Social Business = Social Bonding

A study by FedEx and Ketchum found that 52% of respondents said social business was strengthening relationships with the general public; 51% said it was strengthening relationships with clients; and 40% said it was strengthening relationships with partners and suppliers.

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Social business research and more recent thought leadership explore the challenges and opportunities presented by social media.
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A study by FedEx and Ketchum found that 52% of respondents said social business was strengthening relationships with the general public; 51% said it was strengthening relationships with clients; and 40% said it was strengthening relationships with partners and suppliers.

Image courtesy of Flickr user s_falkow.

Social business activities can pay off in various ways. Earlier this year, MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte highlighted benefits related to better market intelligence, faster customer service as well as improvements to internal operations, such as finding expertise, distributing knowledge and more effective project collaboration. (See our 2012 Special Report, Social Business: What Are Companies Really Doing?)

But businesses are also reporting another more subtle benefit from social business. It’s a benefit that embraces both external and internal operations and may provide unanticipated and new advantages that can enhance the company as a whole.

What we are referring to is building better relationships. And a recent study by FedEx and Ketchum suggests that this vital activity is being enhanced with social technologies.

Here are more details.

This past spring, FedEx and Ketchum launched its second “Social Business Benchmarking Study,” a follow up to its initial study conducted in 2010.

This year’s research included both a quantitative and a qualitative portion. The quantitative segment was a survey of communication and marketing executives, mostly from firms with 2,000 or more employees with revenues over $2.5 billion. They included a mix of industries as well as firms in B2B, B2C and mixed B2B/B2C companies. There were 55 respondents to this survey, and they represented firms with familiar names such as P&G, Corning, Time Warner Cable, Southwest Airlines and Xerox.

The qualitative portion was a discussion with 20 thought leaders, and included conversations with well-known experts in social business like Dion Hinchcliffe, Charlene Li and Jeremiah Owyang, among others.

A key finding from the survey was social business’s role in relationships: 52% of respondents said social business was strengthening relationships with the general public; 51% said it was strengthening relationships with clients; and 40% said it was strengthening relationships with partners and suppliers.

Topics

Social Business

Social business research and more recent thought leadership explore the challenges and opportunities presented by social media.
More in this series

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Comment (1)
siswanto.gatot549
in the era of quantitative right now, qualitative touch is more valuable