Are you interested in leveraging the tools and best methods of social media usage to achieve a business that is more connected to its customers while building strong employee advocacy? Find out what it takes to have a social business. It is more than meets the eye, but it is definitely achievable!

1. HOW TO
construct a
social business

2. 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.

3. THE VALUES OF A SOCIAL BUSINESS
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?
1
2

4. 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.
3
4

5. 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.

6. 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?

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. MEASURING SOCIAL BUSINESS
A social business needs to analyze their activities using data driven
methods to determine the success of their program.

12. 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.

13. Dan Newman
President of Broadsuite
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.
@danielnewmanuv dnewman@broadsuite.com