Over past few years, we’ve seen an in increase in the number of companies that made the transition to a “social business.”
For those who are not familiar with the term “social business,” let’s make one thing clear: Being a social business does not simply mean that a business uses social media. Social business leverage the “social” component by making their processes collaborative and engaging with all stakeholders. We’ve previously written a blog post breaking down the social business into five components.
This year, we predict that even more companies will jump on the social business bandwagon.
Here are four social business predictions for 2013:
1. More organizations will use the customer ecosystem
In the customer ecosystem, companies market their brands by starting conversations with customers. This system was all the buzz in 2012, and with more resources and collaborative tools available, companies can easily tap into customer conversations, understand what they want, and improve their business.
2. Flexible working options and telecommuting will increase
With today’s competitive work environment, the way many enterprises handle their business processes is changing. Businesses are being faced the challenge of taking business globalization, customer service, and project management to a different level. According to a recent report by Cisco, 56% of workers would happily earn 10% less in exchange for flexible working.” We predict that telecommuting and outsourcing will increase, and thus so will the use of social business software.
3. Product innovation will be stronger than ever
Back in November, we wrote about how a six-year-old girl voiced her concerns to toy company Hasbro about how their game Guess Who? has more male characters than female ones. After a chain of letters, Hasbro finally told her that they will consider her request. After hearing this story which was all over the media, businesses are learning that they need to listen to customers, and customers are learning that they should voice their concerns more often.
4. Use of social media in business will increase (again)
We all know that social media gains in popularity every year. However, in late 2012, a milestone occurred in the world of social media: The Pope got a personal Twitter account, and started to using it to connect with his millions of faithful followers around the world. Following this, businesses are starting to realize that social media is not just used for business promotion; it is used to connect with customers and business partners no matter where they are, and cultivate a social business.
We want to know: Does your company have any social business goals this year?
Related blog posts:
Teams working remotely unified virtually
Hasbro Shows Why Customer Feedback is Important