Appointing a person with ultimate responsibility early on in the change process promptly creates clarity for the organisation. In smaller companies one person (Conversation Manager) can handle this task. Larger companies will need to appoint a team that will contribute to the social media integration: the social media centre of excellence.

The social media centre of excellence is responsible for strategies, processes and resources management.

Sometimes discussions take place regarding the responsibilities of a social media centre of excellence. Some see this as an operational function with the main responsibility of engaging in online conversation with consumers on behalf of a brand. However, this is too confined and too operational. The social media team helps its company to think within the context of the consumer and the new technology. It acts as a central project manager for integrating social media in your company.

The team’s main tasks are: determining the strategy & planning, designing processes and managing resources & knowledge.

Strategy & planning:

• Drawing up the entire strategy and vision concerning conversations
• Supervising pilot projects
• Assuming ultimate responsibility for a number of flagship projects
• Actively managing and increasing the supporting base within your company

Processes design:

• Drawing up and introducing a social media policy (conversation guide)
• Drawing up the process of active listening as an organisation
• Drawing up the process of participating in the consumers’ conversations. Who says what, and what happens in case of a crisis?

Resources & knowledge management:

•  The team is responsible for organising the training and knowledge programmes in collaboration with HR.
• Sharing lessons learned by your company internally with the teams involved
• The team functions as an internal consultant for the different teams involved.
• Analysing the resources necessary for your organisation: time & money

This central team’s aim is to increase the effectiveness of and the learning experiences with social media for the entire company, which will accelerate the standardisation of the processes. Furthermore, it will create clarity within your organisation. If no central team is designated, the discussion regarding the final responsibility for the changes will emerge sooner or later. At the beginning there is a chance that none of the departments will be willing to take responsibility. Once the first results are good and the risks are decreasing, everyone wants to participate. If at that point there are discussions about the leader role, the company will lose valuable time and energy. Avoid encountering this problem by appointing a responsible person or team early in the process. Research has shown that only 56% of companies have someone who has ultimate responsibility for the change process. A lot of work has to be done.

Examples:

• eBay has a social media team. The team is responsible for helping departments such as HR, strategy and corporate communication in using social media. They are responsible for the conversation strategy, the integration of this strategy in all marketing plans and listening to consumers’ conversations. This presentation sheds some light on their philosophy.
• Cisco has 3 social media teams, each with its own responsibility. One team works on customer service, another on marketing & PR and the third on corporate communication. These teams collaborate closely and ensure a proper learning curve for the rest of the organisation. Lasandra Brill is one of their managers and has reached impressive results.
• Intel has a team of 7 people who are responsible for managing social media within their company. They make it possible for all the departments to integrate social media as much as possible in all their marketing activities. Furthermore, they set the tone for certain strategic social media aspects, such as listening to the market. In this article Ekaterina Walter describes her role within the social media centre of excellence.

Operational or strategic?

It is best for social media teams to avoid a purely operational function. The responsibilities described above go beyond the operational management of the online conversation. Jeremiah Owyang sees two possible paths for such teams: either managing the conversation proactively and strategically, or evolving into a social media helpdesk.

Obviously there is nothing wrong with social media teams executing some of the operational tasks. It is even good for them to organise the most strategic social media projects themselves. That is how the team can show its added value to the organisation. In addition, the team also guides other departments in their own social media projects.

Superfluous in the long term

In theory the social media team should become superfluous in the long term. Once companies have totally embraced social media, there no longer is a need for a separate function, or is there?

I think there will always be room for this team. The world evolves so rapidly that someone has to be responsible for following the latest trends. The final step of social media integration also involves making your company more flexible vis-à-vis the rapidly evolving market. That is why it is handy to invest, for example, in micro trends, and to keep experimenting with new ideas. The social media centre of excellence could be a most suitable framework for supporting this experimental environment.

