Social Media Marketing

136

c h a p t e r

5:

SOCIAL T

ECHNOLOGY AND B

USINESS D

ECISIONS

■

acting in concert than by marketing acting alone. This is a departure from traditional

PR and advertising. While traditional channels remain vitally important in anchoring

and promoting what you offer, it is the actual experience—created deep inside your

organization—that drives the conversation that can significantly amplify your message

and more fundamentally drive long-term success.

Review of the Main Points

The main points covered in this chapter are summarized below: now more than ever,

social technology brings a significant capability to the decision-making activities inside

your organization.

•    Active listening is the core mechanism for tapping the Social Web as a decision-

making tool, powered by the quantitative application of formalized Social

CRM.

•    Social CRM is built around fundamental components, all of which must be

present: direct customer input, influencer and expert identification, ideation and

feedback gathered through organized customer support services, and process-

driven internal culture of collaboration.

•    Decision making benefits directly from the integration of social technologies,

applied at the levels of customers (social media), the organization (internal col-

laboration), and the connection between the two (Social CRM).

The main points in this chapter set out a framework for applying what can

be learned and applied to business through the use of social technologies to the pro-

cesses of business decision making. This has an impact in tactical issues—responding

to a localized negative event—as well as long-term strategic planning and product

innovation.

Hands-On: Review These Resources

Review each of the following and connect them to your business.

1. Spend time reading Esteban Kolsky’s blog (http://www.estebankolsky.com/), and
   in particular search for and read the entries on “analytics engines.” As a hands-
   on exercise, create a plan for integrating social analytics into your operational
   (not marketing) processes.


2. Review Kaushal Sarda’s 2010 InterOp Mumbai presentation on slideshare. The
   easiest way to find this is to visit slideshare (http://www.slideshare.com) and
   search for “Kaushal Sarda.” In the InterOp presentation, look at the product
   innovation cycle and map this onto your business and identify the specific areas
   or functions within your business that contribute to innovation. Think about the
   Bengaluru International Airport example as you do this. How can you “design
   in” the experiences you want your customers or stakeholders to talk about?