There is no question; this is the age of social media and social networking. We know that by creating a secure, private, branded employee social network where your former employees can stay connected to your company and each other sends a powerful message about the value you place on your company’s people. We know that consumers actually do like to engage with companies via social media outlets, making all of those channels worthwhile. Still, many have yet to embrace the real opportunities that involvement in social media and corporate social networking can deliver.

A recent study conducted by White Horse helped revealed the following:

“Forty percent of B2B companies devote one or more full-time marketers to social media marketing, as compared to 54% of B2C companies, according to the results of “B2B Marketing Goes Social.” However, say that given the relatively smaller size of marketing departments in B2B organizations, this level of representation is significant and underscores the maturing role of social media as a core component of B2B marketers’ arsenal.”

The report continues:

“Only 10% of B2B companies have engaged an agency for help with social media, as compared to 28% for B2C companies. White Horse analysts indicate this is consistent with B2B companies’ overall lower rates of agency engagement across all marketing activity, but say it demonstrates that agencies offering social media services need to work harder to define their value to B2B organizations.”

Conenza’s Alumni Community Software is unique and stands alone from other social media efforts, by efficiently retaining previous users and keeping them available for future needs. Corporate social networking is a long term investment, requiring expert account management, vision and strategy in order to be profitably executed. Conenza provides that account governance from start to finish.

We’ve seen the value a well planned and well executed program can deliver. Have you?

We have seen the extraordinary value a well planned and executed program can deliver. As the article The Maturation of Social Media ROI by Brian Solis shows, it is imperative to clearly outline your community business objective and establish measurable goals for your community.

“The debate over measuring social media investment inspired many brands to cannonball into popular social networks and join the proverbial conversation without a plan or strategic objectives defined. At the same time, the lack of ROI standards unnerved many executives, preventing any form of experimentation until their questions and concerns were addressed. In 2010, we’re entering a new era of social media marketing — one based on information, rationalization, and resolve.

For many businesses, the case for new metrics can’t be made until we have an intrinsic understanding of how social media engagement affects us at every level. It’s not as simple as counting subscribers, followers, fans, conversation volume, reach, or traffic. While the size of the corporate social graph is a reflection of our participation behavior, it is not symbolic of brand stature, resonance, loyalty, advocacy, nor is it an indicator of business performance.’”

As a social networking expert, Conenza will establish a formal marketing strategy to plan and grow your corporate alumni community. We are passionate about providing companies with strategic guidance and support through every phase of the community life-cycle. Are you launching an alumni community or corporate social network? Get in touch with Conenza to set up a free 30 minute strategy session.

Workforce reductions are one of the hardest decisions a leader has to make. Unfortunately, in the current economic climate, it is a decision from which few of us are immune.  Leaders want to ease the transition and communicate that they still value their people, including those who are leaving. Creating a secure, private, branded employee social network where your former employees can stay connected to your company and each other sends a powerful message about the value you place on your company’s people. This delivers real value back to your business and ensures you don’t lose touch as they are walking out the door

In a recent article published by Forbes, “Keeping Ex-Employees Brand Loyal,”  the author suggests taking a second look at your company’s exit process and your alumni program.

“The manner in which companies part ways with their employees has a potent and lasting effect on the former employee, employees who remain, and the brand.  A strong alumni program becomes an important part of the exit process. Former employees join a community that can help them as they continue with their careers–no matter where they go. Be sure to introduce exiting employees to, and enroll them in, the alumni program before they leave.

A powerful exit strategy and alumni program is a gift that keeps on giving. Promoting good relationships with your employees, before, during, and after their time on the payroll encourages a healthy brand. In return for helping alumni with professional relationships, the pursuit of higher education or specialized training, or even finding a new job at your company or elsewhere, you’ll gain brand ambassadors whose worth is immeasurable.”

Attracting and retaining top talent amid shifting workforce dynamics is an increasingly difficult endeavor for human capital and talent management leadership. An engaged and active alumni community, leveraging Conenza’s corporate social networking software solution and services, can help you meet recruiting and retention challenges head on.

Early adopters, such as McKinsey and The Boston Consulting Group, developed world-class alumni programs focused on building lifelong relationships with their employees to increase business development opportunities and recruiting efficiency. Microsoft was one of the first and only organizations outside of the consulting arena to create a formal corporate alumni program. That is not the case anymore.

Enterprises are beginning to discover the significant impact an extended talent community—that includes both alumni and employees—can have on their business.  Corporate social networking platforms are now expanding well outside of the professional services realm enabling Global 2000 enterprises to build and manage a private, trusted, branded online community.

Dr. John Sullivan wrote a great article, “Corporate Alumni and Boomerang Recruiting Programs Are Hot Due to Layoffs” asking What Differentiates Great Programs from Average? He feels, and we agree that it is important to incorporate some key differentiators.

