Comments on: Social Media’s Going Corporate

By: Pratap

Pratap — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:05:39 +0000

This sounds good. Have been evangelizing this mode of Outreach in India across Industry Segments.
With the sheer opening up of the economy, a whole gamut of categories have been opening up; brand owners and business owners have been seeking to leverage this medium to reach their audiences.
I have been involved in this exciting cusp stage of the opening up here.

By: Gordon Whitehead

Gordon Whitehead — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:51:21 +0000

I strongly agree with this article.
In Australia, I’ve seen sizable growth in firms taking up social media. But there’s a huge skill shortage out at the moment…
The agency I work for offers a range of Social Media services, but we are in the minority.

By: Diane Davidson

Diane Davidson — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:50:34 +0000

This article and dialogue could not have come at a better time for me. At WL Gore (the makers of GORE-TEX fabrics) we are actively looking at social media, have dabbled a bit but need to go broader. Your inputs will be useful for our team as we gather buy in from key stakeholders within my organization.

By: Mack Collier

Mack Collier — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:53:12 +0000

Elaine I hear what you are saying about how much is too much to put out there. But on the other hand, if we are more open and honest and just ‘be ourselves’, I think it makes it MUCH easier for us to connect with others on blogs, Twitter, Plurk, etc. David Griner had a great post about this, saying that Twitter works so well for networking because it lets us connect as people, not job titles.
I think he’s right.
http://www.thesocialpath.com/2008/07/the-real-streng.html

By: Elaine Fogel

Elaine Fogel — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:05:49 +0000

Deb has a valid point. In a paranoid world where “Big Brother” seems to be watching and listening, some people are concerned that there’s just too much access to information. Today, recruiters check the Internet to learn all they can about job candidates, especially at the senior level. People check out their dates; business people can check on potential suppliers, etc. etc.
If we express ourselves on blogs and social media sites, we’re open books to the world. I think it’s a balancing act between being authentic when participating in social media, and self-monitoring what we say and how.

By: Deb Dib

Deb Dib — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:37:50 +0000

Gave a presentation on LinkedIn to a group of CEOs just a few months ago. They had heard about it, but almost to a man (oops, there was one woman CEO there – and she used LinkedIn!) they dismissed it as unnecessary. In fact they wanted to avoid it because it might allow too much access to them. That’s just one example of their blind spot about social media. Seems that they have a ways to go to embrace Web 2.0’s potential for themselves OR their companies. Their loss (literally).

By: Mack Collier

Mack Collier — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:15:44 +0000

Elaine good point, I think that’s why you are seeing some companies moving toward outsourcing (Which is why firms like The Social Media Group are expanding, to meet the SM needs of corporate clients), and others like Ford and Nationwide (congrats Shawn!) are hiring existing SM experts to head up their efforts.
But I still think that how willing a company is to interally open communication and interaction with customers that are using social media, is hugely important.

By: Elaine Fogel

Elaine Fogel — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:59:49 +0000

This reinforces the need for organizations to work with either internal or outsourced specialists and have one senior staff (dept.) or consultant oversee and project manage all marketing tactics in a holistic way. I hope we don’t see a return to silos that don’t communicate with each other.

By: Shawn Morton

Shawn Morton — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:28:30 +0000

I just recently relocated to Columbus to help lead Nationwide's social media efforts. Definitely expecting to see more companies making the leap. Glad to be working for one of the early adopters. http://www.smorty71.com/2008/07/i-am-joining-team-at-nationwide.html

By: Donna Tocci

Donna Tocci — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:47:15 +0000

Great piece, as always, Mack. You can add one more company that’s jumping in… Ingersoll Rand has created a new position for the first time – Director of Web/New Media. Yes, that’s me, but I’m no stranger to new media, since I’ve been blogging and podcasting and Facebooking in my role at Kryptonite for the last few years. And now, as you know, Twitter, Plurk…etc.
Ingersoll Rand sees the benefit in social media, just hasn’t had a person in a position to help guide the different biz units until now. Guide I will, to the best of my ability, and off they’ll go – I know they will. They all see the benefit and are excited to get started.
Oh, but I’m jealous of Scott Monty at Ford for having a whole department for this. That’s great! Congrats to them.

By: Mack Collier

Mack Collier — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:27:01 +0000

I agree Shannon. I think 2 years ago, many companies simply dismissed social media as being a ‘fad’. Now, most of them are still pretty clueless about what’s happening, but at least they want to learn more, as you said.
I still remember when Dell was getting roasted a couple of years ago for their initial blogging efforts. But that now means that they have a couple of years of learning and improving under their belts. Which gives them a HUGE advantage over competitors that are still wondering if they need to start using these tools.

By: Shannon Nelson

Shannon Nelson — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:18:27 +0000

You would be surprised though how many companies still don’t understand it. I recently gave a teleconference to several companies on social media with what I thought was the bare bones of basic information and it seemed to be over their heads. I found that astonishing. But the fact that they wanted to learn is a step in the right direction…
Kudos to brands like Ford and Dell for moving forward into this platform.