Social Media Fitness Study

SOCIAL MEDIA FITNESS STUDY
Prepared by Drew Neisser
Renegade, LLC
April 2012
Take the test yourself at: Renegade.com/FitnessTest
“Rather than simply using social as a tactic, the most effective brands
use social as an organic part of everything they do.”
Evan Greene, CMO, The Grammys

Social Media Fitness Study
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary 2
Methodology & Participants 3
Overall Social Media Fitness Test Scores 4
Social Media Fitness by Business Size 5
Overall Progress in Social Media 6
Department that Drives Social Media 7
Ability to Listen and Respond 8
Social Media Disaster Planning 9
Progress with Social Media Metrics 10
Social Media Training 11
Encouraging Employees to Be Active in Social 12
Adoption of Social Media Across the Organization 13
Progress Relative to Competition 14
Quality of Social Media Content 15
Engagement of Target with Social Media 16
Development of Social Media Road Maps 17
Consistency of Customer Experience 18
Proliferation of Social Media Audits 19
10 Not-So-Easy Steps to Social Media Fitness 20
1© Renegade, LLC. 2012

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Social media is very much a work in progress for most companies
– Only 20% achieved a score above a 66 out of a total possible score of 100
Large and midsize companies are more socially fit than small ones
– Small businesses, perhaps due to a lack of resources, scored significantly lower
Fitness scores were dragged down by a number of factors
– About 1 in 4 are just getting started in social
– Fewer than 1 in 4 claim to be listening and responding in real time
– Only 1 in 3 have a disaster plan in place
– About 1 in 3 are mainly concerned with growing their social footprint
– Only 1 in 4 surveyed have a formalized training program already in place
– Fewer than 1 in 3 think their content is highly engaging
– Only 1 in 3 have allowed social media to permeate the entire organization
– Only 1 in 6 have completed an audit of all their social media channels
– Fewer than 1 in 10 have developed a center of excellence for sharing best practices
Social media fitness should improve significantly in the next 12 months
– About 2 in 5 are just in the process of developing employee training for social media
– About half are looking to create a consistent customer experience across all channels
– About 1 in 4 are in the process of such an audit; another 1 in 4 are thinking about doing an audit
Mean Score
0
0.005
0.01
0.015
0.02
0.025
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Probability
Distribution of Social Media Fitness Test Scores
20%20% 20% 20% 20%

METHODOLOGY & PARTICIPANTS
Quantitative methodology
– 100 marketers completed the Social Media Fitness Survey on SurveyMonkey.com between February 13
and March 13, 2012
– Each respondent answered 3 demographic questions and 14 social media related-questions
– To create the Social Media Fitness Score, each answer was assigned a numerical value relative to the
author’s judgment regarding what constitutes current best practices, with the highest possible score
being 100
Qualitative responses
– 65% of those surveyed agreed to provide feedback to specific questions about the survey results
– To gather feedback, the author conducted follow-up interviews via email, over the phone and/or in
person
Participants
– Represented companies of all sizes (46% were from large companies, 20% from midsize and 34% from
small)
– The study skewed toward B2B brands (62%)
– Primarily from marketing department (≥80%) and in senior positions (≥50% have the title of VP or
above)
– A broad range of industries were represented, including technology, software as a service, traditional
and digital media, entertainment, publishing, consulting, enterprise software, household products,
telecommunications, financial services and insurance, ecommerce, travel, utilities, not-for-profit, and
supply chain management and more.
– Companies represented include Aecom, AXA Equitable, Asmet, Bennuworld, Cablevision,
CareerBuilder.com, Citrix Systems, Con-Way Freight, Discovery, eHarmony, Emdeon, Exgage,
FusionIO, God’s Love We Deliver, The Grammys, IBM, Intel, Isle of Capri Casinos, Lion Brand, Lot18,
MassMutual, NES Rentals, Neustar, PBS, Pegasystems, PetCo , PPL Electric Utilities, Red Robin,
Rubios Restaurants, Sage, SAP, Schneider Electric, PSFK, SocialEyes, Steiner Tractor, Suddenlink,
TagMan, Texas Children’s Hospital, WebTrends, Windmill Cycles, Xerox and Yoxi.tv among others.
About the author, Drew Neisser
– Founder and CEO of Renegade, the NYC-based social media and marketing agency
– Monthly columnist for MediaPost and regular contributor to FastCompany.com as an “expert blogger”
– Articles have been featured in AdMap, AdAge, Adweek, Brandweek, Chief Marketer, Promo Magazine,
Social Media Examiner and the Wise Marketer, among others
– Provided expert commentary on ABC Nightline and CNBC
– Blogs at TheDrewBlog.com and tweets from @DrewNeisser

