What Kind of Social Organization Are You?
I recently read the "Social Commerce Trends Report 2011" by Bazaarvoice. The report summarizes the presentations by thought leaders of social media at the Social Commerce Summit hosted by Bazaarvoice. I found Jeremiah Owyang's comments (read his blog at web-strategiest.com) particularly interesting. He notes, "new social media requires new types of organizations - typically those that span across an entire organization and crosses departmental borders."
Typically, when companies start to delve into the scary world of social media, there is one champion spearheading the initiative, centralized within one department. However, Owyang suggests that, to see the successes of social media, organizations should move into a "hub and spoke" model. Hub and spoke?! What is that?
As companies get more experienced with social media efforts, social organizations evolve. Owyang lists the different types of social organizational types:
1. Decentralized. Anyone can do anything in the company in social, with no organization.
2. Centralized. Typically run by corporate communications; most companies start here.
3. Hub and spoke. Majority of companies using social media tend to fall within this category. There is a hub in the organization that sets guidelines and gives direction, but actual participation takes place across the organization. This is the most common type of successful social organization today.
4. Multiple hub and spoke or dandelion. Large, usually tech, socially-advanced brands reach this organization level. Owyang recommends this model for most brands.
5. Holistic or honeycomb. Only 1.5% of companies are here, where the entire organization uses social media in an organized way. This is the model with the highest level of maturity, and it's difficult to achieve. A few brands that exemplify this include Best Buy, Dell and Zappos.
What type of social organization category does your company fall into? At LOGiQ3 we are actively striving to implement the hub and spoke model. If you're interested in sharing your thoughts with me (I'd love to hear from you), feel free to comment or send me an email at
natalie.ho@logiq3.com.
Thanks for stopping in!
~Natalie