Page 348 - Using MIS

316 Chapter 8 Social Media Information Systems

According to recent studies, users are skeptical of organizational messages and no lon-
ger listen to them. A 2009 McKinsey study found that two-thirds of purchase-decision touch
points involve SM-based reviews and recommendations outside the realm of organizational
32
messaging. Such skepticism may not be new. It could be that users have always held it. But
until social media came along, advertising and PR were users’ only source of information. New
or not, that skepticism gives a competitive advantage to organizations that can make personal
connections with users.
Today, people want informed, useful interactions that help them solve particular problems
and satisfy unique needs. They increasingly ignore prepackaged organizational messages that
tout product benefits. This requires you to engage audience members, ask them questions, and
respond to their posts. It also means you must avoid hard-selling products, overwhelming audi-
ence members with content, and contacting them too often.
The sales force in Apple stores is an excellent example of how to make personal connec-
tions. Team members have been trained to act as customer problem-solving consultants and
not as sellers of products. An organization’s use of social media needs to mirror this behavior;
otherwise, social media is nothing more than another channel for classic advertising.
Consider the social media groups that PRIDE will create to encourage client exercise.
Clients, friends, and families are treated as entities to be influenced, and while an email cam-
paign is cheaper than printing and mailing instructions, it isn’t more effective. However, if
PRIDE creates an SM environment in which group members and families can share their suc-
cesses and failures in an open and honest way, then PRIDE will relate to clients and their fami-
lies as humans with complex personalities and difficult issues.

Step 6: Gather and Analyze Data
Finally, when developing an SMIS, you must gather the right amount of data to make the most
informed decisions you can. Use analytical tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Page Insights,
Clicky, or KISSmetrics to measure the success metrics you defined earlier. See which tweets get
the most attention, which posts generate the most traffic, and which SM platform generates the
most referrals.
Next, refine your use of social media based on the performance of your success metrics.
Rely on analysis of hard data, not anecdotes from friends. The SM landscape is changing rap-
idly, and today’s winners could be tomorrow’s losers. Users may shift away from current SM
giants like Facebook toward a group of more customized applications like Instagram, Twitter,
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Snapchat, and WhatsApp. Allow your use of social media to be flexible enough to change with
the times.
Senior managers need to see regular progress reports about how SM is affecting the organi-
zation. They also need to be educated about changes in social media landscape. Watch for SM
success stories and communicate them with upper management.

Q6 What Is an Enterprise Social Network (ESN)?

An enterprise social network (ESN) is a software platform that uses social media to facilitate
cooperative work of people within an organization. Instead of using outward-facing SM plat-
forms like Facebook and Twitter, it uses specialized enterprise social software designed to be
used inside the organization. These applications may incorporate the same functionality used

32 David Court, Dave Elzinga, Susan Mulder, and Ole Jorgen Vetvik, “The Consumer Decision Journey,” McKinsey
Quarterly, June 2009, accessed August 2014, www.mckinseyquarterly.com/The_consumer_decision_journey_2373.
33 Gene Marks, “Why Facebook Is in Decline,” Forbes, August 19, 2013, accessed June 25, 2014, www.forbes.com/
sites/quickerbettertech/2013/08/19/why-facebook-is-in-decline/.