OVERALL SOCIAL MEDIA FITNESS TEST SCORES
The average score among all respondents was a modest 52 (out of 100)
– These scores indicate that social media is still very much a work in progress at most companies
B2C slightly outscores B2B
– B2C companies scored higher on average at 55
– B2B companies averaged 51
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
0–9 10–19 20–29 30–39 40–49 50–59 60–69 70–79 80–89 90–100
Responses(%oftotal)
Social Media Fitness Test Scores - B2B & B2C
B2B
B2C
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
0–9 10–19 20–29 30–39 40–49 50–59 60–69 70–79 80–89 90–100
NumberofResponses
Social Media Fitness Test Scores - Overall

Large (≥1,000 employees) and midsize (100-999 employees) companies outscored their
smaller (<100 employees) counterparts
Larger companies recognize that social media is no longer a component that is “nice to
have,” but rather a fundamental part of doing business today.
Midsize companies also scored above average and increasingly recognize the importance of
social media.
Surprisingly, smaller companies scored below their larger counterparts. This could simply be
due to a lack of resources versus any negative feelings about the potential effectiveness of
social media as a marketing tool.
SOCIAL MEDIA FITNESS BY SIZE
Overall Large Midsize Small
% of Respondents 100 46 20 34
Average Test Score 52 57 56 44
© Renegade, LLC. 2012 5
“These results surprise me, as I think free media [like social] have been explored better in the past by
smaller companies. I guess with more time and financial resources, which bigger companies have, scores
improved.” -- Nelleke Kloet, Marketing Director, Tagman
“At this point in the B2C world, social media is mission critical. Consumers have demonstrated the power of
social media, and social media is one of the primary ways for consumer brands to interact and engage with
their target audience.” -- Diego Pereda, Social Marketing Manager, Xerox
“[Customer] passion for FusionIO is genuine, and we would be foolish not to engage and share and facilitate
the growth of that passion. A lot of people are asking a lot of questions. If we don’t answer them, someone
less qualified will.” -- Trip Hunter, VP Brand Marketing, FusionIO

OVERALL PROGRESS IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is on every marketer’s radar regardless of company size and type
– 96% have at least gotten started with some social media activity
However, fewer than half believe they have made significant progress
– 27% claim to be just getting started in social media
33% consider social media a vital part of their marketing activities
A minority of 13% reported that social has transformed how they do business
Nowhere,
4%
Just getting started,
27%
Trying lots of things
but not gaining
much traction,
23%
Vital part of our
marketing activities,
33%
It has transformed
how we do business
with customers,
suppliers,
employees, etc.,
13%
“Social has become an integral and formidable medium for us to leverage throughout marketing as we at
Pega view it as part of our overall customer-centric market approach. We’re active on Twitter, Facebook and
LinkedIn to ensure we’re engaging with our customers appropriately but also so we can continue building
our brand awareness. We’ve added another dedicated, full-time resource to further our social media efforts,
and we’re confident that this role will continue to increase.” -- Grant Johnston, CMO, Pegasystems
“Last year, we had three huge storms in the span of six weeks, including a tropical storm and an October
snowstorm, that normally we do not have in the span of three years. We got kudos from the regulatory
agencies for our communications [during these storms] with customers because of social media. There were
customers whose only way to reach us was via social media. We were ready for something like that, and
that nailed it for our management as far as the importance of social media.”
-- Constance Walker, Manager Customer Communications, PPL Electric Utilities