Every company faces 4 phases
The main conclusion from the survey is that each company faces (or should face) 4 phases when integrating social media in their organisation:

1. Building knowledge: During this phase the internal knowledge and conviction is built, in order to deal with social media in a structured way. Furthermore it is important in this phase to build the necessary infrastructure. This infrastructure contains both some indispensable internal regulations and the creation and management of the necessary accounts on relevant social media.
2. Pilot projects: during this phase concrete projects are devised and executed. The aim is that these projects immediately show their added value for the company. This implies that they have to obtain marketing or financial results as well as improve the organisation’s learning curve. Furthermore it is essential during this phase to have a central person (or group of people) responsible for the further spreading of social media within the company. Finally it is recommendable in this phase to start listening, in a structured way, to conversations that are available online. This is how you actively create a culture of listening.
3. Integration: This phase’s aim is to bring the entire company closer to the client or the consumer. Clients are involved specifically in the organisation’s management. This is when the consumer enters the boardroom. The organisation’s structure is adapted so that its functioning is more specific and faster. Apart from the existing success indicators, the organisation also uses new aspects linked to social media.
4. Leverage effects: the final step is to consciously look for leverage effects. This is when the real ROI of social media surfaces, i.e. having a larger impact through everything you do and also to focus on spending less money on marketing and branding by a larger and more active reach on social media.

This won’t happen automatically: a detailed list exists of 13 strategic change projects necessary to successfully integrate social media in your company. The social media integration is not an organic process that happens automatically. Companies that have already done a lot of integration (such as Cisco, Intel, Kodak and Dell) have started a number of internal projects to get where they are now. An eye-catching conclusion from our survey is that almost each of these companies has gone through the same phases. In other words: these companies can teach us a lot. All details concerning the 13 strategic change projects are described in our extensive paper, which you can view here:

Below we present you a summary per project. Some of these projects are finite; others could run eternally so to speak:

1. An internal and external conversation audit: in order to create a good strategy it is important to know what the existing conversation potential is within your company and with clients, the opinion makers of your company.
2. Organising training and formation: in most companies the knowledge concerning the possibilities of social media is very limited. That is why an essential part of success is a thorough training (organized either internally or externally) for all collaborators.
3. Adapting the HR strategy: the HR strategy often needs to be adapted on several aspects, such as: a policy for social media usage, parameters that will be used in the yearly evaluation, new criteria when recruiting people…
4. Preparing the infrastructure: many companies experience a proliferation of social media accounts. It is important to organise that structure clearly before starting up the pilot projects.
5. Creating a Centre of excellence: a crucial project is naming the person responsible for the integration phases: the guide. In most companies this is a Conversation Manager, who may or may not have a team at his/her disposal, who is responsible for the centre of excellence team. These people mainly have a facilitating role for other people in the company. They know all the pilot projects, share all experiences and guide the main projects themselves. They are a guide, an internal advisor and a helping hand. When there is a lack of clarity on the final responsibility, there is also a risk of internal tussle that will slow down the integration progress.
6. Choosing and realising pilot projects: Pilot projects are the main condition to get support within your company during this change. In another blog post I already explored this phase in detail. The main aspect is that a company sees and feels results during these projects. Furthermore they are important for increasing the learning curve throughout the company.
7. Creating a listening culture: an important part of dealing well with social media is listening to conversations between consumers. In many companies a limited team is responsible for listening. This is a good thing but it is not sufficient for the creation of a listening culture. Therefore the right internal communication is indispensable, and you actively deal with the conclusions obtained from listening in. Learning how to learn actively and rapidly implementing the conclusions is what a listening culture is really all about.
8. Adapting the company structure: the existing silo structure of most companies is not convenient for an optimal usage of social media. The organisation of the future will be a network organisation, where people of different departments will collaborate towards the realisation of one single target (for example: satisfied customers). Furthermore the aim to bring the consumer closer to the company, to such an extent even that consumers become part of the boardroom. In the end the aim is to reduce or even to totally clear away the distance between customer and company.
9. Creating cooperation between collaborators and customers: customers can help us tremendously by giving feedback to ideas but also concerning the creation of new concepts. Hence this project: let us work towards a structural collaboration with the clients. Creating a customer community is an essential part of this.
10. Developing a content strategy: we need to succeed in offering content to people that is relevant for them or their network. That is how our content’s impact will expand. Executing a clear content strategy is the challenge. In fact it can be compared with managing a newspaper: one person is chief editor and is responsible for filling the paper with stories that fit the paper’s image and mission.
11. Using new success indicators: in order to change a company’s behaviour, you have to change the objectives. In order to fully integrate social media, indicators need to be added. Possible indicators are: extra profits via social media (direct and indirect sales), economies (for example: a reduction in the media budget), the Net Promotor Score, or a general integration and knowledge of social media in the company. Furthermore every department will get its specific goals.
12. Using the social lever: using the created social media reach more consciously for obtaining more impact with all marketing efforts that already take place now. At a moment when a certain reach has been built via social media, companies have the option to reach an extra target group. In certain cases the impact increases by 10%-15%. The art is to develop a reflex where each marketing action is extended via social media. That is how the underused potential of your company is reduced.
13. The introduction of flexible and quick marketing: this is probably the main challenge for the companies of the future: how can we reduce all our processes and thus become faster and more flexible with our entire organisation. The difficulty is not to answer a tweet … every company can quickly install that. The art is to quickly implement the feedback you receive and to launch better products into the market. A consumer is no longer prepared to wait 6 months after giving feedback. Making the processes as short and flexible as possible is the ultimate goal.

