A visual illustration of how social technology can enable a business to reduce operational costs or increase revenues.

1. Related Roles/Departments: HR, IT, Ops, Snr Management
Related Roles/Departments: Marketing, Customer Service, Brand Manager,
Brand Management
The Operational benefits of using Social Tech mainly relate to saving money vs. making money for the business. Social Director & Board level, Shareholders
technologies often have a very direct effect on productivity (e.g. the use of collaborative work tools) as well as traditional
IT management (e.g. shift to cloud computing, reduce data duplication). There are also a wealth of benefits with regards Benefits Benefits By far one of the most valuble parts of a business is the brand; growing and maintaining a reputation. Social technologies
to human resource from recruitment (eliminating recruiters, global talent pool thanks to remote working technologies, provide both solutions (via online monitoring capabilities) AND challenges (like scalability and ownership), which are worth
reducing likelihood of wrong hires and promoting the company as a great place to work) to retention by giving employees evaluating to protect and increase the value of the brand.
Reputation/
greater work satisfaction and aiding skills development. All of these areas can have a measurable effect on the bottom line.
Operational
Influence dashboards
Cloud computing inc. mobile Digital profiles
Realtime monitoring solutions
Project and time tracking software Promotional tools like corporate blogs, microblogging
and networks (which attract and retain talent) Online sentiment analysis
Social Tech Social Tech
Collaborative work tools and knowledge sharing e.g. wikis,
internal social networks, crowdsourcing platforms Automated moderation software
Virtual working technologies Analytics and reporting tools
Recruitment and business contact networks Competitor insight tools
Higher positivity (+ vs. competitor) Reduction/elimination crisis spend inc. PR,
More accurate pricing and/or better profit margins Reduction in staff turnover product recall
Acquring customers away from competitors
Higher staff retention Reduce staff costs Increase/maintain share price
Metrics Metrics
More up-to-date info, more often
Lower CPA of new hires
Reduce spend on independent reports
Decrease travel costs
SEO metrics like google ranking, keyword performance,
Reduce recruitment time organic search traffic, mitigating negative commentary
Related Roles/Departments: R&D, Product/Brand Management, Sales, Related Roles/Departments: Customer Service, Sales, R&D, Brand/Product Manager,
Innovation, Director & Board level Marketing
Benefits Ou Benefits
Customer service
Sitting squarely in business development is the potential for social technologies to not only reduce research/trial time and
t
If the old adage - It’s cheaper to keep a customer than find a new one is true, then social technologies can deliver increased
decrease time to market but increase revenue and market share by using indepth customer insight and even collaborative revenue as well as a reduction in cost to provide the levels of service customers expect - while driving and maintaining
s
working to streamline and create products which customers will buy. Crowdsourcing and innovation is increasingly being customer satisfaction.
Development
used by forward-thinking businesses.
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Online monitoring tools Virtual service tools Analytics tools
the bu
Crowdsourcing e.g bespoke social networks, discussion Realtime monitoring solutions Collaborative problem-solving platforms
boards, email feedback generators, idea submission and e.g. message boards
ranking platforms, wikis
Research/surveys/Q&A tech
Social Tech Social Tech Wikis/crowdsourcing platforms
Online survey/ad platforms
Virtual goods & services Social networks and brand communities
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Decrease time to market Reduction in staff turnover
I es Faster resolution turn around Additional revenue generated
Streamline product/services range to reduce costs Reduce staff costs
s Increase in repeat customer/customer retention Reduction in refunds/returns
Sales increase
Reduce market research and user group testing spend
Metrics Metrics Increase in customer satisfaction
Reduction in negative sentiment
Increase market share Reduction in Op Ex
Related Roles/Departments: Customer Service, Sales, R&D, Brand/Product manager,
Related Roles/Departments: R&D, Product/Brand Management, Sales,
Marketing
Innovation, Director & Board level
There are a multitide of social technologies available to those guiding the strategic direction of business from insights to
Benefits Benefits Customers are at the heart of every business with social technologies having wide ranging benefits on loyalty, avg spend,
frequency of spend, referrals and overall customer satisfaction. In addition social technologies deliver deep insight into
innovation. There are numerous stakeholder benefits from management & employees, to shareholders as well the potential customer demand as well as the potential for greater customisation. For marketers, much of what they deliver should
and retention
for brand awareness and business growth - today and in the future. impact here but with many never measuring the results of their efforts or true ROI.
Acquisition
Leadership
Monitoring Tools Polls/Surveys
Incentive and promotional tools & communities Analytics & Reporting tools
Communities Open source technologies
Paid Media like Paid Search, PPC, Display, Targeted ads, Social Commerce tools
Virtual worlds/Metaverses Widgets and Apps
Real-time analytics Data analytics, reporting and visualization Social Tech Social Tech Direct mail
Brand Owned Channels like blogs, video, image, websites,
Digital and mobile apps
Social CRM software and tools
communities
Enhanced comms tools like webcasts, social networks, blogs Micro-financing platforms
Customer profiling & tracking tools
Earned Media/WOM/viral marketing
Collaborative work tools and platforms
Reduction in paid media spend Engagement metrics
Increase Profit Meet sustainability objectives
Increase and/or more targeted reach Measuring effectiveness of campaigns: Reach,
Reduce Cost of Business Win awards Engagement, Positive Sentiment, Negative Sentiment
Greater visibility across the business with data and feedback
Improved flexibility of business
Increase longevity of business/growth
Metrics Metrics Returning customers
Volume of WOM
Raise profile of company and individuals Sales data: acquire, repeat/increase purchase, reduce return,
cross sell, friend-get-friend
Shannon Boudjema @shannonboudjema
v 1.0 Paul Armstrong @munkyfonkey www.SoTechNow.com
Darika Ahrens @darika InfoGraph designed by Hold. www.WeAreHold.com