Social Media Inside Company

In corporations around the world, employees are connecting on internal social networks, collaborating on company wikis, and contributing to in-house idea exchanges. All of this applications are tapped into the power of the groundswell of ideas among the people who truly know your business-your employees.

In Groundswell, the authors points out that the trends that companies what to empower customers also empower their employees.In the book, the authors described how social media technologies within companies can enhance the productivity of a global organization such as Best Buy, Bell Canada, Razorfish. Another good example is Google. Based on what I know, Google has developed a project to improve the company or products. They dedicate an hour a day for development within their teams and environment to making thins run more smoothly in the organization.

The Groundswell also mentioned that applications within the enterprise also can approach the same objectives like in external communication: listening, talking, energizing, supporting and embracing. Companies should realize that management's relationships with employees and employees' relationships with each other are multidimensional. It's also not easy to accomplish this objective. In order to process this internal communication, it requires managers to hear the voices from employees and give responses to what employees care about. 

By using the social media to build up a internal communication through social networks is a new approch for organizational communication. By allowing employees share and discuss how they feel or what they think can allow them to feel as if they have responsibility to the company and give them a sense of accomplishment. The data collected through the internal groundswell could provide insight into new methods of selling product, new marketing ideas, overall innovation. The power of groundswell inside company is giving people the ability to find what they need for each other.

Based of all of these succeed examples, we can believe that social media inside the company isn't a slam dunk. Companies can benefit from these inside social media approach by using them in a correct way.

But, what exactly internal social media communication can bring to companies? I think there are three main benefits behind the social media communication inside the enterprise.

First, internal social media provides an opportunity for employees to discover others inside companies. It also can help employees to connect with others who has the same experience, knowledge or interests. It will help to improve the relationship inside the company.

Second, the social media inside the enterprise is a new power structure. The internal social media can create a better connections among the employees which can also bring faster solutions, better innovation, more efficient discovery of information. As a result, it will finally improves company's financial position.

Third, using internal social media tools, company can collect data about employee experience which can be transformed into a customer experience. A good employee experience is important to company's ability to deliver a good customer experience. And a good customer experience can help company increase revenues.

Let's see how Yahoo! engaged its employees with social media.

However, many companies have either stayed away from using social media tools internally or failed to see beneficial results from their use within their organizaiton. Based on a 2010 survey, it conducted of 1,060 global executives, only about 50% said that their companies had adopted social media initiatives within their organizations; about 60% reported that social media had positive effects on their companies' internal communications. Thus, only about 30% of executives have both adopted internal use of social media and seen positive effects on the companies' internal communication as a result. 

Why do so many companies either avoid using social media internally or fail to amke it work very well within their organizations? According to the research from MIT Sloan Management Review, they found out that to be successful, internal social media initiatives must focus first and foremost on the development of Emotional Capital. This research pointed out that executives who use social media to build emotional captial within their empoyees' communities reap real benefits in terms of improved information flows, collaboration, lower turnover and higher employee motivation.

However, I do think that there needs to be boundaries as to what can be discussed or in what manner a topic is discussed. Social media is a power tool that can easily out of our control so that company should pay attention to build up an internal social media channel inside company. Sometimes, there still have risk to transfer your management in social media.

Here is a example how DHS set up its social media policy for employees.

Take Advantage of Customer Reviews

Customer reviews are one of the power weapons in social network. Since customers and companies are connecting with multiple social media, customers have the control of what they think about the companies. Social media changes the relationship between customers and companies. In the past, customers have limited information about products and services which provided by the productors. But right now, people can share their experience about the products and services to public by using social media tools. These comments are much more powerful than what the companies said about themselves through other media channls. In other words, people prefer to believe others' reviews or comments rather than advertising.



In the book "Groundswell", the authors also points out five strategies for tapping the groundswell: listening to the groundswell, talking with the groundswell, energizing the groundswell, helping the groundswell and embracing the groundswell. Based on the power of social media, I think energizing the groundswell is the most important part for companies to tap their customers by using social media. In the book, it explained that energizing the groundswell means tapping into the power of word of mouth by connecting with, and turning on, your most committed customers. But it's not that easy. In order to succeed in this endeavor, companies should make effort to connect your brand's enthusiasts with your customers. First, tap into customers' enthusiasm with ratings and reviews. Second, create a community to energize your customers. Third, participate in and energize online communities of your brand enthusiasts.

Speaking of the interaction between companies and customers, the first one come out of my mind is socail media reviews. Reviews change the relationship between companies and customers. People can make any comments about any companies, products, services on any social media at anytime in anywhere. Consumers have gone social, and businesses are overwhelmed. With a Twitter, Facebook status update or instagram picture, customers have more ways than ever to publicly praise or criticize your business. Ron Kaufman, author of the New York Times bestseller "Uplifitng Service: The Proven Path to Delighting Your Customers, Colleagues, and Everyone Else You Meet", says customer reviews are more important than any marketing you could pay for because they're seen as more credible. He also says that businesses can take back the power and leverage social media for their own benefit. In his book, he mentioned that marketers should tell happy customers to go ahead and be social about their great experiences and encourage unhappy customers to come to you via social media so that you can make it right and improve your overall service.