Are we leaving anything out with these 13 projects? Maybe you think certain projects are missing from this overview, such as organizing web care, Facebook communication and other significant things. Many of these are part of pilot projects, and these differ according to the companies, the sectors. The 13 projects we described are an overview of the necessary steps EVERY company has to take, in our opinion. These are relevant for all in order to integrate social media. Pilot projects offer the flexibility to fill the phases in a way that is meaningful for your own organisation.

It takes 24 to 48 months
Going through this entire process takes 24 to 48 months, depending on the type of company. One of the most essential phases is choosing the right pilot projects. After all, these projects need to have an impact on the organisation in a short term. No company is willing to wait 48 months before seeing any real impact. Scoring successes in the meantime is essential for the further evaluation of the process. During such processes there are often frustrations between guides and followers in a company. Here’s a clue on how to avoid these: go through the process phase by phase. The guides are mentally already in phase 4 whereas the followers have only just gotten used to phase 1.

If you have good or less favourable experiences with this type of change projects, it would be great if you could let us know! We are constantly looking for new and relevant examples in this context. All feedback and experiences are more than welcome!

Efficient training

Companies that have come a long way in social media integration have all elaborated a detailed training process. Social Media training is taken very seriously. Intel for example has created a ‘Digital IQ’ programme. This programme consists of some 60 training modules. The system is organised like an American university: you have to participate in training A first before moving up to the next level. The bottom level of the training is compulsory for all commercial profiles. Furthermore, we should add that this is one of the few training sessions accessible to all at Intel. Also at Cisco (see earlier article), it’s clear they take training very seriously. Their ultimate goal is to lift the general knowledge level, in order to integrate social media into their entire company management. Many Belgian and Dutch companies are too noncommittal where this type of training is concerned. Unfortunately, a lack of knowledge often leads to rather conservative decisions . Improving knowledge is absolutely the first condition for dealing with social media in a serious manner.

Technical & social infrastructure

How can you expect your company to get organised for social media when the infrastructure is not optimal ? 56% of companies still block social media (InSites Consulting research). It is difficult to learn how to work with Twitter if you can’t use it. I really like the Rabobank principle on the matter: employees are not only allowed to use social media, they are actively encouraged. And if you can convince your management that you need a smartphone or a tablet for your job, chances are you will get one. That way you help employees to get used to the new reality we’re living in.

A second aspect of providing a social infrastructure is determining your social media presence. How can you create a link between owned and earned media and what are the targets of the different touch points? Overzealous companies sometimes skip this step; they quickly create a Facebook or Twitter account that is not linked in any way with their own online media.

Engaging in difficult conversations at an early stage

I recently organised a workshop for a pharmaceutical company, the marketers were really enthusiastic about the opportunities of social media . But at the same time, they were ‘afraid’ that nothing would be allowed in their company, given the attitude of their legal department in such matters. The pharmaceutical sector has quite some legal limitations so indeed it’s not that easy. There is one thing you can do however, and that is involving all parties in the conversation at an early stage. My interviews with Intel, Cisco and Kodak taught me that these companies involve their ‘difficult’ conversation partners at an early stage. They don’t do this in a defensive frame, but they approach them on the following basis: we need your help, can you please help us with this? Postponing that conversation and therefore creating insecurity will only entail problems. In order to go all the way, you need their buy-in.

