According to 2012 FedEx/Ketchum Social Media Benchmarking Study, presented jointly by FedEx and Ketchum, some of the big corporations have moved beyond just being present on various social media platforms and are utilizing the social media platforms to strategically engage and strengthen relationship with various stakeholders that include employees, customers (51%) , general public (52%) and partners & suppliers (40%) to not only increase the brand affinity but also involve them in co-creation which will help them in attaining the business goals. The study is based on quantitative surveys and telephone interviews with a total of 85 executives from companies like IBM, Southwest Airlines, Bank of America, AT&T, Chevron, G.E., Cisco, and Time Warner Cable , etc. and communications “thought leaders.” But for many other big corporations this social business transformation is not yet started despite the fact that Social media tools have radically transformed the way people engage with the world around them and employees are constantly looking for and demanding for such tools within the organizations for use in their day to day work. All the corporations who participated in the study have a strong social media framework and policy in place and are most effectively using social media to enhance brand reputation and awareness, provide customer service and strengthen relationships across key stakeholders. The survey also highlights the fact that 88% of companies keep track of online feedback and conversations, and 80% of companies surveyed agree that they are presently measuring social media, with 84% focused on engagement, 69% on impressions, 53% on influence, and 51% on tone.
The 2012 FedEx/Ketchum Social Media Benchmarking Study also highlighted that not only the external engagement with customers, suppliers, etc. but also internal engagement between the company and its employees, and empowerment of employees to represent the brand externally as they are the most passionate and credible ambassadors of the company’s brand have also significantly improved and resulted in employee retention, engagement and productivity. Internally, 85% of companies surveyed have seen employee participation in social media increase over the last year. In terms of goals, 46% of companies are using social media to strengthen relationships with employees, 44% use it to share expertise and foster collaboration and 38% use it to increase employee participation in programs or initiatives. 64% of participating companies said the structure and roles in the marketing, communications or human resources teams have changed as a result of social business. Companies that participated in the study has realized that educating and empowering employees and customers to operate as brand ambassadors capable of managing the social conversation with the support of social media policies and guidelines will be a definite win-win situation for all. Executive Leadership at these companies understand that social media as an essential component of business success and it has become a strategic part of the decision making and overall strategy formulation. With social media rise both internal and external to organizations, 27% of companies are more concerned about transparency issues, including employee privacy, legal and compliance issues, and addressing misinformation that appears on the Web.
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