Some Global Organizations Seeing Big Impact on Customer Interactions From Use of Social Platforms

September 20, 2013

This article is included in these additional categories:

Customer Engagement | Customer Satisfaction | Digital | Social Media

SocialMediaToday-Impact-Social-Platforms-on-Customer-Interactions-Sept2013Asked how much the growth of externally facing social platform usage (such as Twitter, YouTube and online communities) has changed the way their organization interacts with customers, 5% of respondents indicated a “transformational” impact, and another 26% a “significant” impact. That’s according to findings from a Social Media Today study [download page] conducted with Leader Networks and sponsored by Oracle.

The study surveyed more than 952 marketing (662) and technology (263) executives from organizations around the world to arrive at its findings regarding socially enabled enterprises. (A socially enabled enterprise is defined in the study as “a set of collaborative processes that are customer-driven, such as faster time to market with new products and services, more successful research and development outcomes and refined market messages that are explicitly influenced by customer needs.”)

Delving into the different degrees to which social business initiatives have influenced a variety of customer-centric elements, the survey indicates that:

  • 91% agree or strongly agree that these initiatives have increased visibility with prospective customers;
  • 86% agree or strongly agree that they have resulted in closer relationships with existing customers;
  • 81% agree or strongly agree that they have led to a greater awareness of the customer needs.

A strong majority also attribute social business initiatives have resulted in increased customer advocacy, heightened thought leadership among customers, and increased customer loyalty.

The top performance metrics currently associated with social business initiatives are awareness, customer satisfaction, share of voice and lead generation. Interestingly, though, customer satisfaction ranks as the top metric among organizations with 10,000 employees or more.

Other Findings:

  • 43% of respondents said their organizations are currently using 6 or more social platforms, although a plurality 45% use 3-5.
  • While a minority currently integrate the insights gathered from their social platforms into customer care initiatives, 60% expect to do so in the future.
  • 97% of respondents feel that social enablement will be very important (67%) or important (30%) to successful companies in the future.

About the Data: The survey was conducted in the Spring of 2013 among respondents from more than 20 industries and 52 countries.

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