I was in London all day on Friday and discovered some great trends here in UK!
- Only 55% of UK businesses build online communities and 21% of those who do have a Social Community, depend on IT to drive it. Those who leverage Social Communities are having great success but typically it is a joint IT/Business driven venture. I would encourage your focus to remain on the IT / Business partnership.
- Channel management came up consistently in the UK. Discussions on approach are crucial: for instance, you could target 100 new facebook fans a week, 20 online discussions on forums, etc. OR UK companies are reviewing the Tipper view: get 5 influential bloggers to talk about your product or company and then have them reach the masses. This is a very sophisticated approach to the thought process.
- Investment discussions were around Training of employees and Social listening. Again, 2 of the key areas to drive results. Very good direction from the UKI clients.
I didn’t have any UK companies provide me with permission yet to tell their stories — but soon!
Sandy, I believe there is still an old fashion way to interact with Social Media here in Europe. Most of the Companies I discussed with are very worry about the “cost” in terms of Workpower such an approach might incurre.
Therefore, most of the Organizations uses the Social Channels as one more Broadcasting channel, which might be counterproductive.
cheers,