In the latter half of 2011, IBM met face to face with 1,709 CEOs and senior public sector leaders to better understand how the increasingly connected economy is affecting their outlook, plans, and presenting challenges. Reading IBM's 2012 Global CEO Study, we are the outside observer, noting the slow but steady shift towards networked organizations year over year, and rejoice in the proof of "outperformance" from these social organizations.

The State of the Blogosphere offers a useful spotlight on important trends and returns from blogging – many of which can be applied to the nonprofit sector. If you cross the results of the SOTB with the recent Idealware social media guide research and survey about how nonprofits use social media, the result is proof [...]

In an international survey of social network users, InSites Consulting found that social network users trust brands' social sites for information about the brand itself, second to peer information. Is this astonishing? In the article, I also think about how nonprofits can utilize this information for their brands.

How does social media fit into the overall messaging? What role does it play in the sales cycle? This post considers the value of social media in meeting organizational goals, conceptualized as a flow chart of the overall brand and program marketing strategy.

Two data sets, two different user groups, same results: Small businesses and nonprofit find social media effective for reaching new customers and strengthening existing relationships. Irrefutable evidence of the power of engagement.

There are plenty of other business functions besides sales and marketing that benefit from social media integration: human resources, internal communication, product development, training, customer service. I recently gave a presentation that talks about the ROI of integrating social media with these business functions. The slide show is embedded. Looking forward to your thoughts and contributions.