Social Business Tip: Social advice for those who want social as a career! Community managers and beyond! #ibmsocialbiz #socbiz #ibm

This weekend I had a group of students ask me about the future of careers in social.  They love the potential of community managers, social analytics management, and social innovation!   But they asked for what we look for in hiring someone social!

Here's my tops!

1. Live it!  If you want a social career, and I check out your social profiles and you don't have a twitter account and haven't used LinkedIn for a while, you probably aren't passionate about social as a career!
2. Know your social influence.   Don't just have a lot of followers but I want to see your engagement and influence.  One young man who interviewed with me showed me his engagement in a "lawn mower" community.   It was amazing!
3. Empathy.   I just watched 60 minutes and they showed that the best designers empathize with their clients.   The same is true in social.  It is not about broadcasting messages but showing that you understand and care.
4. Change the world.  Aspire big!. I want those on social to be innovative and think they can change the world.   We are just starting in this realm and I am looking for how things can be done.  Change is essential in social.  A great change management leader for the culture will be a must have.
5. Understand the business.    I don't just want someone who understands social but someone who will leverage social in our business.   Do you understand our business?  Show me that you are not just a social star but can leverage it to grow the business.

Yes, I have more but I'd love to hear your thoughts.  What do you look for when hiring social?

by sandraanncarter

Social Business Coffee Break! 40% of candidates will take a lower paying job IF you don't have use of social at work! #socbiz #ibmsocialbiz #ibm #kenexa

Our Social Business Coffee break comes from amazing research on what employees what in today's social world from a company!

Take a watch and tell me your thoughts and approach!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJGR4jG_xXE&feature=youtu.be]

by sandraanncarter

Social Business Hot Tip of the day: More is not better!!!

Sometimes we try to be all things to all people.   Trying to have ids , profiles, accounts on all social platforms. Given that content is king and queen, spreading yourself and your company's resources too thin, doesn't help you.  More is not always better!!!

At the start of 2013, re-look at your personal and company investments here.

Advice:

• Listen and use Social Analytics to determine which social tools are most valuable to you and your company.  Is it LinkedIn?  IBM Connections?   Twitter?  Pineterest?
• Think through consolidating some of your presence based on that analytical data
• Use tools that allow you to post to multiple networks at once like Wordpress, Foursquare, Connections
• On those sites where you are present and will invest, personally think through your brand presence.  For example,

*   Same picture used in all profiles

*   Solid brand value -- either personally or company wide

*   Consistent branding throughout social networks

*  Consider differentiation for different brands or divisions in your company but linked to overall mission

by sandraanncarter

Top13 Social Business Trends in 2013! #ibmsocialbiz #socbiz

Happy New Year!

These are my top 13 trends for 2013 around Social Business!  

1.  Meet the new C Suite!   Full of T shapped Skills! 

Social and social tools means that CMOs need to know more about Technology, and that CIOs need to understand more about how to engage clients, and marketing.    With CEOs, according to IBM's CEO Study, understanding that social will be the #1 way to engage clients by 2015, it is imperative that both roles learn more about the broader equation.

2.  Social is more than Technology -- it is like a Diet.  It is a life style change!

Social changes the way that employees work.  It changes the way that clients interact with you!  At Aberdeen’s 2012 Chief Service Officer (CSO) Summit, 85% of attending business leaders stated that their organization was placing an increased importance on customer service.  Social is the preferred way that clients want to get your help!  Are you ready?  So you have a social client service model?

3. No longer B2B, or B2C.  It is now P2P.  2013 is the year of People to People.

Corporations are people.   But they don't act like it on social sites like Twitter and Facebook sometimes.   Since people want to do business with people, not businesses.  2013 is the year to focus on relationships -- not fly by social!  Social networks and mobile devices put brands in front of customers and employees at all times—and give them the power to impact them at warp speed and interface with people!

4.  HR must be overhauled.    2013 is the year of social HR!

Recruiting is broken using old fashioned methods!   How many people apply for a job and never hear back.  Or think about the thousands of people applying and a company having to choose!  In 2013, we believe that social will revolutionize this process.   HR leverages external networks for recruiting, retention and employee brand monitoring.  Emerging education networks and mobility channels create new options for learning

To have more analytics, matching culture to the person and their talents can make more companies more competitive.

5.   The "Sunday night, Monday morning" syndrome is no more!

Today 37% of US information workers are solving customer and business problems using technology that they master first at home and then bring to work.   In 2013, the bridge between the technology they use at home on Sunday night, is no longer better than work tools!   We can all dream!

6. Be more selective!  De-friend in 2013.

With the proliferation of social networks, in 2013, everyone will want to focus on their true friends.   I forsee private communities, and will be "unfriending" those who do not really have interests that are aligned or are establishing relationships. 

7.  Your mother told you "social Skills" mattered!  She was right!

A Harvard Business Review survey showed that only 12 percent of companies using social media think they do so effectively.   It will very important that companies train their employees on social usage, and hire the right set of people to drive social.  For instance, not just community managers for 2012, but social analytics specialists, social innovation officiers, and more.   Make sure you don't forget to focus on these skills!

8.  Social is NOT the only means to engage. All channels are important.

Social is not THE only way to interact.   Milenimials still prefer texting. Digital immigrants Social Networks. Baby Boomers in person. All use social tools but some as a primary and some as secondary.   It just emphasizes that one size does not fit all.    The  rise of remote and non personal interaction will grow with digital natives and have an impact on society.   But I digress.    Make sure your company uses ALL channels to reach the employees and clients.

