The Seven Success Factors of a Social Business Strategy

The Seven Success Factors of a Social Business Strategy

Social media has a problem and it needs to be addressed now.

The truth is that a majority of social media strategies employed by some of the best brands out there aren't linking activity to business goals and results. This practice is creating a divide within companies where social media is undervalued and largely misunderstood as a viable and formidable business tool or solution.

As a result, resources, budgets, and the ability to scale social media across the organization is incredibly hindered. More importantly, without considering business goals and priorities, strategists with the best intentions around social media may wind up creating dissonance among decision makers, making it more difficult to make the case for social in the long term.

In a comprehensive social business research study with Charlene Li, my colleague at Altimeter Group, we uncovered some pretty surprising realities about the state of social media strategy within enterprise organizations...

• Only 34% of businesses feel that their social strategy is connected to business outcomes.
• Just 28% of companies we studied feel that they have a holistic approach to social media, where lines of business and business functions work together under a common vision.
• A mere 12% are confident they have a plan that looks beyond the next year.
• Only half said that top executives were “informed, engaged and aligned with their companies’ social strategy.”

While our research results were initially distressing, we aimed to outline a path to help strategists better understand how to not only align social strategy with business objectives but also how to transform social media into a full-scale social business initiative that evolved along Six Stages of Transformation. Charlene and I concentrated our research on the common traits of B2B and B2C companies that successfully overcame common trials and tribulations to effectively become fully "converged" social businesses where social was now a way of business.

Charlene and I proudly announce that our findings are now available in the newly released 7 Success Factors of Social Business Strategy. In 100 pages, we help you learn how to align social media strategies with business objectives to deliver real results and ROI. Additionally, you'll learn through best practices and a detailed checklist how to define an effective social strategy, create alignment across the organization, and use that strategy to support and measure overall business success.

What are the 7 Success Factors?

There's a difference between a social media and social business strategy. Social media are the channels where information and people are connected via two-way platforms. Social media strategy defines programs specific to networks and the corresponding activity within and around each. Altimeter's definition of a successful Social Business Strategy (SBS) is one that aligns with the strategic business goals and has alignment and support throughout the organization.

You don't need to get the book to learn what the most advanced companies learned to prioritize. Following are the 7 aspects each shared to successfully champion and scale social media through the organization and earn executive support along the way...

One – Define the overall business goals.

Explore how social media strategies create direct or ancillary impact on business objectives. What are you trying to accomplish and how does it communicate value to those who don’t understand social media.

Two: Establish the long-term vision.

Articulate a vision for becoming a social business and the value that will be realized internally among stakeholders and externally to customers (and shareholders).

Three: Ensure executive support.

Social media often exists in its own marketing silo. At some point, it must expand to empower the rest of the business. To scale takes the support of key executives and their interests lie in business value and priorities.

Four: Define the strategy roadmap and identify initiatives.

Once you have your vision and you’re in alignment on business goals, you need a plan that helps you bring everything to life. A strategic social business roadmap looks out three years and aligns business goals with social media initiatives across the organization.

Five: Establish governance and guidelines.

Who will take responsibility for social strategy and lead the development of an infrastructure to support it? You’ll need help. Form a ‘hub” or CoE to prioritize initiatives, tackle guidelines and processes, and assign roles and responsibilities.

Six: Secure staff, resources, and funding.

Determine where resources are best applied now and over the next three years. Think scale among agencies but also internally to continually take your strategy and company to the next level. Train staff on vision, purpose, business value creation, and metrics/reporting to ensure a uniform approach as you grow.

Seven: Invest in technology platforms that support the greater vision and objectives

Ignore shiny object syndrome. Resist significant investments until you better understand how social technology enables or optimizes your strategic roadmap.

It’s time for businesses to get serious about social and that starts by taking social, its promise and its ability to impact business outcomes and customer experiences, seriously.

Source: Linkedin

ON-LINE EDUCATION - GROWING TREND

ON-LINE EDUCATION - GROWING TREND

A large number of Indian students are accessing Ivy League content through Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) that provides free access to best-in-class education taught by faculty at top universities. MOOC, delivered via internet, has lowered the entry barriers encouraging students to access quality education from top universities like Stanford, Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for free. Microsoft Research India has rolled out a pilot project with...

