According to 2012 FedEx/Ketchum Social Media Benchmarking Study,
presented jointly by FedEx and Ketchum, some of the big corporations have moved
beyond just being present on various social media platforms and are utilizing
the social media platforms to strategically engage and strengthen relationship with
various stakeholders that include employees, customers (51%) , general public
(52%) and partners & suppliers (40%) to not only increase the brand
affinity but also involve them in co-creation which will help them in attaining
the business goals. The study is based on
quantitative surveys and telephone interviews with a total of 85 executives
from companies like IBM, Southwest Airlines, Bank of America, AT&T,
Chevron, G.E., Cisco, and Time Warner Cable , etc. and communications “thought
leaders.” But for many other big corporations this social business
transformation is not yet started despite the fact that Social media tools have radically transformed the way
people engage with the world around them and employees are constantly looking
for and demanding for such tools within the organizations for use in their day
to day work. All the corporations who participated in the study have a strong
social media framework and policy in place and are most effectively using
social media to enhance brand reputation and awareness, provide customer
service and strengthen relationships across key stakeholders. The survey also
highlights the fact that 88% of companies keep track
of online feedback and conversations, and 80% of companies surveyed agree that
they are presently measuring social media, with 84% focused on engagement, 69%
on impressions, 53% on influence, and 51% on tone.
The 2012 FedEx/Ketchum Social Media Benchmarking Study also highlighted
that not only the external engagement with customers, suppliers, etc. but also
internal engagement between the company and its employees, and empowerment of
employees to represent the brand externally as they are the most passionate and
credible ambassadors of the company’s brand have also significantly improved
and resulted in employee retention, engagement and productivity. Internally, 85% of companies surveyed
have seen employee participation in social media increase over the last year.
In terms of goals, 46% of companies are using social media to strengthen
relationships with employees, 44% use it to share expertise and foster
collaboration and 38% use it to increase employee participation in programs or
initiatives. 64% of participating companies said the structure and
roles in the marketing, communications or human resources teams have changed as
a result of social business. Companies that participated in the study has
realized that educating and
empowering employees and customers to operate as brand ambassadors capable of
managing the social conversation with the support of social media policies and
guidelines will be a definite win-win situation for all. Executive Leadership
at these companies understand that social media as an essential component of
business success and it has become a strategic part of the decision making and
overall strategy formulation. With social media rise both internal and external
to organizations, 27% of companies are more
concerned about transparency issues, including employee privacy, legal and
compliance issues, and addressing misinformation that appears on the Web.
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