Last week I spoke at an event and the definition of social media came up. Some people refer to social networking tools when they speak of social media while others refer to the notion of engagement and content on the web. I’m more of a “gelato in a cone” kinda gal. I view social media as engagement and content (gelato) that lives in some kind of an “online container”, such as a social networking site or another web platform (cone). I’m looking for both. I would even argue that customer experiences, whether social or not, could and should be connected to optimize their journey. For example, social content can live on your web site and your social networking sites and conversations can be prominently featured at your events.

Building on the “gelato in a cone” interpretation of social media, we (@CiscoSocial) will be hosting a social media event for the savvy marketer in San Jose on April 18 and 19. Anyone and everyone is welcome to attend this free event as we bring together some super bright practitioners for 2 days of live chats and presentations. The practitioners that are lending their expertise and time to our event come from Twitter, LinkedIn, Kaiser Permanente, Walmart, Adobe, SAP, Intel, VMware, Citrix, ABC, eBay, Salesforce.com, MindShare, Engauge, Percolate, BuzzFeed, Performics, Digby, Blinq Media, Cisco, and more.

You may attend in person or via webcast, just please register ahead of time.

Register for the in-person event: http://cs.co/SMevent.

Register for the webcast: http://cs.co/SMEventWebcast.

Hash tags: #CiscoSMT, #SocialSavvy

Ping us at @CiscoSocial

We have a wide range of topics lined up for you, check out some details here:  Read More »

Tags: Adobe, best practices, Cisco, citrix, ebay, EMC, engauge, event, how to, Intel, linkedin, mindshare, salesforce, SAP, slideshare, social media, strategy, twitter, UPS, VMware, walmart

Integrating Social Media Channels into Existing CRM Systems and Processes

The year is 2024, and you just walked into a department store to return a pair of jeans. As you enter the store, the near field communication (NFC) chip in your smartphone tells the store who you are because you have enabled the privacy settings to do so. The store knows you’re an active fan on Facebook. You’re even classified as one of their ambassadors. You’ve been identified as a frustrated customer after posting a comment on the company’s Wall about your brand new jeans being defective. One of the sales representatives receives an alert message that you’ve arrived, and she’s waiting for you in the jean section, holding a new pair of the same jeans, in your size, ready to make an exchange. The NFC chip in your phone has already confirmed your identity, reducing the need to show a receipt, credit card, or drivers license. You’re out the door with a new pair of jeans faster than you’re able to post a raving review on their Facebook wall, reclassifying you as an advocate in their CRM system.

“They replaced my busted jeans without even asking a question!”

OK, the year is not 2024, Cisco doesn’t sell jeans, and I’ve only been able to use NFC once in the year I’ve had it on my smartphone. But haven’t you wished that the company you just called already knew the past phone, email, even Facebook conversations you’ve had with them so that you didn’t need to explain yourself to them again and again? Isn’t your time valuable, shouldn’t all of their systems talk to each other to create a better, not worse experience for you? Read More »

Tags: click-to-chat, lead generation, marketing, marketingcloud, radian6, salesforce, Social CRM, social listening, social media, twitter

Keeping more than 20,000 Cisco salespeople in 87 countries up to date on our hundreds of products and solutions is a critical and challenging task. Just ask members of the Global Virtual Team Program. They are responsible for bringing SMEs from various business units together to provide product and related training directly to the salesforce, which is mostly done through WebEx conference calls, webinars, recorded content on shared topics, hands-on labs, and live events at Cisco’s San Jose campus. Read More »

Tags: coc-collaboration, collaboration, enterprise social platform, sales productivity, salesforce, WebEx Social

A social opportunity was knocking but it was hard to hear, buried under thick layers of social noise and harder to reach by the right people with the right message. Cisco knew customers wanted to engage and were using social media tools to ask questions and share about products and services. But  knowing what people were saying about Cisco and their purpose for saying it, required a strategy that met both needs.

Cisco assembled a team that would listen for and support  a customer from their first social media post through the entire engagement. Members of Social Listening, Global Contact Center and Virtual Sales teams all met to discuss what it meant to develop and nurture a social channel.

The team’s initial instincts were right. Customers do use social media to research products and just as critically they use it to purchase.  Research from the IBM Institute for Business Value analysis – CRM Study 2011 illustrates the potential and possibility of meeting customer expectations.

Read More »

Tags: radian6, salesforce, Social CRM, social listening, social media

Cupid has worked his magic and helped us bring together some awesome speakers for our February 14^th Social Enterprise Day at Social Media Week. Check out our full agenda and information on how to register.  All times are in Pacific Standard Time.

8:00 – 8:55 Networking Breakfast

8:55 – 9:00 Welcome

9:00 – 9:50 Executive Dialogue: Social Media through an Executive Lens
Cisco executives, Carlos Dominguez and Sheila Jordan will share their perspectives on social media adoption. Carlos will tell his story on how and why he has become an avid social media user and Sheila will take you behind the firewall. She will highlight how you can prepare your IT organization to help drive adoption of social media and collaboration technologies. This dialogue will focus on understanding how a company can embrace social media at the executive level while protecting its intellectual property.

Dialoguers: Carlos Dominguez (@carlosdominguez), SVP, “The Tech Nowist”, Cisco and Sheila Jordan (@CiscoSheila), SVP, Communication and Collaboration IT, Cisco
Moderator: Karen Snell (@kcsnell), Social Media Communications Manager, Cisco

Access recording

10:00 – 10:50 Cisco’s Social Media Journey
This presentation will give you a sneak peek into Cisco’s social media journey, best practices, innovations and lessons learned over the years. Jeanette will also give you some tips on how to set up and scale your social media center of excellence based on Cisco’s center of excellence model. 

Presenter: Jeanette Gibson (@JeanetteG), Senior Director, Global Social Media and Digital Marketing, Cisco

Access recording

11:00 – 11:50 Panel: The Road to Becoming a Social Business
This panel will explore the framework for becoming a social business and offer perspectives on social content strategy to create great stories. This session will address questions on how to scale your social efforts across your company and globally, and will leave you with some practical tips and lessons learned. 

Moderator: Michael Brito (@britopian), SVP, Social Business Planning, Edelman Digital
Panelists: Read More »

Tags: B2B, best practices, cxo, event, events, Executives, how to, jeremiah owyang, JIVE, linkedin, Listening, michael brito, radian6, salesforce, slideshare, Social Business, Social CRM, Social Media Week, twitter