1. Thinking Social is Just for Those Marketing People
A company that tries to keep social confined to Marketing and PR is going to miss out on the big show. Probably one of the most exciting and compelling things going on in the social sphere right now is how we are on the verge of expanding social across every facet of the organization as a core communications tool. In any area that involves interaction between people, social is relevant and makes sense as an efficient tool to facilitate that interaction.
2. Not Caring How Customers Want to Communicate
Social has almost always been entwined into the lives of the empolyees and it's every bit as valid a communications tool to them as the phone. It might be a little more surprising to learn that it is the senior management that actually involves themselves on a regular basis in the social aspect. The problem is, while they know there are opportunities there, they don't quite know what to do about it. What's needed here is a proven, trusted, long-term social technology partner preferably one that's two steps ahead when it comes to the growth of social across the entire enterprise.
3. Failing to Acknowledge the Social Mobile Revolution
Even as many businesses continue to argue internally over the need for and value of social at all, a second revolution has been well underway that's likely leave any company still wringing their hands several steps behind. And that is the shift of social usage to mobile devices. To do this effectively campaigns, design and content should be crafted with mobile top of mind. The customer is showing you where they want to engage and you as a company don't want to be absent, rather you should hone towards this shift and create a competitve edge.
4. Fear of Change
In business, as in life, being mired in fear is going to stop you from moving forward and achieving everything that could otherwise have been achieved. There's the fear of experimenting. But in social, as we all know content and campaigns are tested quite publicly. Brands can't be afraid to swing at the ball and must understand a swing and a miss is neither fatal nor the end of the game. There's the fear social will be a passing fad. Yes, it is true that individual platforms may come and go, but human beings have always used available technology to connect and always will.
5. Failing to Seriously Resource Social
Many businesses will proudly tell you they're doing social, but a slightly deeper dig tells us a different story. Various companies have approached social with varying levels of seriousness, but that seriousness can usually be directly measured by the financial and human resources allocated to it. And with social now spreading across the enterprise as a whole, socially-savvy staff will be needed in nearly every corner of the building.
While social is moving well beyond the marketing department, marketers were the first to explore and utilize social for business. They were the first to discover these bumps in the road and learn how to steer their social strategies around them. It would be an unfortunate waste if the larger enterprise failed to seek out, acknowledge and benefit from the best practices gathered by those who have up to this point been on the social front lines.
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