 

There is an old saying that give people what they want. It's exactly what marketers need to do in social networks. Social Media is impending flood of customer unlikes.Many brands are now fouriously creating profiles in social media such as Facebook and Twitter in hope of building engaging communities with customers and giving people what the brands think they want. The main activity in this effort is to spur consumers to "like" and "follow" a brand's Facebook and Twitter streams. But it's not enough because sooner or later more and more people in social entworks will begin realizing that they hold control of their social streams and can simply unlike or unfollow brands that don't deliver values. So it's time for companies to rethink their approach in social media. Effective brand engagement is directly linked to the value customers take away from the branded social experience and how closely their expectations and desires are met. In order to connect with customers effectively, it's important to understand what customers want in social relationships.

 

Consumer reviews are incredibly important. Over 70% of consumers trust the reviews of others more than any from of advertising. It is clear that reviews are important, but what if your product or service receive negative reviews? I believe that many companies are afraid of receiving negative reviews. Consider of the power of social networks, negative reviews do can damage brands' image or even worse. However, how exactly people think about negative reviews. For me, I would like to view some negative comments as constructive criticism. So in my opinion, companies don't need to panic when you receive negative reviews because these reviews also can be very positive.Here are some positive effect of negative reviews.

1. Mitigate Skepticism

Consumers have been trained though experience, advertising, media, education, and many other external influences, to be skeptics of anything that appears to be "too good". While I certainly won't argue against the obvious value of receiving mainly positive reviews, the odd negative review can actually mitigate consumer skepticism by pointing out the flaws that exist in each product, service or anything they might be making a decision on. The end result is that consumers will be able to formulate what they feel about your product or service and will make their purchase decision with increased confidence.

 

2. Opportunity for continuous improvement

Negative reviews can function as a modern day comment box and provide you with valuable information and insight on how your company can be improved.

3.Create brand evangelists

Receiving a negative review can be a huge opportunity to convert those individuals into brand evangelists. Because of the inherent consumer skepticism that exist, if you are able to over-deliver on how you address a negative review, you have an opportunity to parlay that negativity into a huge emotional swing for the consumer and shift them toward becoming a brand evangelist.

 

4. Transparency

As a community manager, it is important to leave negative reviews visible for all to see. This demonstrates a willingness of your business or brand to be transparent with consumers, which will result in increased consumer trust, greater value given to positive reviews, and a perception of increased legitimacy of brand or corporate communications.

Social Media-A New Public Relations

Public Relations specialists were some of the first people to embrace the power of social media, and as a result they are often the ones who leading the way in the social media space. In the past decade, the social media has had a huge impact on how PR works. The growth and the impact of social media is not only changing the face of PR, but also gradually becoming a new Public Relations.

At first, social media impacts the function of Public Relations. PR professionals started using "social media release" instead of traditional print press release. Amanda Miller Littlejohn, founder of Mopwater Social Public Relations, commented on the importance of the social media release and how it enables readers to interact the press release. She said that the press release isn't dead, but it has been transformed to become a living, breathing thing. Social media gives a release legs so that a release can be commented or shared by viewers through their social networks.

In addition, social media also improves the format of the press release. In the past, there were only three ways to release a press: print, radio, and TV. But social media broke this limitation. Thanks to social media, now the press release are evolving into multiple iterations for various audiences, channels, and situations.

Moreover, the social media doesn't change the mission of Public Relations. In other words, the social media provides more opportunities for PR professionals to complete their mission which is to reach and communicate with their clients and to build up a long-term relationship with them. The widespread use of social media has fundamentally changed how people communicate and share information. Thus, Public Relations is certainly now exception as practitioners seek to communicate with, and hear from consumers, as well as using social media to share information with their audiences. However, the social media is a
double-edged sword. It can easily boom your PR campaign, but it also can make a PR disaster. So PR professionals should take serious about social media and use the right social media channel in the right way.

Refreshing your memory, have you ever thought that one day you can talk to a company directly? It seems impossible in the past. But the soical media makes it come true. The social media makes the company and customers get closer. It doesn't change the physical distance, but by using social media, customers can point out the problems, give recommendations or just tell their feelings at any time in anywhere. On the other hand, the company can receive these feedback at first time and respond them as soon as possible. Consider of the effective of social media, companies are moving their focus on "social media relations". Build up their own social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, hold online PR campaign in different social media channels, interact with customers in social media...PR professionals bring PR actions from real life into the net world. It's not hard to imagine that in the future Public Relations will be all about the social media relations.