The Seven Success Factors of Social Business Strategy

How to align social media with business strategy for real results For years now, businesses have approached social media in an experimental fashion unconnected to real results. There's a reason why the question about ROI is met with such hostility. But it's time for businesses to get serious about social. In this concise e-book, noted authors and disruptive technology analysts Charlene Li and Brian Solis present seven powerful factors for designing and supporting an effective social business strategy. Li and Solis studied how the best companies create measurable value that aligns with overall business objectives and outline how to incorporate these insights into your strategy and planning process. Li and Solis focus their findings and recommendations on how to convince and even rally decision makers at the executive level. Based on interviews with thought leaders, surveys, and extensive research, they show you how to define your social strategy, create alignment across the organization, and use that strategy to support overall business success. Offers actionable best practices for getting the most bang for your social marketing buck Explains seven key success factors for effective social marketing that cover everything from long-term vision and executive support to staffing and technology investment Written by Charlene Li, bestselling author of Open Leadership, and Brian Solis, bestselling author of What's the Future of Business, The End of Business as Usual, and Engage

How to align social media with business strategy for real resultsFor years now, businesses have approached social media in an experimental fashion unconnected to real results. There's a reason why the question about ROI is met with such hostility. But it's time for businesses to get serious about social. In this concise e-book, noted authors and disruptive technology analysts Charlene Li and Brian Solis present seven powerful factors for designing and supporting an effective social business strategy. Li and Solis studied how the best companies create measurable value that aligns with overall business objectives and outline how to incorporate these insights into your strategy and planning process.Li and Solis focus their findings and recommendations on how to convince and even rally decision makers at the executive level. Based on interviews with thought leaders, surveys, and extensive research, they show you how to define your social strategy, create alignment across the organization, and use that strategy to support overall business success.* Offers actionable best practices for getting the most bang for your social marketing buck* Explains seven key success factors for effective social marketing that cover everything from long-term vision and executive support to staffing and technology investment* Written by Charlene Li, bestselling author of Open Leadership, and Brian Solis, bestselling author of What's the Future of Business, The End of Business as Usual, and Engage

1 The Evolution of Social Business 1Creating a Coherent Social Business Strategy 3Introducing the Seven Success Factors of Social BusinessStrategy 5How to Use This Book 72 Laying Foundations: Goals, Vision, and Executive Support 9Success Factor #1: Defi ne the Overall Business Goals 9Identifying Which Goals Matter 10Exercise: Connect Social Goals to Organizational Goals 12Tying Social Strategy to Business Goals: The Metric Holy Grail12What Happens When Business Goals Aren't Clear? 15Success Factor #2: Establish the Long-Term Vision 16Creating a Vision Statement 18Exercise: Writing a Vision Statement 19Success Factor #3: Ensure Executive Support 21Garnering Executive Engagement 22Best Practices: Getting Executives Onboard 233 Setting the Strategy Roadmap: Identify and PrioritizeInitiatives 27Success Factor #4: Defi ne the Strategy Roadmap 27Identify Initiatives 29Learn: Glean insights from social engagement 30Dialog: Deepen relationships with conversations 33Support: Assist people and create a great experience in theprocess 36Advocate: Enable the best fans to speak on behalf of theorganization 38Innovate: Tap the energy and ideas of others 39Prioritize Initiatives Against Capabilities and Value 41Create a Long-Term Roadmap 434 Aligning the Organization: Establishing Governance 47Success Factor #5: Establish Governance and Guidelines 47Defi ning the CoE 49Forming a Steering Committee 52Evolving the CoE into Multiple Hub and Spoke 53Defi ning Guidelines and Process 53Beware the Center of Excellence Pitfalls 575 Aligning Resources and Technology 59Success Factor #6: Secure Staff, Resources, and Funding 59Staffing 60Education and Best Practice Sharing 61Funding and the Use of Pilot Programs 63Success Factor #7: Invest in Technology Platforms That Map toStrategy 64Plan to Evolve Your Monitoring Platform 65To Scale, Invest in a Social Media Management System 66Conclusion 69Notes 71Acknowledgments 73About the Authors 75