It doesn’t surprise me that the number one benefit of enterprise social tools is “better communication with customers,” according to CompTIA’s survey of 400 business and IT executives. I’d even go as far to say your external social media programs are less likely to be successful if your employees can’t share internally.
“Social enterprise tools incorporate the characteristics of social media into business processes, allowing for stronger internal collaboration, deeper understanding of customers and other positive outcomes,” said Seth Robinson, Director of Technology Analysis from CompTIA.
Think about it. If a customer asks you a question via Twitter, but you do not know the answer, simply re-share the question on your internal enterprise social network to gain insight from your co-workers on the best way to respond.
Take it one step further by leveraging your enterprise social network for your internal business plan. Corporate communication teams can use enterprise social networking to post the latest news highlights and encourage employees to re-share it on their social channels.
Some companies are using social to inform employees about upcoming events and campaigns, reminding them to help extend their outreach. “Companies such as McDonalds are known for engaging employees prior to launching major branding initiatives,” said David Armono, EVP of Global Innovation & Integration at Edelman Digital, in his article: Social Business Planning: Aligning Internal With External. “Specific to social media, engaging employees in semi-public environments such as Facebook is where the lines between social media and business blur. Helping employees engage each other on secure internal networks can help ensure that they socialize internally since it’s likely they already do this externally.”
Social networking—both internal and external—is a collective effort. It’s not just up to your corporate communications, PR or brand marketing team. Each employee represents your brand on an external level and encouraging them to communicate effectively with your customers, starts on your internal enterprise network.