Is your resume 06 seconds worthy ... ??

Is your resume 06 seconds worthy ... ??

In a time when recruiters and hiring managers are getting inundated with applicants for job postings, one technique they quickly learn to master is the art of "skimming" resumes. They just don't have time to read each resume word-for-word. Instead, they glance at it quickly and look for key info. If they don't see what they need, you're tossed.

You've Got Six Seconds

I was recently told the average recruiter spends about six seconds on a resume and then decides whether to keep reading, or toss it in the 'no' pile. Additionally, their eye works in a Z pattern, meaning left-to-right across the top of the resume, and then back down the left-hand side.

Top-Fold = Prime Real Estate

This means the top part of your resume is where all the action is. If you don't, "Get them at Hello," you won't be moving on. So, here are a few tips:

1) Don't waste the top-fold with a long-winded, self-serving promotional paragraph. It won't get read. Objective statements and overly salesy intros don't work either.

2) Create an "Experience Summary" that lists quantifiable skills and the key information required to even get a shot at the job.

3) Don't use a font smaller than 11 point or in a fancy style. Too hard on the eyes.

For a total breakdown of how to create a resume that will pass the six-second test, you can watch a video I did as part of our CAREEREALISM TV weekly Q&A show. It's the very first episode on this page, just scroll to the bottom and you can watch it here:http://www.careerealism.com/careerealism-tv-archives/

Remember, Resumes Don't Get You Hired!

Even if you create an effective resume, please don't assume it will greatly improve your chances of getting a call from an online application. These days, 8 out 10 resumes aren't even seen by human eyes. Most online applicants never get a shot at the job they apply to. Why? 80%+ of all jobs filled today can be attributed to referrals. Someone inside the organization refers the candidate that gets hired. Hiring a referral is a lot easier than going blurry-eyed reviewing hundreds of online applicants. Plus, the referral makes them more credible, as compared to an online applicant nobody has worked with.

The takeaway: You need to get your optimized resume in the hands of hiring managers. That usually happens when you know them, or know someone who knows them. It's far less likely to happen when you blindly apply online and hope for the best.

A good resume needs to be used with a proactive job search strategy. All the formatting in the world won't change the odds of it getting reviewed. The only thing that does is a referral!

Threat for Products due to Digital Age / On Line Marketing

ITC exits Greeting Cards Biz

       Chennai, June 26 Facing up to the reality of a digital age in which interest in greeting cards is diminishing, ITC has exited the category. Launched in the year 2000 under the brand Expressions when the category was estimated at Rs 300 crore and growing at 15-20 per cent, the move comes in the wake of the market size shrivelling to Rs 100 crore.

      ITC has also re-branded this business as the Education & Stationery Products Business (earlier known as Greeting, Gifting & Stationery) to accurately reflect its current focus on the Rs 9,000-crore market that comprises notebooks, copier and printer paper, writing instruments and ‘scholastic products’ (erasers, geometry boxes, sharpeners and the like). In the previous fiscal, greeting cards contributed only 5 per cent of the business unit’s turnover. Cheaper telephony and cell phone SMS services have proved to be a double whammy for greeting cards, while e-greetings has also contributed to the decline.

Success in Linkedin

Success in LinkedIn

Many people know that having a LinkedIn presence is an important networking and job seeking strategy. But if you spend any time perusing profiles, it’s evident that a lot of people just don’t get how LinkedIn works. LinkedIn is no magic bullet for bringing down a good job. It’s only as good as you make it. People seem to get that they need to have information about themselves on their LinkedIn profile but often fall drastically short of presenting themselves in the best light.

You Have To Sell Yourself

LinkedIn is only a tool. When people look at your profile, they only see the information you’ve provided about yourself. If you can’t even bother to provide a polished, succinct and well written representation of your experience, abilities and education; why would they be interested in you? Imagine that you are a potential boss when you view your own profile. If you aren’t impressed, they won’t be either. Avoid rookie mistakes. If you aren’t a master of grammar, that’s okay. But take the time to proofread what you’ve written to avoid misspellings and poor grammar usage. Polish your prose. You will appear only as good as your profile.