DEPARTMENT THAT DRIVES SOCIAL MEDIA
The Marketing department drives social media activity about half the time
– Meanwhile, 9% have social media in the PR/Corporate Communications group
30% have moved to a cross-disciplined team to manage social media
Companies that moved to a cross-disciplined team see a risk in not doing so
Nobody / It's
happening ad hoc,
10%
Marketing, 49%
PR / Corporate
Communications,
9%
Customer
Service, 2%
A cross-disciplined
team, 30%
“Social media is a function that crosses many disciplines, and failure to recognize this leads to an
unnecessarily restricted team that cannot operate at its full potential. At Discovery, social media supports
marketing, communications, digital, ad sales, commerce, distribution, government relations and other
business units. As a result, the company benefits from having a cross-disciplined team that can add value in
many different areas, instead of just one.” -- Gayle Weiswasser, Social Media Director, Discovery Comm.
“The clearest benefit to a centralized marketing approach is the ability to quickly adapt to changes coming at
us from the social networks themselves.” -- Greg Tirico, Senior Social Media Manager, Sage
“At AXA Equitable, we see the benefits of having a cross-disciplined team in driving the social media
strategy and execution for our organization. Because social touches so many areas of our business, it is
important to have a coordinated effort that engages all key players in our decisions around this evolving
platform.” -- Stacy Braun, SVP of Marketing, AXA Equitable

ABILITY TO LISTEN AND RESPOND
90% have some kind of monitoring system in place
– Slightly over half claim to be listening 24/7
– 35% admit they are better at talking than listening!
Less than 1 in 4 claim to be listening and responding in real time
8
We aren't really
listening, 10%
We are monitoring
some channels
some of the time
(but we're better at
talking), 35%
We are monitoring
24/7 but only
responding on a
selective basis, 32%
We are monitoring
and responding in
real-time, 23%
© Renegade, LLC. 2012
“We’ve learned that the quicker we are able to respond, the more favorably things go. Because we have
been very approachable and communicative, people expect honest and quick answers from us.”
-- Trip Hunter, VP Brand Marketing, FusionIO
“Our team listens to the feedback coming from our fans on social media and looks over a report on that
feedback on a regular basis. Also, each person creating our social content is up-to-date and informed on our
industry so that we can give our audience the most relevant information.”
– Jenny Weigle, Social Media, CareerBuilder.com

SOCIAL MEDIA DISASTER PLANNING
About 1 in 3 have a disaster plan in place
– A whopping 22% wasn’t sure what a disaster plan was or perhaps were unsure why they would need
one
– About 44% had broached the subject, but had yet to get around to creating
9% had already put their disaster plan to use
A what?, 22%
We've talked about it
but have not created
one yet, 44%
We have a plan in
place, 25%
We have a plan and
have already had to
use it, 9%
“About three years ago, I was notified that a disgruntled customer had opened up a Twitter account with a
handle that used our company name, preceded by an expletive. Within a few hours, this customer had
accumulated dozens of followers and an even longer list of tweets from other disgruntled customers.
Eventually, we got our decision-makers together, formulated a reasonable response strategy and
implemented it, and the crisis diminished. But that experience underscored for us just how quickly issues
can surface in social media and take on a life of their own. We knew that, but we hadn’t experienced it first
hand until then. From that point forward, we were compelled to become better prepared.”
-- Pete Abel, SVP of Corporate Communications, Suddenlink
“There are at least two kinds of disasters: disasters that shake the house, and those that knock it down. Our
disaster plan covers the former well. We’re working on the latter. Disasters that shake the house happen
almost everyday — someone makes a negative or incorrect comment about us. Our first negative comment
through social media was back in 2009, and we have been creating our disaster plan ever since. As a result
of that negative comment, we contacted the customer, helped him out, and turned him into an evangelist.
Recently we've been adding "what if" scenarios to the playbook. Being a public company, we have to be
prepared.” -- Trip Hunter, VP Brand Marketing, FusionIO

