Social Media

As Social Media continues to grow in popularity how are corporates taking advantage and leveraging this new technology?

Eighteen months ago there were a number of organisations holding pilots and trials and the results from the previous Reality Checker showed a growing appetite for corporate access and presence within these communities.  Corporate IT Forum members wanted to understand how corporates utilise these sites as part of their marketing strategy, what processes and policies are in place to manage and control access, and ultimately who owned the data shared.

In August 2011 The Corporate IT Forum conducted a Reality Checker that received 74 responses from over 40 organisations.  Key findings show that social media is graduating into a business tool, sites are maintained and monitored for content and customer engagement is key.  Contributing organisations represent an annual IT spend of £7.53 billion and employ over 900,000 people.

Headline findings:

• Social Media no longer a novelty: becoming a business tool.
• Facebook et al. blocked: but corporates increasingly having a presence.
• Acceptable Usage Policies (AUP) used: separate policies not common.
• External sites monitored for content: a third found inappropriate content.
• Customer engagement the key strategy.