Don’t Make People Guess

Don’t fall into the trap of setting up a LinkedIn account, uploading a photo and college information and calling it quits. You have to present a well-rounded and complete representation of who you are, of what your core competencies are. People need to gain a good glimpse of you and how impressive your accomplishments are. It’s not bragging. It’s providing relevant information about yourself that allows people to make a judgment about where you could fit in their company or among their professional contacts. LinkedIn isn’t Facebook. Nobody needs to know if you absolutely adore the Grateful Dead. They need to see a profile which allows them to visualize you as a potential colleague.

Project Professionalism

Don’t use overly commercial and salesy language to describe your accomplishments. Aim for an objective, neutral and truthful representation of your academic and work experiences. If you’ve won awards in college; list them. If you received prestigious university fellowships; by all means describe them. If you’ve had online training describe it. But don’t overhype and oversell your accomplishments like a used car salesman selling a well washed and gleaming but suspect automobile. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t aim to present information in the best possible light. Of course you should. If you don’t do it; no one will.

Maximize Your Profile’s Effectiveness

If you have 200 LinkedIn connections and not a single one has given you a recommendation, it usually means one of two things. You’re not serious enough about networking or employment possibilities to have bothered asking for recommendations. Or, you’re not recommendable. Neither of these possibilities portrays you in a flattering light. You also need to keep your profile up to date. If you have recent relevant information which you haven’t included yet, do it. This also helps show activity on your LinkedIn profile and that’s important. Profiles that appear frozen in time are usually ineffective.

Source: Stepahead.timesjobs.com

Successful CEO's

Successful CEO's & their characteristics

1. Having a Vision

Being at the top of the pyramid, a great CEO must be able to clearly communicate the vision of the company in order to inspire staff, investors and customers. As the company flag-bearer, all eyes turn to the CEO for direction and example.

2. Macro Management

While it is key for the CEO to understand the every-day activities of the organization and how all the parts fit together to move the company forward, the best CEOs do not get dragged into the seductive lure of micro managing granular details. Instead they maintain a highly trained management team that is fully capable of handling these tasks.

This enables the CEO to remain focused on the primary duties of increasing revenues, and meeting the goals identified in the vision.

3. Leveraging Industry Trends

Staying on top of industry trends through reading, attending conferences and joining trade associations is essential for CEOs to ensure that the direction and vision for the company is on course. The ability to see into the future is invaluable for steering clear of potential threats and capitalizing on future opportunities.

This is especially important in the constantly evolving technology industry where the CEO needs to determine which changes will have long-term impact and which are merely fads with little real value.

4. Develop a Foundation of Strength

No company or CEO is successful without a strong management team. Each member must be a leader that knows and is accountable for his or her job responsibilities (and does not try to do the work of other team members).

Quality managers in turn, know how to mentor and acknowledge the accomplishments of their own staffs in order to keep them motivated, involved and on track to meet the business goals of the company.

5. Customer’s are at the Core

Successful CEOs look beyond their raw technology and focus on finding ways to help customers solve their problems. They describe their products in terms of how they address the needs and challenges of their customer’s instead of listing product capabilities.

Great CEOs use their own customers’ words and verbiage. Through weekly meetings with customers, CEOs have an endless supply of anecdotal situations to share with stakeholders that help create a better product and a more thorough understanding of the customer requirements for a successful business relationship.

This article is a guest contribution from Nadel Phelan.

Dr. Phelan is President & CEO of NPI PR (npipr.com) and has 20+ years of experience in global marketing, market research and public relations for high-tech companies including HP, Cisco and Microsoft. 

MBA Magic - A Global Perspective : Management Education and Accreditation

         In management studies, be it in India or overseas, accreditation makes a qualitative difference to a business school and provides a benchmark for students to make a decision.

        "Accreditation is a process of standardisation against international benchmarks," says Sharon Bamford, chief executive, Association of MBAs ( AMBA), UK, who was in the Capital recently. When a B-school goes through the process of accreditation, it becomes more focused; processes become more rigorous and more tightly defined, communications improve and in totality, it presents a better value proposition to the student. "It is not as if things were bad before; it is just that things are much better now," Bamford explains.

Source: TOI