Social networking and community engagement technology made easy

By definition, to “leverage” (in the way I am using the word here) means to have the power or ability to act or to influence people, events, decisions, etc. It also means ‘to sway.’  The definition as a verb is ‘to exert power or influence on.’  In business, one of the most important and smartest ways of working and growing is to utilise leveraging skills. How exactly is this done? And how do you do it within your own social media platform?

Never be afraid to ask

Social media screams leveraging. Here, you have a cause. Here, you create a platform. Here, you ask your family, your friends, your business contacts, your fans, your customers, your employees…everyone who you believe will stand behind what you’re about…you ask them to be a part of your community.

Community Engine provides a platform to get to know who is truly advocating for you. Social networks like Twitter and Facebook are great. They are definitely tools to be incorporated. The question to ask concerning these social spaces is, “who is really following me?”  And how do we bring supporters to us?

When people become a part of your social platform, it gets personal. People are looking to get information, to gain an understanding, and also want a place to be able to give their input. You are the centre of their thoughts, and they are the centre of yours and/or your organisation. You leverage other social networks to bring your true supporters here…to your social network. You then leverage your social network to continue to grow your tribe.  Again, you ask them to be a part, and then you ask them to ask others to be a part. This means you create relationships. This means you do this through authenticity.

Harnessing True Relationships

Without true relationships, it just won’t happen. Or, it will take much longer. This works even if you’re an organisation with millions of followers and thousands of employees. It just means you may have to think outside the box.  Let’s take IBM for example.  Casey Hibbard from Social Media Examiner  recently wrote a post featuring the giant corporation. She asks the question, “how do you pull off “authentic” while maintaining the company brand message?”

From an internal social media perspective, although they don’t have a corporate blog or corporate twitter account, they DO have nearly 400,000 employees with thousands of blogs. These blogs are featured on the IBM site. The employees or “IBMers” create the buzz. What is even better is that IBM understands the value of social media and does not restrict its employees in anyway. Rather, they leverage their employees to innovate and motivate.  IBM doesn’t police. Rather, they trust, and the results have been brilliant.

“In this vibrant forum, employees exchange ideas, advance conversations and do a little self-promotion of their projects.

An internal wiki serves as a hub of information, drawing well over a million page views every day. Additionally, downloads in the company’s user-generated media library now total 11 million.”

There is definitely something to learn here. What is your organisation doing to leverage your social network? What are some ‘out of the box’ ideas you can think of when it comes to leveraging and social media strategy?

posted by Piers Hogarth-Scott in the category Social Media Social networking
Tags: Casey Bibbard, IBM, IBMers, Social Media Examiner