The Mckinsey Quarterly has completed research on the measurable business benefits that companies are getting from leveraging social media and web 2.0, documented in the article The rise of the networked enterprise: Web 2.0 finds its payday
This is a great piece of research because it captures the tangible business benefits of using social media.
Many executives doubt the benefit of social media but this study reveals that quantifiable and real benefits are achievable.
The article can be accessed through the link above but what I want to highlight in this blog are the benefits companies can derive from social media because they offer insights into where leaders should focus there attention.
Internal benefits:
| % of respondents whose companies are achieving Internal benefits from their use of Web 2.0 technologies | |
| Increasing speed of access to knowledge | 77 |
| Reducing communication costs | 60 |
| Increasing speed of access to internal experts | 52 |
| Decreasing travel costs | 44 |
| Increasing employee satisfaction | 41 |
| Reducing operational costs | 40 |
| Reducing time to market for products/services | 29 |
| Increasing number of successful innovations for new products or services | 28 |
| Increasing revenue | 18 |
Customer related benefits
| % of respondents whose companies are achieving customer related benefits from their use of Web 2.0 technologies | |
| Increasing effectiveness of marketing Awareness | 63 |
| Increasing customer satisfaction | 50 |
| Reducing marketing costs | 45 |
| Decreasing travel costs | 29 |
| Reducing time to market for products/services | 26 |
| Increasing number of successful innovations for new products/services | 24 |
| Increasing revenue | 18 |
Partner / supplier benefits
| % of respondents whose companies are achieving external partner related benefits from their use of Web 2.0 technologies | |
| Increasing speed of access to knowledge | 57 |
| Reducing communication costs | 53 |
| Increasing satisfaction of suppliers, partners, external experts | 45 |
| Increasing speed of access to external experts | 40 |
| Reducing travel costs | 38 |
| Reducing time to market for products/ services | 28 |
| Reducing product development costs | 22 |
| Increasing number of successful innovations for new products/services | 20 |
| Increasing revenue | 16 |
We’ve long being saying that once people get over the hype of social media and it “grows up” social media will become an essential and integrated part any successful business. You can read our article WHEN SOCIAL MEDIA GROWS UP… IT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING