

Companies that are serious about

becoming social businesses have a

top down, bottom up cultural shift

taking place.

The perils of social as a way to

connect, collaborate, measure and

deliver greater levels of customer

satisfaction are seen as valuable

across the organization. Until the

entire organization is on board you

aren’t a social business but rather a

business that does some social

activities.

INCREASED

ACCOUNTABILITY AND

EMPOWERMENT:

When a business is truly being

social they are putting a larger

portion of the organization in front of

the world and letting them have a

voice on behalf of the company.

Employees who are part of a social

business culture are acutely aware

of the power that they wield and

they know that they need to use it

wisely. The smartest social

businesses allow their employees to

utilize social as a channel to create

happier customers, which we know

requires a certain level of

empowerment.

BRAND ADVOCATES:

Employees within social businesses

recognize that they are key

stakeholders in supporting and

keeping customers happy.

This includes listening and jumping

into situations across all channels

(social or non) to keep customers

from churning. This means that the

employees are not only aware of

their risks of being a brand

advocate, but they accept it and see

it as increased responsibility and

participation in the company’s

success.

INCREASED MATRICES:

While all organizational hierarchies

vary, social businesses have strong

dotted line cultures that encourage

more interaction between

employees, departments and the

different ranks within an

organization.

Remember, immediacy means more

instantaneous response to

customers which mean the decisions

makers need to be accessible. Tall

organizations with heavy

bureaucracy cannot make quick

decisions and they are missing one

of the major keys to being a social

business.

MEASURING SOCIAL BUSINESS

A social business needs to analyze their activities using data driven

methods to determine the success of their program.

TO BE A SOCIAL BUSINESS MEANS more engaged, accountable and empowered

employees that genuinely care about their brand

and have the ability to quickly reach the right

person(s) in their organization to accomplish

whatever must be done to create, sustain and build

satisfied customers that become the most influential

purveyors of your message across the spectrum of

communication channels.

Dan Newman is the president of Broadsuite where he works side

by side with brands big and small to help them be found, seen and

heard in a cluttered digital world. A regular contributor to Forbes,

Entrepreneur and Huffington Post, he is also the author of two

books, a business professor and a huge fan of watching his

daughters play soccer.

Dan NewmanPresident of Broadsuite

@danielnewmanuv dnewman@broadsuite.com