“A strong business case. The most important differentiator is the perception of the program as a business initiative, not just another HR fad.

They use technology. The best firms and vendors use either customer-relationship management software or emerging social networking tools to keep track of alumni and effectively maintain the relationship.

They use metrics to continually improve. The shift to “fact-based decisions” means that program emphasis and resources are continually shifted toward areas with a higher impact.”

For more information on corporate alumni communities visit our site at http://conenza.com

Conenza’s passion is Enterprise Employee and Alumni Communities. We love this article by Dr. John Sullivan.

Economic downturns, mergers, and acquisitions all place pressure on organizations to curb labor costs. No time in the last decade has that tenet been more apparent than right now. Layoffs, large or small, force organizations to cut loose the talent in which they have invested salary and training dollars. While talent released during a layoff today may seem like little more than an expense, tomorrow it could be the difference between success and failure.

World-class organizations need to develop a process that will allow the organization to quickly and easily “re-recruit” alumni with proven track records of success when economic conditions warrant hiring.

The solution that makes re-recruiting possible is a corporate alumni program. Alumni programs allow you to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with former employees who may someday provide significant value again, providing you with an excuse to remain in contact and a mechanism to recruit them back quickly when needed.

Corporate Alumni Programs Can Also Increase Revenues
While the primary reason organizations develop alumni programs is recruiting-related, lots of research demonstrates that investing in corporate alumni programs increases the sales lead generation and deal closing capability of the organization.

Program Goals and Benefits
Well-designed corporate alumni programs can benefit the organization in many ways. Some of the possible goals of corporate alumni programs include:

HR-related goals:
* To improve the quality of hires by rehiring top performers and innovators (boomerang rehires are low-cost, typically have higher retention rates and reach minimum productivity much more quickly than most external hires).
* To increase the number and quality of employee referrals by expanding the program to include alumni.
* To strengthen the employer brand image throughout the industry.
* To increase retention rates among current employees by developing a stronger positive image.
* To increase the number of mentors available to current employees.

Business-related goals:
* To generate direct sales by making alumni customers.
* To increase the number of leads generated (customer referrals).
* To capture ideas and innovations from alumni.
* To get product assessment help.
* To get benchmarking help and to learn about industry best practices.
* To gather competitive intelligence.
* To get help from alumni in building strategic partnerships.

Get in touch with Conenza to discuss corporate social networking and the benefits of a Corporate Alumni Program.

PR firm Burson-Marsteller studied the 100 largest companies in the Fortune 500 list and found that 79% of then use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or corporate blogs to communicate with customers and other stakeholders. The firm broke its findings down by region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America) and network.

Twitter is the most popular platform that the companies use; two-thirds of the Fortune 100 have at least one Twitter account. Actually, they have an average of 4.2 Twitter accounts. Fifty-four percent have at least one Facebook fan page, 50% have at least one YouTube channel, and 33% have at least one corporate blog. Twenty percent of the companies use all four social media platforms.

Social networks like Twitter and Facebook are mostly West-oriented; Asia-Pacific companies don’t use them as much, instead preferring corporate blogs. When they do use Twitter or Facebook, it’s usually to engage consumers in Europe and North America.

There are a bunch of other interesting stats in the study — including proof that consumers actually do like to engage with companies via social media, making all those channels worthwhile. We’ve embedded Burson-Marsteller’s presentation below. Read the full article here.

Global Social Media Checkup

Discover why the world’s leading Global 2000 enterprises rely on Conenza’s corporate social networking software and expert community-building services to build and manage their employee and alumni communities.

For more information please visit our site at http://www.conenza.com

Event Archive: The Application of Enterprise Social Networking to Talent Acquisition and Management
Speaker: Katherine James Schuitemaker , Chief Marketing Officer , Conenza, Inc.

Every day global organizations are adopting social networking technologies to increase collaboration and improve organizational efficiencies. These collective workforce communities can enable large companies to tap into the knowledge and connections of current and former employees to drive significant business impact. Successful implementations report enhanced collaboration and communication, increased recruiting and talent management efficiency, and retained access of valuable intellectual capital.

How can talent acquisition leaders leverage this and apply to talent management and recruitment efforts? We will walk through the different types of communities that are being adopted within the enterprise, and the impact they can have on talent management programs.

To view this webinar or for more information on Conenza’s corporate social networking solution or getting started with the Conenza Community Core, please visit http://conenza.com.

The Conenza Community Platform integrates the best of social networking functionality to give your company a vibrant online community that drives engagement and interaction with the site. Conenza’s corporate social networking solution provides your company with the technology and resources it needs to deliver a highly rewarding employee and alumni community with minimal impact on your internal resources.

