PHL could overtake developed countries in Social Business, IBM exec says

The Philippines has the unique opportunity to leapfrog other developed nations in terms of integrating social media in the business space, given the country's leading position in the social networking arena, an IBM executive remarked recently. In an exclusive e-mail interview with GMA News Online, Sandy Carter, vice president and social business evangelist at IBM, said that the Filipinos' social inclinations both personally and professionally could bode well for the country. "With the first mover advantage that exists in Social Business, this means the Philippines can become trail blazers and global benchmarks in this realm," Carter told GMA News Online. The IBM executive cited a study by market research firm comScore which cited that over 90 percent of the Philippine Internet population is currently signed up on Facebook, earning the country the moniker "Social Networking Capital of the World." "It's clear, social networking rules in the Philippines," she quipped. With Filipinos' skill in developing relationships, Carter said this leadership can be translated into business benefits and eventually make the country a trailblazer and a "global benchmark" in the Social Business realm. Need for community managers To take advantage of this leadership, however, Carter advised companies in the Philippines to consider hiring community managers, or those who manage the online presence of businesses especially on social networking sites, in order to protect and promote their brands in the digital space. "When you go into social media, it's essential for you to have a strong community manager. They will keep the community moving, keep it active and energized, to bring benefits to the business," she explained. Over time, however, Carter said the role of the community manager may expand into the following functions in the Social Business:

• Social Business Risk Manager. A person who is focused on managing the risk associated with clients controlling brand online. The role entails building a risk management plan, selecting a listening tool for ensuring risk is assessed, and ensuring groups of people can rally around a recovery.
• Reputation manager. a person responsible for building, maintaining and protecting a company’s reputation. Reputation is what clients and potential clients believe to be true about your company.
• Social Analytics manager. A person who monitors, listens and analyzes the sentiment (or feelings of people online, and turns the massive amounts of data into insight. This role will become increasingly important as more automated tools are coming into the market.
• Social customer support manager. A person responsible for scouring the blogsphere for customer concerns, insights, and statements. This person’s role will have to extend through multi channels of input – including social tools like Twitter, Facebook, as well as traditional channels of phone which has now become one of many places where listening and turning data into insight will occur.

With the emergence of cloud technologies as well as mobile devices, Carter said community managers would be tasked to "enable workers to be effective, collaborative and innovative" and drive business transformation in the coming years. "The adoption of cloud computing is on the rise as companies look to adopt new delivery models to improve efficiencies in their organizations. Social business fills this market need for organizational efficiency," she added. In order to drive this career position forward in the Philippines, Carter said said IBM has recently launched—and first in the Philippines—a community manager training program which aims to train would-be managers the requirements of the profession. Through the program, potential managers will be taught the basics of setting goals for their community, as well as provide them an on-the-job experience of managing a community on their own. "The challenge is that this position is relatively, brand new, uncharted territory," Carter said. — TJD, GMA News