PROGESS WITH SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS
Progress with metrics varies tremendously
– 18% have real-time dashboards with social KPI’s, while the exact same percentage have no metrics in
place at all
– 32% are mainly concerned with growing their social footprint, while the same portion get weekly/monthly
reports
The value of real-time metrics is very clear to those who have them
We don't have any
KPIs (Key
Performance
Indicators) as of yet,
17%
We are mainly
concerned about
building up the size
of our social
footprint, 32%
We are getting
weekly/monthly
reports, 33%
We have a real-time
dashboard with our
main social KPIs,
18%
“We launched the Intel Social Cockpit this year at CES, and it’s now a key part of our social media program,
enabling us to understand what’s performing well, what’s trending and how much share of voice Intel is
receiving in social conversations.At CES, we used the Social Cockpit to see what keywords were trending
on top. We then honed in on those topics and created new content (videos and photos from our booth)
aligning with these. We were able to do all of this within a matter of an hour or two, which enabled us to
continue fueling the dialogue with highly relevant, timely content.”
-- Jennifer Lashua, Social Media Director, Intel
“Metrics are crucial. Listening and monitoring are really becoming the new frontier. After all, the better you
become at interpreting the data, the more effective conversations you will be able to build with your social
ecosystem, and the deeper the engagement you can create.” -- Evan Greene, CMO, The Grammys

SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING
Only 1 in 4 surveyed have a formalized training program in place
– Fully 33% have yet to think about social media training in any form
– 41% are just in the process of developing employee training for social media
Fewer than 1 in 10 have developed a center of excellence to train employees and enable the
sharing of best practices across an organization
Say what?, 33%
We are in the
process of
developing an
employee training
program, 41%
We have a social
media training
program in place,
17%
We have established
a center of
excellence for
training and sharing
of best practices,
9%
“With social media still being relatively new, and touching everyone either in their personal lives, or at work
(and often in both places), there are no standardized rules. In fact, the rules continue to evolve almost daily.
Therefore, with so much at stake with brand image and reputation in today’s fracturing marketplace,
companies are well served to establish clear parameters that can be consistently applied and followed
across their organizations.” -- Evan Greene, CMO, The Grammys
“The benefits we have derived from the Center of Excellence efforts and activities are that we have
empowered more of our marketing and communications community to get involved in social media and to
do it with the benefit of training and best practices at their disposal. We have witnessed a growth on all of
our major platforms (Twitter, Facebook, blogs), and we attribute a great deal of this growth and development
of pods of social media practitioners outside of the Center of Excellence to these efforts.”
-- Diego Pereda, Social Marketing Program Manager, Xerox

ENCOURAGING EMPLOYEES TO BE ACTIVE IN SOCIAL
More than half restrict social media activity to specified individuals
– 26% restrict it to the “social media team”
– 25% restrict it the social media team and select senior managers
1 in 3 encourage all employees to be active in social media
– While 11% open it up to all employees who have been trained on social media
No one, 5%
Only the social
media team, 26%
The social media
team and select
senior managers,
25%
All employees, 33%
All employees who
have gone through
social media
training, 11%
“It is important that our staff understand the importance of social media for our organization. By training our
staff in the basics of having an account, retweeting our work and sharing our posts, we’re further involving
them in spreading the message about the work that we do. We work with many different constituents and, in
order to research/respond to and develop relationships with all of our partners, we need to make sure that
our staff understand how to respond.” -- Emily Findley, Social Media Director, God’s Love We Deliver
“Starting from the premise that social media is all about having – and maintaining – conversations with
customers and other stakeholders, we believe the best, most legitimate conversations are achieved when a
diverse group of people participate, each bringing to the dialogue their own unique perspectives and skill
sets.” -- Pete Abel, SVP of Corporate Communications, Suddenlink