9. Social drives the shifts from demographics to behavior.

The old way was to focus on age or geography but on passions, lifestyle behavior learned and discovered through social analytics.    These psychographics drive that stronger relationship.  Social enables us to learn more about our employees and clients so that we can provide them choices based on their likes and dislikes.   2-13 is the year to use this big data to bigger serve your clients!

10.   Social inside a company's 4 walls continues to outpace external.

Why?  Employee engagement drives client engagement.  According to IBM's latest trend study, 43% of clients are now using social inside of their 4 walls.  41% in 2012 use it more externally.   I predict this trend will continue as the economics drive the need for stronger employee engagement.  The McKinsey study shows that social drives higher engagement when employees can leverage social to innovate inside the company.

11. End to end social experience is the only way in 2013.

2013 is the year of no more piece parts, it takes a comprehensive social client experience to deliver value.  So no more twitter account not attached to a business process.   Make sure you have leveraged social to anticipate the need of your client, enhance serive, engage the clients, and simplify the way the way is done!   End to end!  Not just one piece!

 12. 2013 is the year to know your social graph.

 A social graph maintains relationships between me and the people in my network as well as content.  To leverage the power of a social graph, you can amplify marketing messages, locate the best sales content or expert to progress your sales opportunity, discover your most avid fans or find the right expert to ensure first call resolution of customer queries. 

13.  Content in context.   Interactive business stream lives!

Overwhelming information demands that Content is presented in context. In 2013, we will demand more than a river of  news but an  interactive integrated business stream.

by sandraanncarter

Social Business Coffee Break! Social Innovation through the eyes of Asian Paints! #ibmsocialbiz #ibm #socbiz #ibmconnect

Happy Monday!   Today's Coffee Break serves to remind us of one of the top use cases for Social - Innovation!

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB4fUOYWEd0&feature=youtu.be]

by sandraanncarter

Turning Japanese! Get Bold goes to Japan! #getbold #ibmsocialbiz #socbiz

All!  I am thrilled that  GET BOLD Japanese Version is just available!!!  The contents is translated in Japanese and the binding is also localized !
Check out my name in Japanese!  WOW!

Over 1000 books sold so far!

THANK YOU Japan!

by sandraanncarter

Lessons from the "Little Drummer Boy" Christmas Carol for Social Media-ists! Consistency Rocks! #ibmconnect #ibmsocialbiz #socbiz

The Little Drummer Boy Christmas song was written in 1958.   According to Carols.Org, the lyrics of Little Drummer Boy consist of no less than 21 rum pum pum pum' - a major part of the song! Even with the repetition , the Little Drummer Boy has been a huge hit for several artists.

Consistency.  Consistency has been a mandate for marketing for years.    Does it matter in Social?

I think yes!  Some people just tweet out new content all the time.  But there is value in consistency of message in your Tweets, Facebook, and communities.  Consistency does not just mean your are posting a certain number of times a day, every day.  It  does refer to your brand, Point of View, and voice. 

•  Are you saying things the same way in your social interactions?
• Is the content consisten with your brand value? 
• Are you constantly changing your Point of View ?   

I loved this quote from Katie Wagner:  "Staying consistent is extremely important, because if you attract a fan or follower for being one way, but then are suddenly doing something different the next day, and the day after that is different from the previous two, then your new connection will be confused and refuse to engage, or worse, disconnect from you altogether."

The elements of Consistency .. like that rum pum pum pum is critical!!

• Consistency builds trust.  Trust is crucial in anyone sharing and supporting your brand.  Your brand army is built on trust as its foundation.  Seeing something many times, like a familiar face, creates a comfortable, stable, and secure feeling.
• Consistency builds relationship.   Lack of consistency can kill a relationship.  Keep in mind that relationships are intricate, and actions always cause reactions.  If we stop doing the things that our clients,  appreciated or relied on, we should expect a negative reaction.
• Consistency builds interest.  Cnsistent, premium output is key to earning and maintaining audience interest.

Social Content marketing consistency wins long-term results!

by sandraanncarter

Rudolph the red nosed Reindeer - a Social Lesson! #socbiz #ibmsocialbiz #ibmconnect

My kids love the Christmas song ... Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.   Per Carols.org, this song actually started as a poem, and was created by an Advertising executive (Robert May).  He actually wrote the poem so it could be given away by Santa at all the retail stores!

Social is like this evolution!   Social started out as Social Media, primarily driven by marketing and advertising.   Given the power they found in this alternative channel, today we see companies applying social techniques to other business processes as well.   A Social Business is one who embeds social in all their processes, connecting people to people, people to information, and data to insight.   It is different than Social Media, in that Social Media primarily addresses or focuses on marketing and public relations.   That’s where the media comes from.

Inside each of us is a desire to be social and in return feel connected to other people. With the Internet came the ability to connect computers to computers and computers to networks. Email came along and replaced the need to send around office memos. Instant messaging then emerged with a faster and precious way to communicate in near real-time, further reducing the office memo and in some fashion, reducing email. Neither of these technologies provided that social desire that people seek (albeit instant messaging emoticons did help).

With the 21st century upon us, where everyone is so dispersed from their family, friends, suppliers, partners, and influencers, the Internet has reconnected us satisfying that social desire. Social media is now connecting people with people and people with information. New collaboration technologies focused on simplicity and ease of use have led to a platform to share more than just words, but frame those words around your persona alongside videos, photos, your interests, and what’s on your mind. My persona is not that of just an IBM Vice President, but also as a mother and wife. In some cases, this new wave of disruptive technology replaced the “real world” connectedness with a virtual one.

This connectedness reemphasizes that people are at the heart and soul of every business and relationship -- just like Rudoph desired this closeness, Social also helps us play and work with others!

by sandraanncarter