Social Business: 84% of businesses have not fully integrated Social Media in their operations

This report comes as no surprise to me as it justifies our Community Centric Strategy model. The study from InSites Consulting states that only 16% of businesses using Social Media have fully integrated Social Media platforms into their businesses operations. Nevertheless, business leaders believe better social integration will help improve and streamline their business operations. Their hope is that Social Media marketing and internal social apps will boost productivity of their business.

The study concludes that 27% of business executives are on the move to integrate Social Business in 2012. Moreover, another 20% are wishing that the integration of Social Media projects will increase business efficiency. As there are no reliable or established measurement and metrics standards most companies are still waiting to invest big budgets. Still, as competition is high companies start integrating social into their business to be competitive in their market.

The results of the inSites study show that most companies (69%) will invest in Social Media marketing and launch campaigns in 2012 hoping to improve online conversations and their web efforts. For now 64% of businesses have at least one person responsible for Social Media activities and platforms. With a reason: One-third are sure that Social Media is changing their operations.

Spot On!
The challenge for companies will be to set up the right Social Business strategy as it involves the right understanding of community centers as an external strategy issue. And it needs an appropriate internal company culture with social policies, social training and social commitment and the people. Apart from that, 45% of the respondents said that they cannot find the people for their Social Media efforts. The best option is to start investing in the people you have to integrate social in your business. The Community Centric Strategy could be one starting point…

Sales and Social Media? Feedback is the key!

We have heard that 1 in 3 of the younger generation will their online shopping via their mobile phones. Now, another study shows the power of recommendations around the holiday season. Mr. Youth did some research among 4.500 shoppers and found how Social Media could become the game changer in Christmas shopping in 2011.

Some key findings… and marketers better listen up now!

- 80% of Social Media users who received feedback did a purchase afterwards
- 66% of Black Friday sales were a result of Social Media interactions
- 52% of Social Media users are willing to pay more for brands they trust
- 36% of Social Media users trust brands that have a Social Media presence

How about you? Are you relying on your friends, fans and followers recommendations this holiday season?

Study shows: Customers are social, Brands not…!

The IT company IBM were the first to make brands aware of the perception gap between what customers want from brands on Social Media, and what companies see as necessary. Some new studies from the Chief Marketing Officer Council and Lithium make clear that this perception gap widens.

What customers want…
The CMO Council asked 1,300 customers from around the world in a multiple-choice study. They discovered that 67% followed or liked brands to receive discounts and special offers. 65% replied that they connected with brands in order to get access to games or competitions while 60% want to connect with other customers.

What brands see…
The astonishing fact is that when the same survey was held with 120 CMOs (chief marketing officer), the results showed similar figures with the IBM study: Only 33% of the CMOs believed that their Social Media fans and followers were engaging with the brand for some kind of incentive or reward. Even more, just 27% understood that their customers were after exclusivity in terms of experience and savings.

Spot On!
Social Media is not a top three priority for one in ten CMOs. The reason is not changing for years probably. 67% said a lack of time and resources makes up for their poor efforts. This is even more amazing when we consider that 72% of the customers use Social Media to connect with brands. AND: 80% are more likely to try a product based on a friend’s recommendation on Social Media, which probably means a Social Network. There is no explanation that could make sense for this Social Media ROI (=Risk of Ignorance).

PS: This little infographic illustrates the digital divide between customers and brands.

Pay a Blogger Day – How to reward a blogger’s work?

Have you ever paid a blogger? Paid for your content love? I mean not for writing some good PR for your business. Just for them being bloggers, sharing valueble content, thoughts, ideas, and providing new food for thought. In some days you can do that. The “Pay a Blogger Day” is here to come. Some thoughts that came to my mind with it…

Some months ago, Flattr started their outreach program to bloggers. And some months ago, they were on their way to revolutionize the monetization of blogs. Those days, the Flattr button went live on my blog, and in every post. I rewarded blog posts, and got some rewards. Just the way Flattr works. They had the idea for the “Pay a Blogger Day”.