ADOPTION OF SOCIAL MEDIAACROSS THE ORGANIZATION
40% reported that social media was limited to Marketing and PR
– Another 24% noted that Customer Service had also embraced social media
Just under 1 in 3 noted that social has permeated all aspects of their business
Not a one, 4%
So far just the
marketing and PR
folk, 40%
Marketing, PR and
Customer Service,
24%
Social media has
permeated all
aspects of our
business, including
sales, marketing,
human resources
and customer
service, 32%
“It comes back to communication. I stay in touch with our customer service team on a regular basis (at least
monthly). They’ve been fully trained on our engagement tool, and I keep them updated on major changes to
the social platforms. We are a team, and it’s important to know that and do whatever it takes so that all
admins feel that they are a part of the team, working together to achieve our social media goals. We also
regularly recognize our team members for outstanding performance.”
– Jenny Weigle, Social Media Manager, CareerBuilder.com
“It is risky to look at "social" as somehow separate from business processes and create distinct "social"
teams. I feel the same way about "digital." The more sophisticated or mature approach is to see both social
and digital as modes of interaction that can affect any business process. Our Social Business Management
council has representation from sales, supply chain, product development, HR, security, legal etc in addition
to marketing and communications.” -- Ethan McCarty, Digital and Social Strategy, IBM

PROGRESS RELATIVE TO COMPETITION
Parity rules, as 59% believe they are about even with their competition
– Only 15% believe that their competition is “kicking our butts in social media”
– Just 20% believe they are way ahead of their competition
– Only 6% believe they are not just way ahead of their competition, but also way ahead of most other
companies
For some companies, social is less about gaining competitive advantage and more about
putting a human face on the brand
Our competitors are
kicking our butts in
social media, 15%
We are about even
with our competitors,
59%
We are way ahead
of the competition,
20%
We are not only way
ahead of the
competition, we are
also ahead of most
other companies,
6%
“We’re using social media more to get in front of our customers and to help them realize that there are
people who work here. It’s really about getting out from behind the technology that we offer and putting
voices and faces out there. Social media is the perfect way to do that.”
-- Erin Bush, Marketing & Communications, Neustar
“Xerox has been developing its social marketing practice in earnest for several years, but we really stepped
on the accelerator in late 2009 via a small group of what we call “social media natives” from across our
business. As the practice has grown, we’ve kept track of our approaches to the work as well as some key
indicators of customer engagement on the social channels.
-- Diego Pereda, Social Marketing Manager, Xerox
“I definitely think my company can gain a competitive advantage, and we're learning every day how to
leverage the relationships created via social media.” -- Julia Carcoma, Isle of Capri Casinos

QUALITY OF SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT
Quality content is not the norm
– 51% believe their content is not generating much engagement
– 23% claims to be creating “a ton of high quality content across multiple channels”
Only 13% claim that their content is so great that “our target is sharing and interacting with
that content on a regular basis”
We aren't really
creating any
content, 13%
We are creating
some content, but
it’s not generating
much engagement,
51%
We are creating a
ton of high quality
content across
multiple channels,
23%
Not only are we
creating a lot of
great content, but
also our target is
sharing (and
interacting) with that
content on a regular
basis, 13%
“Effective content takes into consideration the reasons that fans are following social media accounts in the
first place. Understanding the passions and interests of your audience is the first step toward developing
engaging content. Beyond that, it’s important to set a very high bar for the quality of what gets posted on
social platforms. Fans will reward good content with engagement and will ignore the rest.”
-- Gayle Weiswasser, Social Media Director, Discovery Communications
“At IBM, we are focused on quality standards for everything, from videos to infographics to social network
landing pages and tweets. We have a strong understanding of our brand that we can rely on and extend to
our teams globally, and even our agency partners.” -- Ethan McCarty, Digital and Social Strategy, IBM