Adapting the HR recruitment criteria

Another important step in the preparation of your company for the total integration of social media is the evaluation of your HR policy. What criteria do you take into account when recruiting people? Do you only check relevant work experience and the person’s capacities, or do you go beyond that? To fully grasp the opportunities of social media, it is good to add some extra criteria. Not every candidate needs to obtain good scores for these criteria, but try to obtain a good balance in your total staff based on these criteria.

1. Look for digital experts: this often limits you to the post-1987 generation, but that’s not necessarily the case. Checking one’s social profile (followers on Twitter, LinkedIn profile) will tell you a lot about how someone deals with new media. As an organisation, it is important to actively look for ‘conversational’ profiles.

2. Check the influence and network of people. If someone is a large opinion influencer online, this could be useful in your marketing mix. However, keep in mind that this person still needs to fit within the company values.

3. Open to change. The world is evolving at greater speed all the time. The ability to adapt will become an important aspect for a modern company. Recruiting people who are open to change will help the company to become more flexible.

4. The extent to which a person is happy. Zappos asks applicants how happy they are, on a 10 points scale. Those who give a score below 8 are not recruited. Scientific surveys have shown that this one question can be linked to IQ and EQ.

Can you think of any other basic needs that need to be fulfilled and do you agree with the four I have listed above?

Dado and I are working on a whitepaper, which will contain all our conclusions from these conversations. Should you be interested in it, send us a mail (steven@insites.eu and dado@insites.eu) and we’ll keep you posted.

Let’s be honest: it is a challenge. Many companies are currently facing a tough job, especially the larger (and often more sturdy) organisations where change is not always received with great enthusiasm. But even if it’s difficult, you can get there, as long as there is the will to do it.

At the moment I am interviewing several social media managers in international companies, together with my colleague Steven Van Belleghem, so that we can learn how they strategically integrate social media into their organisation.

A few weeks ago I spoke to LaSandra Brill, social media manager of the American company Cisco. It was an inspiring conversation; here’s what I learned from their approach:

1. The ‘centre of excellence’ determines the general strategy; departments turn it into a local approach:

At Cisco the coordinating strategy for social media is determined by a team of ten – a centre of excellence. They ensure the elaboration of the general approach, write guidelines and advise. They manage the corporate social brand, gather knowledge and analyse metrics.

The translation of the general approach for the specific target groups is done by the people responsible in each department. Their assignment is to change the standard philosophy into a local strategy for specific projects. An effective method, since they have the best knowledge of their target audience.

2. Structural training for anchoring social media in the entire organisation:

Cisco employees can choose between more than 30 workshops to learn about the power of social media. Once they finish the training, they get a certificate which is taken into account at the yearly evaluations and which is a must-have for occupying certain positions in the company.

The training ensures that everyone in the company knows what ‘conversation management’ is all about. By creating support in the entire organisation, the impact is increased.

3. A motivating conversation guide with tips, rather than an authoritative policy:

At Cisco, the social media policy is not a mere enumeration of what employees shouldn’t do. On the contrary: it’s a document to motivate employees to leverage conversations and it provides clear advice on how to do so. The basics are simple: use your common sense, always be transparent and use the correct tone of voice. Via this link you can consult the entire document: 

4. Top management support: the CEO sets the right example and inspires the rest of the organisation:

An important lesson learned at Cisco is that social media has to make its way into an organisation top down. All too often it makes its way in via the bottom layer – young people who know about social media try to make colleagues enthusiastic and launch small projects. This is a positive thing, but it is important that social media are integrated on a strategic level. This entails the need for budget, time and people.

And don’t forget, you will face critics within the company. In order to get a good start to success, the top management’s support is vital. At Cisco, the CEO, CTO and other executives are active bloggers and often initiate conversations. They show the way to other employees and inspire them through their personal story.

5. A culture where experimenting is key for stimulating the entrepreneurial mind:

Fortune favours the bold. At Cisco, employees are motivated to try new things, to take initiative and to organise actions. LaSandra: ‘At Cisco it’s okay to fail, as long as you learn something from it.’

