The Social Business Life Cycle

This is a work in progress. I am still not sure if “Social Business Life Cycle” is the right word.  I was also thinking about calling it the “Social Business Adoption Life Cycle” but I am not sure.  I would love your feedback on how I can improve this so that it makes more sense.

Social Business Life Cycle

The point I am trying to make with this model is that there is a chronological approach that has forced the evolution of social business. It started with the growing influence of the social customer.  The immediate response to the social customer is what is referred to as the social brand (i.e. brands/companies and organizations engaging with the social customer on the social web). Today, the social brand is causing a multitude of challenges internally (i.e. no governance and policies, employees running wild in social media, social media ownership issues, etc.) for many organizations and they are now trying to operationalize social media internally.

This model represents most companies today.

I argue in my book that an organization must first focus internally and get their “internal houses” in order so that any and all external engagements with the social customer are more meaningful, actionable and more effective.

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About the Author

Michael Brito

Michael currently works for Edelman Digital as a Vice President and leads the digital team in Silicon Valley. He currently provides strategic counsel, guidance and best practices to several of Edelman's top global accounts.

Previously, Michael worked for major brands in Silicon Valley (HP, Yahoo! and Intel) and was instrumental in driving social media programs and campaigns emphasizing authenticity and long-term relationship building.

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