ENGAGEMENT OF TARGET WITH SOCIAL MEDIA
Fewer than 1 in 3 think their content is highly engaging
– 23% believe “just about all of our content is generating high levels of engagement”
– Only 7% are generating content that is so engaging that “our target feels compelled to create content for
us and share that with us and their friends”
Not all user-generated content is favorable, so you need to plan accordingly
Not so much, 13%
We get a few Likes
and +1's, but
nothing to brag
about, 56%
Just about all of our
content is
generating high
levels of
engagement (Likes,
shares, +1's, etc.),
24%
Not only are we
creating a lot of
engaging content,
but our target feels
compelled to create
content for us and
share that with us
and their friends,…
“Recently, we have seen tremendous results when social media is properly integrated with print based
marketing campaigns. For example, we increased our overall Like count by 50% in less than a month
through a direct mail campaign in which respondents were encouraged to share their business ambitions
with us on one of our Facebook product pages. People are still contributing today even though the contest is
over.” -- Greg Tirico, Senior Social Media Manager, Sage
“One key component of our plan is to be measured in our response. Sometimes people just want attention-
want to be recognized, and you have to know when to walk away. What we have learned is that there is a
code of conduct in the community, and many times it is self-regulating. Recently a guy made a video about
us that wasn’t based on fact. We responded saying we would love to discuss his POV. He had no interest in
doing this – he was looking for attention. But the community dealt with him, discounting his claims, and
eventually stopped listening. This was a huge homerun for us – so much more credible than if we are telling
him he is wrong.” -- Trip Hunter, VP Brand Marketing, FusionIO

DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ROAD MAPS
Just over half have “a core set of activities and a number of tests in place”
Road maps are more common than not
– 14% are sticking to their 2011 plan in 2012
– Just 10% are reevaluating every 90 days
Not really, 24%
We are going to
keep doing what we
were doing in 2011,
14%
Yes, we have a core
set of activities and
a number of tests in
place, 52%
Yes, and it includes
quarterly
reevaluations given
the constantly
evolving nature of
social media, 10%
“Unfortunately, as with all organizations and all ideas (social media or not), we had to face the reality of
limited resources and make some tough decisions. So we sat down and started mapping out the art of the
possible: what are all the ideas, which of them are the most important/critical, which will deliver the nearest
term bump, what do they cost, what can we do today, and what might we be able to do tomorrow? The
discipline of that process helped us get some of those great ideas up and running; otherwise, I fear none of
them would have been implemented.” -- Pete Abel, SVP of Corporate Communications, Suddenlink
“It hasn't been until very recently that businesses who serve other businesses have started to realize the
benefits of social, but it's quickly moving into the enterprise. The stuff that has sprung up on the consumer
side is just the tip of the iceberg. The real mass, the real power to transform, is on the business side.”
-- Ethan McCarty, Digital and Social Strategy, IBM

CONSISTENCY OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Coordinating the customer experience across social media channels has yet to become a
priority
– 16% admit their customer experience is not coordinated at all
– 44% are looking to create a consistent customer experience as they “have begun to centralize and
coordinate”
Only 12% claim to offer the same experience “regardless of channel and which department
runs it”
Not coordinated at
all — for example,
service and
marketing have
independent social
media offerings,
16%
There is some
coordination, but
fiefdoms still
dominate, 28%
We have begun to
centralize and
coordinate the
customer
experience, 44%
Our customers will
have the same
experience
regardless of the
channel and which
department runs it,
12%
“We look to provide the same value, support, education for our consumers no matter which channel they
prefer to engage us in. From a content creation standpoint, I challenge my team to the three channel test.
If a piece of content is not compelling enough to be utilized in some form in at least three consumer
channels, then it's probably not worth creating.”
-- Kris Gates, AVP of Participant and Interactive Marketing, Mass Mutual
“It’s a priority for us to both offer a consistent look and feel across our social networks as well as take
advantage of the unique features each offers. For example, our Facebook page and our Google+ page
currently feature similar campaign imagery; however we have optimized our Google+ page to take
advantage of the Circles feature, whereas Facebook is centered around tabs.”
-- Jennifer Lashua, Global Social Media Strategy, Intel