This creates a dynamic company culture where fear is not overpowering. In large organisations people are often too afraid since different departments (such as legal) have to give approval. Everything is checked in threefold before being launched, which obviously curbs all dynamics and flexibility. It is important to have a good understanding beforehand, so that a comfortable space can be created. Try to facilitate your employees in their creativity and stimulate their entrepreneurial mind.

6. Internal platforms to avoid silo structures:

Cisco is a very big organisation, which doesn’t always make implementation of new strategies easy. According to LaSandra, it is tough to completely avoid a silo structure; it is proper to organisations of such a size. In order to make sure that departments collaborate as much as possible, there is an intensive usage of internal communication and collaboration platforms and tools.

This enables efficient spreading of information as well as the creation of a culture of collaboration, where ideas are born across departments.

7. An internal consultancy team offers project-based support:

Sometimes basic knowledge is insufficient for integrating social media into a specific project. Or you simply don’t have the time or manpower available. That’s why, at Cisco, you can always appeal to an internal team which offers professional advice to make a specific project ‘conversation-ready’. A smart approach, since you collaborate with people who have great knowledge of internal targets and brand values to boost your project via social media.

8. Specific rewards for encouraging conversations:

Employees who actively contribute on social media are rewarded for it at Cisco. People who contribute to the conversations are mentioned in the internal newsletter (which is quite an achievement in such a large company) and receive personal congratulations from the coordinating team. They also give out annual awards to key contributors and active participants in social media. In addition to individual rewards there are also rewards for best team actions. This stimulates a positive competition, boosting creativity.

9. Interaction with clients and prospects as a yearly evaluation item for employees:

My colleague Steven often refers to the current company paradox: companies think every client is incredibly important, but when it comes down to it, they will do anything to save as much as possible on their customer service. Focusing on the consumer is one thing, acting upon that is a much bigger step. By including interaction in conversations as a KPI in the employees’ yearly evaluation, Cisco underlines their philosophy. It is not a mere theory but what is expected of every employee.

10. Specialists from the fan group are stimulated to help:

Cisco’s product is very technical. The people monitoring the conversations are not always the ones who know all the technical details. Questions from the community are sent through to experts in the organisation, in order to get an adequate answer. But this is a time-consuming process.

Therefore Cisco increases its attempts to include its own fans in the technical support. Cisco is trying to experiment with a badge system, where active fans in the community get a special title so that others recognise them as ‘specialists’. It’s a win-win system: Cisco is helped by fans who get recognition in the community for their expertise.

11. Strong belief in video to activate conversations:

Cisco really believes in using videos to activate conversations. Internal results show that videos lead to a much stronger interaction, to a larger spreading and to a more frequent viewing than textual blog posts for example.

Furthermore LaSandra adds some other important advantages which make video so powerful for the organisation:

- Personal: the viewer is being addressed as a person, it’s a one-on-one story.

- Credible & Authentic: the viewer knows 100% sure that it is the CEO speaking, for example, and not a ghost-writer who quickly wrote a text for the CEO.

- Human connection: you show the person behind the organisation (how he/she behaves, thinks, talks…), which makes a company much more human.

12. Always keep an eye on the ball:

In our current society where everything evolves so quickly, Cisco thinks it is extremely important to rapidly and proactively react to new trends. Many companies have only just started the implementation of social media this year, whereas consumers have been engaging in online conversations for years. A huge amount of missed opportunities! Even if the number of users of certain channels (e.g. Foursquare) or certain appliances (e.g. tablets) is still rather limited, it is important to increase your company’s preparation speed to the possible implications.

LaSandra points out what is currently happening with ‘mobile’: ‘Most companies don’t see the evolutions. Companies are dealing with mobile like they did with social media 3 to 4 years ago; no budgets, no strategy – only ad hoc initiatives, and lots of consumers are basically living inside their smartphones. We have to invest much faster in trending evolutions to make sure that we can cope with the ultra fast moving consumers.’

Hopefully the Cisco approach will be an inspiration and you will find ways to translate this within your own organisation. Feel free to share more examples in the reactions or via @dadovanpeteghem on Twitter.