Social media is now the dominant online activity and drives more website traffic than online search. The implications for businesses are as profound as the rise of Google 15 years ago. Amidst the demands of running a business, it can be alluring to fully delegate "digital" to the digital team. But in today's wired environment, digital is actually everyone's job. Company leaders and professionals must seek to personally grasp the tectonic changes arising from the always-connected customer, and then rethink traditional business models, business practices, and even their own job responsibilities and careers accordingly. In The Social Business Imperative, Silicon Valley entrepreneur and renowned thought leader Clara Shih identifies powerful new opportunities created by social media across the entire customer lifecycle. As described in the book's foreword, written by Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz, this guide is a must-read for all professionals. From boards of directors, CEOs, and Chief Marketing Officers to to front-line sales managers, recruiters, IT, and compliance directors, no role is untouched by the social, mobile, digital transformation. This book explains how to adapt and thrive in this brilliant new world order by understanding the transformation taking place not only in one's own department but across the customer journey. Only with this broader understanding can functional leaders collaborate on delivering a cohesive experience spanning previous organizational silos.   Going far beyond her global bestseller The Facebook Era, Shih offers unprecedented insights into why and how traditional organizations must re-imagine their existing business processes to capture “the digital last mile” across social, mobile messaging apps, Internet of Everything, and the collaborative economy. Drawing on her immense experience helping Fortune 500 companies operationalize digital transformation to drive measurable uplift in sales and loyalty, Shih also presents powerful new case studies spanning multiple industries and companies from Wells Fargo to Warby Parker.   “A book worth reading, a voice worth listening to, from a leader of real consequence. A clarion call on the promise and potential of social channels to transform business.” —Walter Robb, Co-CEO, Whole Foods Market “This is a must-read for any business leader who wants to thrive in this time of disruptive change.” —Chip Bergh, President & CEO, Levi Strauss & Co. "Whether you're a global brand, small local business, or individual who wants to turn your passion into a livelihood, this book simply and clearly articulates how to channel the power of social media to delight audiences and grow your business." —Marne Levine, COO of Instagram “Almost overnight, social media has transformed business and the way we as companies interact with our customers. In a way, social media has become part of everyone’s job. Clara's book gets right to the heart of the matter and gets us thinking critically about what could be next on this roller coaster ride.” —Robin Hayes, President and CEO, JetBlue “The power of Clara’s book is it highlights not only social media practices but fundamental business practices and how company leaders need to entirely rethink customer engagement models. The implications for every business, regardless of industry or geography, of today’s social, connected consumer cannot be overstated. This book provides a powerful vision and compelling call to action for company leaders everywhere.” —Ted Mathas, Chairman and CEO, New York Life

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Howard Shultz xv List of Case Studies and Guest Author Sidebars xvii Acknowledgments xix About the Author xxi Introduction 1 Part I: New Business Models 7 Chapter 1: The Social, Always-Connected Consumer 9 Constant Connectivity 10 The Social Business Imperative 12 The Omnichannel Mandate 17 New Business Models, New Business Practices 20 Chapter 2: The Internet of Everything and Big Data Explosion 21 What IoT Means for Businesses 22 IoT Realities and Possibilities 23 The Big Data Explosion and Predictive Applications 28 Summary 31 Chapter 3: Trust, Convenience, and Millennials: The Collaborative Economy 33 Social Networks Meet the Collaborative Economy 35 Millennial Attitudes Transforming Business 38 Lessons from Collaborative Marketplaces 42 Summary 46 Part II: Business Functions Reimagined 47 Chapter 4: The Management Team and Board Mandate 49 A Lesson from History 51 Social CEOs Leading by Example 54 The Social Business Agenda for Boards of Directors 59 Viewing Social Media Offensively Versus Defensively 60 Summary 63 Chapter 5: From Transactional to Trusted Advisor: The Social Sales Professional 65 Do We Need Salespeople? 68 The Age of the Social Sales Professional 74 Becoming a Social Sales Professional 76 How Field Leaders Operationalize Social Selling 87 Summary 90 Chapter 6: Social Marketing: From Campaigns to Experiences 91 Five Marketing Pillars of Social Business 93 Four Steps to Successful Social Marketing 113 Summary 120 Chapter 7: Mobile Messaging and Social Commerce: Going from ‘Likes’ to ‘Buys’ 121 A History of Fits and Starts 123 Mobile Messaging Apps as Payment and Transaction Platforms 124 ‘Buy’ Buttons 130 Summary 133 Chapter 8: Social Customer Service 135 A Big Opportunity 136 How Customer Service Has Changed 137 Four Steps to Effective Social Customer Care 142 Summary 147 Chapter 9: Social Recruiting: How Recruiting Is Becoming Like Marketing 149 The New Rules of Recruiting 151 Four Steps to Social Recruiting 158 Once You’ve Hired Them 169 Summary 170 Part III: Enterprise Execution Playbook 173 Chapter 10: How to Operationalize Social Business 175 Common Pitfalls and Solutions 176 Social Business Initiatives 178 Social Business Measurement 183 Summary 186 Chapter 11: Legal, Governance, and Compliance Frameworks 187 Key Areas of Social Media Risk 189 Considerations for Highly Regulated Industries 193 The Risk Mitigation Playbook 201 Summary 206 Chapter 12: The Changing IT and Information Security Landscape 207 The Age of the Chief Innovation Officer 208 Consumerization of IT 209 Social Media Policies and Training 211 Summary 212 Closing Remarks 213 Index 215