1. The Social Engagement Journey: How Companies are Transformed By Social Media

    Thursday, 9 Dec 2010 20 Comments Posted by:

    First in a series of three posts

    Today, companies are on a journey to integrate social media into their business operations. By observing some top Fortune 1000 companies and how they transformed into more customer-centric organizations by integrating and operationalizing social media, Ant’s Eye View has mapped a 5-stage transformation. We call it the “Social Engagement Journey.”




    Stage 1 of the journey is traditional command and control. One-way communication with customers is the norm, and the various functional units in a company operate relatively independently.

    Stage 2 usually involves 1-2 individuals or teams who begin experimenting with social engagement. These mavericks can appear in any part of the organization but are often in marketing or support groups. There may be multiple mavericks in a company, but they are not yet connected to each other. Teams in this stage emphasize direct customer engagement, likely breaking or bending internal rules to make it happen.

    Stage 3 is when companies begin getting serious about social. A formal team may be empowered to  help operationalize social engagement, or there are informal internal communities that drive progress. At this stage, companies emphasize training, policies, measurement frameworks and common engagement platforms.

    Stage 4 usually means social engagement is delivering real business results. Executive support is broad, and engagement efforts are built into forecasts and annual plans. Customer listening is the norm, and multiple individuals within business units and functional groups are empowered to engage directly with customers and prospects.


    Most companies would feel very satisfied reaching Stage 4, but we believe there is a higher stage of engagement.

    Stage 5 is probably nirvana given that many of the tools to achieve this stage don’t exist yet for enterprise-level companies, but we call it the Fully Engaged Enterprise. In it, companies experience breakthrough business results based on deep customer engagement. Customers say things like “You know what I need before I do” and “my life is better because of you,” or “I trust you.” That said, there’s a lot of foundation work to do in Stages 1-4, regardless of technology.

    What do you think about the Journey? What stage would you say your company is in?

    • http://listeninteractive.com Dan Greenfield/ListeningPoints

      Excellent post – I am especially interested in understanding the challenges of operationalizing engagement and how it disrupts/supports organizational dynamics and structures.

    • Rod Brooks

      I recognize that slide Jackie. Good post! Should get people thinking.
      For what it’s worth, I believe that our company is between stages two and three… with a plan of attack to get us into three and on our way to four in the next year. Of course, we get some great advice and help from our AEV partners too. Thanks.

    • http://www.britopian.com Michael Brito

      Love this model. It’d be great if you would map out the organizational challenges at each of the phases (i.e. tearning down silos, organizational conflict, ownership, governance, scale) so that companies can start thinking how to work through these issues and fully evolve into a social business.

      The way I see it is that most companies that are quote-unquote “social brands” do a pretty good job engaging externally with their customers. But what most people don’t see is the conflict and anarchy that happens behind the firewall. So, many companies are now — as you say — trying to operationalize social media. Not an easy task either.

      I believe that a brand cannot effectively have external conversations with customers until they can have effective internal conversations with each other first. But then again, that’s just me.

    • http://twitter.com/Kirasw Kira Wampler

      Thanks for the comment and for the retweet. Completely agree that there are internal challenges at each stage as well. We’ve got a view on that as well as a view on what can accelerate or decelerate your progress. They are, not surprisingly, mostly internally.

    • http://twitter.com/mjtwit Mike Jensen

      I love how this has been categorized as “The Journey” because I think that is where many companies fall. In the “I want it now” world, they believe they can rush through it, or skip steps, or cut corners when it takes patience to stick to the plan/strategy. There are great opportunities along the way to learn, refine and get better, so that if/when you reach the final phase you know you’ve done it the right way.

      Great post!

    • Sean

      I think I’d add to that where to start (internal vs external) can depend on the culture. When I was MSFT, I’d say starting with internal collaboration would not have worked. We needed the external pressure to drive the internal. That said, we have clients where the opposite is true, so it’s important to diagnose your culture and be intentional about the change management.

    • Pingback: Community Guy – Jake McKee » Blog Archive » The Social Engagement Journey

    • Pingback: Quora

    • http://thechrista.com Christa Watson

      Yea, I’m totally the maverick person in Stage 2 but am happy to announce that we are soon to be stage 3 ! SM Journey here we come!

    • Pingback: Engagement is a mindset, not a series of activities « RJI

    • Pingback: Community Guy – Jake McKee » Blog Archive » How to start a movement

    • Pingback: Engagement is a mindset, not a series of activities « joy mayer

    • Pingback: Tired of F@#king Social Media Experts? | SMMCAST

    • Pingback: The Social Engagement Journey: How Companies are Transformed By Social Media | Ant's Eye View | Social Media Engagement for Financial Services | Scoop.it

    • Pingback: The Social Engagement Journey: How Companies are Transformed By Social Media | Ant’s Eye View : viloot.com

    • Torunn Sinclair

      This is a great post Jackie!  Companies are having a hard time finding their place in the social media world.  I believe they understand the importance of social media and are looking to profit from this cost effective method of communicating with their audience.  The question for them, is how to do it. 
       Your chart, showing a companies social engagement “journey” displays the issues perfectly.  I believe that as social media continues to grow and expand, more companies will develop their social media skills and it will become a compulsory part of a PR plan. Companies will have to have a Facebook and Twitter to survive.  Social media has become the new way to connect with the consumer and the consumer expects it!

    • Pingback: Social Business: oude wijn in nieuwe zakken? | humanizingbusiness

    • Pingback: Social Business: oude wijn in nieuwe zakken? | humanizingbusiness

    • Pingback: Cisco’s Social Engagement Journey [VIDEO] | The Social Customer Manifesto

    • Pingback: It’s No Game: Playing your Way to Becoming a Fully Engaged Enterprise | Ant's Eye View