Johannesburg, 30 Jul 2012
Though South African companies have started introducing social media into the business space, in many instances, companies are simply 'ticking the boxes' rather than understanding the business or strategic objectives they are looking to achieve through social media and digital technologies.
So says Deloitte senior manager Greg Comline, who also notes that, over the past three years, the country has seen an increased use of social media by businesses.
“Disruptive technologies are driving innovation in industries, and companies are looking to capitalise on this,” says Comline.
In order to understand how organisations are using social media, ITWeb, in partnership with Deloitte, today unveiled the Social Media Trends Survey, which is set to run for two weeks.
According to Comline, internationally, leading companies are integrating social business into their operations. “Some of these companies have seen increased client engagement. Within businesses, we have seen increased levels of innovation and agility through collaboration.
“In SA, we are seeing the conversation change from 'do you have a social media presence' to a question about whether 'your social media implementation is showing business value and effective return on investment'.
“As a growing trend, we are seeing that B2B businesses are successfully using social media to engage with clients. In the past, social media has traditionally been the domain of consumer-facing businesses,” he explains.
Comline urges businesses to have a complete digital strategy in place with effective measures of the expected returns. “It is vital to have the right measures in place to ensure the long term use of social media as a business enabler.”
He also points out that the main benefits of social media should be closely aligned with the business objectives and this should be measured. “In progressive companies, we have seen that social media has been able to offer increased collaboration, resulting in greater agility.
“Each business has different requirements, and the use of social media is dependent on a number of aspects. Most businesses should understand that their brand and their employees are probably already on social media, and through mobile phones, they are probably accessing social media sites on a frequent basis. Companies have to decide how they can best utilise these communication channels.”
To take part in the survey, click here.
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