On Flattr Cents pass from bloggers to bloggers to… Well. Companies never paid anything. They have the biggest budget pockets though. And I asked myself if bloggers want companies to engage in the monetization process, or if reputation is of higher value for them. And why should companies pay a blogger for something they produce for free. Still trying to figure that out…

Some blog posts generated some Cents immediately through Flattr, never enough for some nice ice-cream in a week though. Somehow the activity to “donate” for a well-written piece of thought or idea felt like an act of charity. Some Cents felt like a pat on the shoulder. Sometimes, I discussed with bloggers if that is encouraging, or frustrating? Every blogger argued differently about this gesture. Many were not convinced. I have seen not many buttons on blogs since.

And often when I wanted to spend some Cents, those bloggers did not use Flattr. So, my reward for them often ended in a Retweet. Maybe Retweets are the killer of positive blog comments…

The main problem many bloggers saw in Flattr was that it will be challenging to get attention for this payment theory outside the bloggosphere. Sounded like: “Bloggers will pay themselves and thus reward their work within an inner circle of the blogging community.” One of the reasons why I finally decided to remove the button from my blog.

Now, Flattr starts -in cooperation with Bambuser, Twingly and Posterous- the “Pay a Blogger Day!” on November, 29th. They intend to start a movement with the mission “Give something back to bloggers!” A good idea…

How to reward a blogger’s work?
If I may inspire you -companies, marketers and managers- with reward opportunities for bloggers, then maybe you want to read this…

a) Companies that have used shared knowledge to improve their business could write a reference quote for the blogger why and how they benefit from reading a blog. It could be a comment, tweet or a blog post on their blog. Just be creative…!

b) Managers that have used shared knowledge for their career purposes could send a present when they think the blogger has deserved it (does not need to be on the “Pay a blogger day!”). A flower (digital or real), a freebie of your products or an invite to a paid for workshop about corporate blogging. And hey, chances are high, bloggers might write about it. Just be clever…!

c) Marketers that have used shared knowledge for their campaign ideas could start thinking about whether they shovel money into a print grave, rely on TV reach or hope for radio commercial payback. Maybe they want to start sponsor a blogger who is worth it as they act like brandvangelist, testimonial or brand advocate for a brand or company. And why are not many marketers trying to make use of bloggers in the offline world? Just be curious…!

d) Followers, fans, “plusers” and bloggers that have used shared knowledge could start discussing the monetization of their work in an authentic collaborative manner. Do you want banners ads, text links, affiliate programs, brand advocate prgrams, or…? What is authentic blog monetization? Or is it reputation only? In short: money, products or reputation currency like Floout.me?

Here is how Flattr wants to inspire you to reward a blogger…

Think about the thoughts and then start acting! I am sure, bloggers know how to say “Thank you” and all bloggers would love to see some of these rewarding opportunities. Right…?

Active or passive? Don’t forget the “Social” in Social Media!

The last two weeks I have been on the road in Germany, Austria and Italy, and it was great being in the offline world. Speaking engagements and panel moderations with real people, virtuals aside most of the time. Sometimes I went online in the breaks but did not know what to post or what value I could share with my social graph. Sometimes as there just was nothing exciting. Sometimes as time did not allow it. And to be honest, I did not even have the creative spirit between webinars and seminars for my quality standards. Productivity had to come to a rest.

I just preferred being quiet. And guess what: It does not hurt! Probably nobody missed me. My messages. My input. My sharing.

Often I just reacted. Saying “Happy One!” to my friends or business partners. Giving quick feedback on questions I was not even personally addressed. People liked it though. And I realized how great it is to work with teams that appreciate the ideas and thoughts you give just them without sharing every joke or funny story straight away. I found that approach of doing conversation and being productive quite “social” last week.

Stimulation instead of penetration.

At some stage I wanted to participate and be more active in the conversations with my social graph again. So I checked Twitter what’s up. In the first five tweets I found the video below which was a perfect kick-off for the training I had the pleasure to do. A big insurance company had offered me the chance to train their coaches and internal personal (executive) consultants on Social Media strategy.

