The excitement around becoming a socially enabled business is growing! Last year marked a heightened sense of awareness regarding the urgency and complexities of being a connected business and we are committed to tracking this evolution. Last year, in partnership with the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR), we at Leader Networks, conducted the first comprehensive, global Social Business Benchmark study and we're going for the gold by making this an annual report. SNCR is a global nonprofit 501(c)(3) research and education foundation, think tank, and public service organization, dedicated to the advanced study of the latest developments in new and emerging communications tools and technologies such as digital, social media, and mobile, and their effect on business, culture, and society.
The study explores the following questions:
- How organizations differentiate between social media marketing and social business
- The impact social business is having on strategy, operations, staffing, policy, and governance structures
- How organizations are measuring the impact of their social business initiatives
The results from 2013 Social Business Benchmark Study were fascinating - in fact they were so captivating that the report was downloaded almost 10 thousand times. While there are many nuggets and insights to be found in the results, the biggest finding was that organizations were starting to discover that being a social business is so much more than engaging in social media marketing to becoming more operationally focused. But, most had a long way to go before they could develop the business processes to really use the insights gathered from the social sphere to impact core operations. In a nutshell - ROI was elusive.
But we have a hunch that 2014 is going to tell a vastly different story and we need your help and participation to continue this exploration. So, for the good of social business professionals everywhere, including yourself, we ask that you take a few minutes (no more than 10 minutes is required to participate), and take the survey. All participants will receive an advance copy of the research report - so just think smart you will be having the results before everyone else!
When you are done participating you can download the 2013 Social Business Benchmark study results here.