Yesterday we had a fascinating panel at IBM Connect in Orlando on the 4 trends shaping Social Business in 2013.   The discussion was led by Mark Fidelman @markfidelman and included Beverly Macy @BeverlyMacy and myself.

Here’s a quick summary in case you weren’t there!

  1. Beyond Marketing.  The true social business is so far beyond marketing and is inclusive of every process in their business. In the Beyond Marketing area, we are seeing SociaL go to work in Sales, Water, Patents, Compliance, Legal, Talent Management, Supply Chain and more.  It is time for Marketing to teach the rest of the org and for IT to stand up to the biz table with the focus on Social !   Examples include:  City of Dubuque, Lowe’s, David Jones, and more!
  2. Social + Analytics + Mobile + Cloud and I added the +Physical world.   This 5 way is the way to competitive advantage.   Mobile is in the smarter workforce.   IDC said that 1.3fB people  leverage their mobile devide as their #1 way to Collaborate!  68% use mobile as their primary way of social networking!

             Examples include Retailers bridging virtual and real world with magic hangers.   Check this out!

macy

3.    Social Business Comprehensive approach – technology + Adoption Plan.   57% of social businesses fail because they ignore Adoption.   I am doing a whole series on the top 10 adoption best practices.   One Social business coffee break a week on Mondays!!! Please join our series!

4.  Social Business education and plan  – it is critical that you address all types at your company:  Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants and Non Digital.   Education in fun ways is required.   The way people learn is changing to gamification and the what of people must learn is different.  From what you know to ‘how do you find” what you need to know!!!