HfS Social Business Manifesto

Unless you recently awoke from a Rip van Winklesque coma, you’re aware that social media has evolved from its roots in the consumer market into an important set of tools with a broad impact on a variety of business practices.  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and blogs are now widely used in business contexts, particularly for marketing purposes, but also in support of sales, customer service, and human resources (HR).

Despite their basis in free, consumer-grade services, they have many practical uses: they provide a new marketing channel for promoting products and services, and gauging customer satisfaction; give recruiters tools for finding and vetting talent; let enterprises build and engage communities of customers; provide a fertile hunting ground for gathering market research, competitive intelligence, and other product development inputs; and allow companies to monitor, promote, and defend their brand and reputation online.