PROLIFERATION OF SOCIAL MEDIAAUDITS
Only 16% have completed an audit of all their social media channels
– 26% are in the process of such an audit, while another 24% are thinking about doing an audit
One of the primary benefits of an audit is the ability to streamline
Not yet — every
division and/or
country operates
independently, 18%
Thinking about
doing an audit, 24%
We are in the
process of auditing
all of our social
media channels,
26%
We have completed
our audit and are
already streamlining
the number of SM
accounts we
operate, 16%
We have so few
channels an audit is
unnecessary, 16%
“We conducted a social media audit about a year ago, and it proved extremely helpful in understanding the
opportunities available to us. By looking at competitors in our industry, as well as companies in other
categories, we recognized the potential of social media, which helped us set our priorities for the year
ahead. It also helped us refine our social media guidelines for employees and identify new ways to use
social to proactively enhance our brand image.” -- Stacy Braun, SVP Marketing, AXA Equitable
“A few years ago, we had hundreds of Facebook pages and Twitter handles, but we were finding that only a
percent of these had high levels of engagement and large numbers of fans/followers. By streamlining (we
now have just 45 Facebook pages), we are able to maximize reach and engagement by aggregating
audiences together. We also used data and insights to re-architect our Twitter structure in 2011.”
-- Jennifer Lashua, Global Social Media Strategy, Intel

10 NOT-SO-EASY STEPS TO SOCIAL MEDIA FITNESS
Like physical fitness, achieving genuine social fitness is not something you can do in just a few easy steps.
It takes tremendous discipline and the commitment to achieving results over time, not overnight.
1. Social Media is Best Played as a Team Sport
Parking social media in only the marketing department is akin to trying to get your whole body in shape by
working on just one muscle group. The most “fit” companies are recruiting their other departments to join
and strengthen their social team.
2. Develop Your Bench Strength
Beyond which department handles social, there is also broad debate about how many employees should be
involved, and more often than not, companies have some form of restriction in place for how employees can
use social. The most effective teams, however, generally have prepared all members to perform if needed.
IBM, for example, encourages all of its employees to be socially active and provides clear guidelines for its
now massive army of sharers.
3. Take a Step Back
After several years of the “ready, fire, aim” approach to social, in which every brand, division and or
campaign seemed to warrant its own Facebook and Twitter presence, enlightened companies are stepping
back to conduct social media audits and find ways to eliminate superfluous social accounts.
4. Map Out a Disciplined Regimen
Since social media audits aren’t yet common practice, it shouldn’t be surprising that a sizeable majority of
companies also do not have a clear road map for their social activities. Just as no self-respecting fitness
trainer would let his/her clients take a step without a clearly defined and highly disciplined regimen,
companies that neglect to plan their social media strategy will inevitably flounder.
5. Prepare for the Worst
Remarkably, few companies surveyed had a social media disaster plan in place. Unfortunately, it often took
a crisis to inspire the creation of such a plan, raising the question that trainers often ask of their clients:
“What the heck are you waiting for?” The benefits of having a disaster plan go well beyond the peace of
mind that comes with it.

6. Be in the Moment
Fully 1 in 3 companies admit they are better at talking than listening, and fewer than 1 in 4 are listening and
responding in real time. This is the fitness equivalent of sharing your resolutions to get fit, joining a health
club and then never showing up. True social media fitness requires listening and responding, often in real
time.
7. Aim for Quality Over Quantity
Though it would be hard to get into an argument about the importance of good content, fewer than half of
the companies surveyed actually believe they are consistently creating quality content that engages their
target. Perhaps these are same folks that go to the gym every day only to spend most of their time in the
shower. The key with quality is to set the bar high and then keep raising it based on consumer feedback.
8. Deliver a Consistent Experience
With social media training still the exception rather than the rule, it shouldn’t be startling that only a minority
of companies claim to deliver the same customer experience regardless of the channel. The risk of
inconsistency is that, inevitably, the customer relationship breaks down at the weakest link, leaving the
entire enterprise exposed.
9. Monitor Your Progress
Despite all the talk among marketers about the importance of metrics, it’s amazing that more than half of the
companies surveyed still don’t have a consistent measurement program in place for social media.
Measuring a brand’s social footprint, as in the number of likes and followers, is a meager but necessary first
step. For there, brands have numerous options to measure engagement, sentiment, influence, reach, leads
and in some cases, sales.
10. Establish a Center of Excellence
Perhaps it's the newness of social media, but fewer than 1 in 10 companies have established any kind of
repository for lessons learned. Without it, every division or employee is at risk to make the same mistake or
not capitalize on a recent success. Small companies may not have the breadth of experience in-house to
share so they may need to set up external networks among their peers to achieve the same benefit.

Social Media Fitness Study

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