I started off with the video below and I can assure you: We came back to the message of the video, the tactical ingredients and the strategy topics at least 25 times in two days. And I told them again and again… “Don’t forget the “Social” in Social Media! Let’s be honest: How often do we forget it?

Study: Men are social shoppers – Women the “Likers”?!

Sometimes studies find truths that don’t really match the expectations, or should we say the gender specific shopping prejudices? A recent report ROI Research illustrates some surprising facts which might eliminate these shopping behavior prejudices – at least from a social customer point if view.

The study we are talking about was conducted by Performics and analyzed the feedback of 1.000 social network users that use the Social Web “at least occasionally in the purchase process”. The results state that men are more likely to use social shopping and research sites before making a purchase.

According to the study men frequently research product information, compare products, read reviews, research availability and get store information via social networks, shopping and deal sites. Women are far more likely to search for deals, coupons and special promotions on social sites.

“Women are reported to control about 80% of household spending, so it may be surprising for some to see men play a more dominant role in the social shopping and research process. But given recent reports of ‘digital dads’ and increases in shared shopping activities across genders, this new data is intriguing.” Dana Todd, SVP, Marketing and Business Development, Performics

Some more key findings from the Performics’ 2011 Social Shopping study…
- 63% of men use shopping sites vs. 52% of women.
- 62% of men compare products on shopping sites vs. 50% of women;
- 57% of men research products on deal sites vs. 40% of women.
- 54% of men use social networks to research products vs. 43% of women.
- 56% of men compare products on deal sites vs. 41% of women;
- Men are more likely to use their mobile device in-store to compare prices – 62% vs. 50%.
- Men are more likely to visit a company or brand’s social network page – 71% vs. 64%.

Spot On!
Although men are heavy social shoppers, women are bigger “Likers” and use Social Media and Mobile platforms and technologies differently. After visiting a page, women are more likely to press the admiration button (78% vs. 72%). Another research by Shoppercentric shows that online retail sites better support male’s needs. They also found that men tend to spend more money online than women (£391 vs. £131) – but only if they have a need to buy something. Some Jacobs Media study also reveals men are the new decision makers in the categories of car maintenance (82%), clothing (80%), sporting events (67%), electronics/media and DIY (64%) and investments (63%).

Now, I am interested to see what men and women are thinking about these findings. Wouldn’t it be cool if ebay or asos are doing such a research? Give us your thoughts please…

Study: Users „like“ brands for deals, discounts and coupons

While Vitrue just found out how to get more “Likes” and engagement on mobiles, another new study by Nielsen/McKinsey’s NM Incite shows what the real value of “Likes” is. Although many brand marketers are working on the ROI, most companies still try to find some more value in the social engagement of consumers.

The Nielsen/McKinsey’s NM Incite global online consumers’ research states that the main reason for following or liking a brand or company on social networks is to receive discounts and special offers.
“While some may argue that consumers’ interest in discounts has faded, Nielsen data shows the desire for deals is still strong worldwide,” concluded NM Incite.

The results correspond with the study by ExactTarget and CoTweet from last year. The former study made clear that 40% of brand fans like a page predominantly for their doscounts and promotions.

The new NM Incite finds even higher figures. Almost 60% of US social media users visit social networks to receive coupons or promotions. And even more, 23% do this on a weekly basis. 45% of North American consumers had the strongest interest in using social media for deals, followed by consumers in Asia-Pacific (34%) and Latin America (33%).

Social deals hunters “Like” at home and at workplace
For most people it does not matter whether they are at home or at their workplace when using the benefits of the Social Web. A sample of ten major markets shows that nearly 40% of active Web users check coupons and rewards sites such as Groupon, Coupons.com and Living Social from home and work computers in September. However, there are respondents -under the age of 20 and 55- to-59-year-olds- who were less likely to follow brands for discounts. Here friends’ recommendations are the drivers for social engagement.

