The document provides an overview of how companies can prepare for engaging with customers on social media. It recommends that companies conduct research on customer demographics, behaviors, and influencers online. It also suggests developing processes for community management, crisis response, and social media policies. Finally, it discusses aligning organizational structures, roles, and metrics to support social media strategies.

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Social Strategy:
Getting Your Company Ready
May 27th, 2010
Jeremiah Owyang
Founding Partner

2. Image by Roo Reynolds used with Attribution as directed by Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/zerega/1366292835
Companies Jump Into Social
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3. Image by divemasterking2000 used with Attribution as directed by Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/divemasterking2000/3827673841
Yet Most Companies
Fail to Plan Properly
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Many companies do not engage with
their customers ENGAGEMENTdb ranked
the world's most valuable
brands based on how
they leverage social
media to interact with
customers.
Source: http://www.engagementdb.com
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Many companies like the idea, but do
not fully execute
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Get Ready Internally First
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To be successful using social technologies,
companies must first prepare and align
internal roles, processes, policies and
stakeholders with their business
objectives. Social business is a profound
change that impacts all departments in the
organization.
© 2010 Altimeter Group

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Agenda
 Getting Your Company Ready
• Research
• Planning
• Resources
 Social Readiness Checklist and Scorecard
 Questions
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Getting Your Company Ready
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Research
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Customer profile
Demographics Psychographics
e.g. Where are moms e.g. Who are moms
online? influenced by?
Source: “Digital Mom,” RazorFish and CafeMom, 2009
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Socialgraphics
1. Where are your customers online?
2. What are your customers’social behaviors
online?
3. What social information or people do your
customers rely on?
4. What is your customers’social influence? Who
trusts them?
5. How do your customers use social technologies
in the context of your products.
© 2010 Altimeter Group

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Engagement Pyramid
Map out how your
Curating customers social
behaviors online in order
to determine what
technologies to deploy.
Producing
Commenting
Sharing
Watching
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Community pain points
Communispace
customer communities
allow marketers to gain
insights from their own
customers
Source: Communispace
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Brand Monitoring Firms Offer Ability to
Listen
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Market analysis Companies should constantly
measure what competitors are
doing in the social space.
Here are some examples in the
hotel industry that can be
added to a chart of industry
assets.
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Current social audit
 What is your company currently doing in the
social space? What are employees doing?
Product team, field, and support?
 Identify internal experts by hosting brown bag
lunches where anyone can share what they are
doing in the social space.
 Tip: Don’t relegate social media to Gen Y just
because they use it for personal use.
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18. Processes
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Crisis response plan
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Social media triage Take reasonable
action to fix issue
and let customer
know action taken
Positive Negative
Yes Yes
No Assess the
Does customer
Do you want Evaluate the
need/deserve more
to respond? message purpose
info?
No Yes Unhappy Yes Are the facts No Gently correct the
Response Customer? correct? facts
No
Yes Can you No Dedicated Yes Are the facts No
add value? Complainer? correct?
No Yes
Is the Explain what is being
Respond in Thank the Comedian Yes
problem done to correct the
kind & share person Want-to-Be?
being fixed? issue.
No
Yes
Let post stand and
monitor.
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21. Organizational Models
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Centralized
 One department
controls all efforts
 Consistent
 May not be as
authentic
 e.g. Ford
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Organic
 Organic growth
 Authentic
 Experimental
 Not coordinated
 e.g. Sun
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Coordinated
 One hub sets rules, best
practices, procedures
 Business units undertake
own efforts
 Spreads widely around
the org
 Takes time
 e.g. Red Cross
© 2010 Altimeter Group

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Multiple hub and spoke or “Dandelion”
 Similar to
Coordinated but
across multiple
brands and units
 e.g. HP
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Holistic or “Honeycomb”
 Each employee is
empowered
 Unlike Organic,
employees are
organized.
 e.g. Dell, Zappos
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27. Policies
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Disclosure/ethics policy
From Walmart Elevenmom’s
disclosure policy:
“Participation in the Walmart
Elevenmoms program is
voluntary. Participants in the
program are required to
clearly disclose their
relationship with Walmart as
well as any compensation
received, including travel
opportunities, expenses or
products. In the event that
products are received for
review, participants may keep
or dispose of product at their
discretion.
© 2010 Altimeter Group

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Social media policy
Intel updates it’s Social Media policy
regularly (last in March 2010) and offers
tips and pragmatic rules of
engagement such as “Be transparent,”
“Be judicious,” and “Write what you
know.”
© 2010 Altimeter Group

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Community policy
SeaWorld sets boundaries
on its blog for readers. For
example, Seaworld asks for
favorite park experiences
and tips, and will not post
“foul or offensive
language.”
© 2010 Altimeter Group

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Internal education Host brown bags, invite external
speakers to talk, and promote
memberships in organizations like
Social Media Club or Social Media
Business Council, as seen here.
Internal training is important to
organizational change.
© 2010 Altimeter Group

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Communication and collaboration
Sites like Yammer, Socialtext
and Socialcast offer
lightweight ways for staff to
share insights and best
practices internally. Telligent
is a more robust enterprise-
level tool.
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Resources
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Key roles
 Social strategist*:
• Responsible for the overall program,
including ROI.
• There may be multiple
strategists at each spoke.
 Community manager:
• Customer facing role trusted by
customers.
• Companies may have
dozens of community
managers.
*Look out for our research paper on the role of the Social Strategist later this year.
© 2010 Altimeter Group

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Agencies
 Test to see that they focus on relationships, not
campaigns.
 Ask when they failed at social media – and
what they learned.
• Hire only agencies with “scar tissue.”
 Leverage agencies and have them train you
in all things social.
• Enable fast, concerted entry into the market.
 Be wary of agencies wanting to craft your
strategy – only you can do that.
© 2010 Altimeter Group

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Customer advocates
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Stakeholders
 Executives:
• Approval to move forward, budget, allocate resources
 Communications:
• What new skills will they need to learn and unlearn?
 Employees:
• How will they be educated, armed, and supported?
 Legal:
• Protect employees and corporation by co-creating
policies and guidelines
© 2010 Altimeter Group

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Reporting
Web analytics Community analytics
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Thank you
Jeremiah Owyang
jeremiah@altimetergroup.com
web-strategist.com/blog
Twitter: jowyang
© 2010 Altimeter Group

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About Us
Altimeter Group is a Silicon Valley-based strategy research and
consulting firm that provides companies with a pragmatic
approach to disruptive technologies. We have four areas of
focus: Leadership and Management, Customer Strategy,
Enterprise Strategy, and Innovation and Design.
Visit us at http://www.altimetergroup.com or contact
info@altimetergroup.com.
© 2010 Altimeter Group