Connections
Your employees and alumni will be able to create networks of trusted personal and professional connections that enable enhanced dialogue and active tracking of people and topics of interest. Connections also drive increased frequency of use—drawing members back to the site to accept invitations to connect with their colleagues, learn what’s new, and stay to explore what’s been added to the site. Connections also serve a powerful role in contributing to the viral growth of your community.

Groups
Your company, employees, and alumni members can gather, compare notes, post resources, and collaborate around shared interests via Groups. Groups can be set up to be open or private, visible or hidden. Groups facilitate deeper connections within the community and create new ways for members to interact, engage, and create value together.

Messaging
Conenza’s social networking platform features an embedded internal messaging system and the ability for members to opt to have messages sent to their personal email address.

Document and Rich Media Sharing
Your company, employees, and alumni can share documents, photos, and video files enhancing the depth of information exchange and collaboration within the community.

Discover additional features of Conenza’s corporate social networking platform and learn how Conenza’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution is the product of more than a decade of experience building and managing the corporate communities of Global 2000 enterprises such as Microsoft. For more information please visit our site at http://www.conenza.com

Conenza’s corporate social networking software, deeply experienced insight and comprehensive consulting services enable you to foster meaningful relationships with your corporate alumni to fully realize the business value they represent.

When alumni can make valuable career and business connections, collaborate and exchange ideas with their peers, find out about exciting events, and enjoy privileged discounts and benefits on things that matter, you can count on them to be enthusiastic champions and brand advocates for your organization. Conenza has more than a decade of hands-on expertise in what it takes to engage and grow alumni communities with a combination of world-class technology and unique benefits and services.

The Conenza Community Platform provides a compelling member experience that keeps your alumni coming back to the site to:

* Make and renew trusted, personal and professional connections with former colleagues and friends

* Uncover hidden career and business development opportunities

* Connect, collaborate and innovate with peers on topics of shared interest

* Contribute to a community effort to create positive change in the world through corporate and collective philanthropy

* Take advantage of cost-effective individual and small business insurances, benefits and services, as well as other privileged-access perks

If you are looking to accelerate the successful launch of a new corporate alumni community, Conenza offers expert professional services to support every phase of the community lifecycle.

For more information please visit our site at http://conenza.com.

Conenza agrees with Econsultancy’s article regarding corporate social networking success factors. Conenza provides corporate strategic planning and social networking software.

Most major brands are hip to Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. And many have built up an impressive presence on the web’s most popular social hangouts.

But some of the more adventurous brands have also experimented with self-hosted communities of their own. Unfortunately, a large portion of them fail. Amongst the causalities are communities started by some of the world’s biggest brands, such as Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart.

But failure isn’t inevitable for brands looking to build their own communities outside of the Facebook and Twitters of the world. According to BrandWeek, a number of diet firms are finding success with their own online communities. Atkins Nutritionals, for instance, only has 3,714 fans on Facebook but its own online community at Atkins.com has plenty of activity. It reportedly reaches millions of people and appears to have over 400,000 registered members.

While a community dedicated to dieting, for example, has obvious advantages over a community for teenagers run by Wal-Mart, that doesn’t mean that brands can’t develop thriving online communities of their own if they consider the following.

* Focus. Communities develop around subjects that are important to people. That should go without saying. Unfortunately, many brands that launch online communities seem to forget that consumers aren’t interested in interacting around their brands 24/7. Instead, brands should identify how they relate to the lives of their customers. With that, they can focus in on building communities around subjects that are relevant to both their brands and their customers’ lives.

* Branding. Branded communities need to be branded. But the brand can’t be the experience; it has to be integrated into the experience.

* Functionality. Brands looking to reach consumers can’t be lazy and simply throw up a vanilla community with standard social networking functionality. Profiles, photo sharing, forums, etc. are all commoditized. To win, brands have to build functionality relevant to the community’s focus that differentiates the community and gives members a good reason to keep coming back on a regular basis.

* Participation/moderation. Communities don’t run themselves and brands can’t start them successfully with a hands-off approach. Instead, brands should make sure that they’re actively involved in the communities they run. While the level of involvement can vary, at a minimum brands should be prepared to ensure that their communities aren’t overrun with spam and bad behavior.

* Creativity. Brands often have incredible assets that can be used to create compelling community experiences. Contests, exclusive content, special events and rewards programs can all be employed in creative ways to entice consumers to join and participate. Unfortunately, many brands seem downright uninspired when it comes to using their corporate resources with their online communities.

Obviously, branded communities aren’t for every company and there are many advantages to tapping into the existing audiences on popular services like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. But that doesn’t mean that brands don’t have the opportunity to build something successful that they own and control. By keeping these five success factors in mind, that opportunity is easier realized.

Get in touch with Conenza to discuss your own employee social networking and business social networking software.

For more information please visit our site at http://conenza.com/