As always, Mashable has proven to publish great articles about the social media industry. In this article, they have clearly defined the relevance of social media business integration.
Brian Solis writes: An overnight success ten years in the making, social media is as transformative as it is evolutionary. At last, 2010 is expected to be the year that social media goes mainstream for business. In speaking with many executives and entrepreneurs, I’ve noticed that the path towards new media enlightenment often hinges on corporate culture and specific marketplace conditions. Full social media integration often happens in stages — it’s an evolutionary process for companies and consumers alike.
Here are the most common stages that businesses experience as they travel the road to full social media integration.
Stage 1: Observe and Report
This is the entry point for businesses to better understand the behavior of an interactive marketplace.
Listening: Employ listening devices such as Google Alerts, Twitter Search, Radian6 and PR Newswire’s Social Media Metrics to track conversations and instances associated with key words.
Reporting: Distill existing social media conversations into an executive report. This early form of reporting is merely designed to provide decision makers with the information they’ll need for continued exploration of social media and its potential impact on business.
Stage 2: Setting the Stage + Dress Rehearsal
Once the initial intelligence is gathered, businesses will set the stage for social media participation. This is an interesting phase, as it often joins Stage 1 as a more comprehensive first step. Instead of researching the best ways to engage, many businesses create accounts across multiple social networks and publish content without a plan or purpose.
However, those businesses that conduct research will find a rewarding array of options and opportunities to target.
Stage 3: Socializing Media
The next stage in the evolution of a new media business is the proverbial step towards “joining the conversation.”
As companies take the stage, they will eventually pay attention to the reaction of the audience in order to respond and improve content, define future engagements, and humanize communication.
Conversation: Representative of an early form of participation, this stage usually evokes reactive engagement based on the nature of existing dialogue or mentions and also incorporates the proactive broadcasting of activity, events and announcements.
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