Spot On!
“Social deal hunters” are obviously also visitors of social networks and blogs. NM Incite found a strong overlap. In their test phase in September, 43% of visitors to social networks and blogs also visited a coupons or rewards site. And, 44% of Facebook’s audience and 63% of Twitter’s audience visited these deal sites. The study concludes that Facebook becomes a key source of traffic to Groupon and Living Social. Groupon’s and Living Social’s visitors came directly from Facebook. This also shows the link between deals and social networking sites, and how companies can motivate consumers to deals.

Inbound Marketing is the key to B2B Social Media

As I am doing many webinars and seminars on B2B Social Media, it is always good to get and share some of the information and data that will help marketers understand the opportunities of Social Media. The expensive outbound marketing tactics will lack behind to the cost-effective inbound marketing efforts that micro-blogging, blogs, videos and webinars could provide to prospects.

The challenge will be to enbable a cultural change inside the company where content, context and collaboration can grow. Where employees can create intelligent, educational, entertaining and remarkable input for their customers – and ideally they share it with the quantity and quality streams of their networks and social graphs.

The below infographic includes many of the B2B social media statistics. A clever approach from them to create an infographics which other people will be sharing, and thus spreading the word in favor of B2B Social Media blog, published by Kipp Bodnar and Jeffrey L. Cohen.

Study: Social Media & Workplace? Are policies a must…?

The conversation around the value of Social Media at the workplace was always based on the topic productivity and policies. Shall a company live an open door policy for “social” websites? Shall they allow access to Facebook and Twitter? Shall they rely on them in terms of knowing how to achieve their business targets while being available during working hours for all of their friends, fans and followers?

The question is… Are Social Media guidelines necessary or are employment contract not offering enough guidelines for the use of Social Media at work, too?

For companies it is a challenge to manage employee’s use of Social Media. A new study by DLA Piper now found that one third of employers have disciplined employees for something posted on a Social Media site. It also states that 21% of employers have given warnings for posting something derogatory about a colleague or the business.

Although I would have thought that most employees today know the relevance and impact of Social Media, the study makes clear that companies need Social Media policies. However, it also found that three quarters don’t have any Social Media policies.

Some key findings of the study illustrate some negative development where many of us might think, people should be clever enough to understand the meaning and reach of their words on the Social Web. Some use Social Media too often, some inappropriate, some unclever…

- 31% of employers have taken disciplinary proceedings because of information an employee has displayed on a social media site about the organization
– 30% of employers have taken disciplinary proceedings because of the level of usage of social media sites while at work
- 25% of employers have taken disciplinary proceedings because of information an employee has displayed on a social media site about their activities at work
- 21% of employers have taken disciplinary proceedings because of information an employee has displayed on a social media site about another employee

Some further findings also show that people need training on how to manage the relationsship and converations they have during working hours and with colleagues. Employees who use Social Media for personal use…
- 39% have befriended a colleague or business contact in Facebook
- 39% have connected to a colleague or business contact on LinkedIn
- 28% have posted photos of colleagues or business activities
- 22% posted a status update or tweeted about a colleague
- 14% have posted a status update or tweeted about work issues
- 1% have posted confidential business information

Spot On!
The business world is changing. Colleagues connect with each other on different social platforms – no matter if for private or business use. Having a personal Social media strategy where people might not connect with colleagues on Facebook but prefer LinkedIn might become a problem as they might loose out on conversations and information between the lines. On the other hand, people might use it too often to connect with them. Whatever people do, they might use Social Media wrong… in the eyes of employers… at the workplace. Thus, companies will need to have Social Media policies in the future (see international database of Social Media policies). And employees need to find a way to deal with them… Or do you see some other opportunity?

The privacy discussion – Facebook vs. Google Plus

It is a question that rules the world these days, it seems… Social networks collect and capture data, and people ask themselves which site offers more privacy. Is it Facebook or Google Plus? I just came across a nice infographic which compares the two “social giants”. The graphic was created by Peer One Hosting. It makes clear that neither site is perfect in terms of your privacy.

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