Futurity Media

Normally, we like to post finished articles, but in this instance, I’m going to post my request-for-information.

I’m writing article for the good people at Silicon.com on the pains and barriers of deploying social media in the enterprise. I have a number of issues that I am struggling to deal with. So, in collaborative writing kind of way, have you got any answers?

Either leave a comment at the bottom of the post, or send me a tweet (#stewartbaines) or email (stewartbaines at futuritymedia dot com)

1. Can enterprises truly engage in social media then they are “anti-social” organisations (argues Benjamin Ellis). Is this true? Is the profit motive inconsistent with sharing (which is intangible)?
2. Should enterprise social media stay under the radar (with small projects) until you have an ROI and then roll-out extensively?
3. How do you identify social media champions in an organisation, how do you motivate them (without financial rewards)
4. How do you get those with the most knowledge to share their knowledge when they are increasingly working to time sheets with minimum no. of billable hours? Surely those with “knowledge capital” are disinclined to convert this into “social capital”
5. If you can’t demonstrate ROI, will participating in social media ever be written into a job description
6. What happens to social networks in the enterprise, when you remove the champions (e.g. they move jobs) – do the networks collapse? (I’ve seen some evidence to suggest this does happen with immature networks.)
7. How do you measure the value of enterprise social media in terms of marketing/PR terms, particulalry in B2B space? My point is that traditional B2B marketing was all about segmentation based on job title, location etc. Social media is so scattergun, and your audience typically doesn’t fit the segmented target audience (i.e you can hire an agency like Futurity to be your social media mouthpiece but what are you getting back for that, in terms of increased sales, or raised profile in your target audience.

Your thoughts, comments, corrections or criticism very welcomed.

UPDATE: I am going to be at Like Minds social media conference in Exeter on Friday 26 February. If you, or a client, is going to be there and has something interesting to say, I’m happy to meet up.

#stewartbaines