In this emerging new era of business, traditional corporations have an opportunity to reassess business models and processes that have been around for decades.

Corporations seeking to participate in social media have the opportunity to ‘refresh’ how employees communicate and collaborate, how product concepts and go-to- market strategies are created, the customer’s post-purchase experience and etc.

The 7P model is an ‘ingredient list’ of the key factors that goes into creating a viable internal and/or external social media initiative.  My working theory is the 7P model could assist in building the foundation that helps traditional corporations start their journey to become a social business.  More on that later.

7P Model

Purpose:  How is the social media initiative going to support internal/external business objectives and/or goals?

People:  Social media is not about technology, it’s about people.  Whether your business Purpose is targeting employees or customers, you need to understand if, how and why they are participating in social media.

Proposition:  Regardless if the People you want to engage are internal or external, earning People’s attention is a top priority and your biggest challenge.  Based on what you know about the People you want to engage, develop a clear and compelling Proposition so your target group can easily assess if your social initiative is relevant and of interest.

Platforms:  Platforms is where the corporation can engage employees and consumers online. Corporations need to develop an internal social based platform that aligns with existing/future IT platforms and the corporate culture.

From an external perspective, corporations need to assess if they can best achieve their Purpose with 3rd party or owned platforms.  Corporations need to know the Platforms where their customers and consumers are talking about them the most.

The 2010 Australia Brand Digital Report (Edelman Digital and Brandtology) states that Twitter is the number one ‘buzziest’ channel for Australian technology brands.

Example how Telstra is using social media to connect with socially enabled customers during the iPhone 4S launch in Sydney. Photo credit: Mike Hickinbotham

During the iPhone 4S launch, Telstra (disclaimer: I worked on Telstra’s iPhone 4S social media strategy) used a hashtag that was widely adopted by consumers.

Programming:  A corporation with social aspirations has to learn how to earn the (ongoing) attention of the intended consumer/customer.

Apart from Programming starting with the letter ‘p’, I think it conveys a broader approach than the term Content.  I see the three elements of a Programming strategy being Content, Engagement and Offers (CEO).  Getting the mix right will be based on the interests of your targeted online group and your short and long-term objectives.

Process:  This P focuses on all the internal happenings that will support or reject your organisation’s adoption of social media.  It focuses on ‘how things happen around here‘.

How does information flow from various different business units and teams within the same business unit?  It’s about doing a stocktake of existing Processes, People and Purposes and determining if existing Processes can be used to support your social initiative or if new Processes need to be implemented.  Process runs throughout the program of work and be in place well before your initiative goes live.

Performance:  Performance should consist of relevant social based Performance indicators like engagement, reach and sentiment.  The other set of Performance indicators need to reflect business based objectives such as a revenue increase and/or cost reduction.  Like Process, Performance runs throughout the program of work and should be defined at the start of the program of work.

7P model – background context

• The 7Ps model is a work in progress – perpetual beta.
• I’ve attempted to list the P’s in the order that they should be ‘ideally’ considered. Exceptions will apply.
• The 7P’s are represented as categories within my blog.  All posts will be categorised under the most relevant 7P.

Thanks for reading!