Companies are introducing enterprise social media networks (ESNs) to their organizations to help employees stay engaged and become more efficient. This guide will define ESNs, explain the social media technologies employees use to communicate and collaborate within the company, and how social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram help enterprise businesses enhance their brand and marketing strategies, thereby performing better.

What is an Enterprise Social Network?

An enterprise social network is a private internet social media network. A company’s enterprise social media platform is not the same as public social media networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, which are designed for professionals and general users.

Enterprise social networks provide a robust platform for businesses to facilitate collaboration, especially when some team members are working remotely and others from the company’s offices. These platforms usually include the following social media elements : 

• Social media collaboration and content management tools

• Instant messaging within social media platforms

• Social media-enhanced project management

• Social media task management tools

Some advanced ESNs also incorporate machine learning algorithms to personalize user experiences on the social media platform and predict useful content and resources based on user behavior.

All of these elements are included in the same social media communication platform. An enterprise social network (ESN) is exactly the right medium for encouraging team members to communicate and collaborate across silos. This enhances the company's brand and networking opportunities, leading to a higher level of employee engagement and more creative idea-sharing. When these social media tools are used together, it also leads to higher productivity.

Where Enterprise Social Networks Came From 

How did enterprise social networks get started? In the early 1990s, internet users began going online to connect and form communities based on shared interests. At that time, social media websites were very popular platforms for sharing content and networking. These early examples formed the basis for modern social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, which many people use today.

Social networks for businesses such as Jabber and Yammer also started to become popular. Yammer was a social media network similar to Facebook but used exclusively for internal business communications. It allowed users to communicate and network with each other through the platform’s interface. Businesses saw value in having a single social media platform on which to communicate and collaborate. This streamlined their brand messaging and made it easier for users to stay up to date. Microsoft acquired Yammer in 2012 and then used the Yammer model to build Microsoft Teams, enhancing their enterprise social media offerings.

Use Cases of Enterprise Social Networks 

Businesses are starting to understand the capabilities of enterprise social networking platforms to create value in their organizations by improving communication, knowledge sharing, and collaboration through social media tools. The following are some examples of use cases for enterprise social networking software: 

— Internal Communications

Enterprise social networks encourage users to engage in informal social media conversations. They are wonderful for building relationships and networking among coworkers. ESNs are very effective for communicating changes in the workplace, clarifying corporate policies, or introducing new employees to the rest of the team through social media posts and content.

 Moreover, enterprise social networks often feature integration with other enterprise solutions such as HR systems, workflow management tools, and social media platforms to further streamline internal business processes.

— Team Collaboration 

When a group of employees is working on a presentation or preparing a report, social media team collaboration software can streamline the process. Enterprise social networks make it easy for users to collaborate with other team members across various social media platforms to get work completed efficiently.

— Community 

The Community function in enterprise social networks creates branded social media spaces where users who have common responsibilities and interests can share their knowledge through content such as posts and videos. These individuals can gather and build relationships, enhancing employee engagement and translating into higher job morale. As a result, employees are happier and more productive.

— Social Customer Service and Extranets 

At times, company employees may need to work with an external team (such as contractors and public relations firms) to launch a new product or service. These shared projects must be conducted in a controlled social media environment. Extranet software with enterprise social networking capabilities provides the platform to monitor and manage these types of projects effectively.

 ESN software offers users a collaborative, controlled social media space that has enough flexibility to get the work completed. Its social media collaboration tools allow work teams to transfer content, share ideas, and interact in real-time on a unified platform.

 Customer support can be improved with enterprise social networks (ESNs). Customer service representatives can use the company’s internal social media network to acquire knowledge, while the public-facing part of the ESN platform can engage with customers and provide support. By using a single social media system, companies eliminate the need for steep learning curves when training team members, enhancing the overall customer support experience. 

Some social media systems can integrate with ticketing for advanced customer service, which improves efficiency and speed when providing customer support. Customers describe the type of issue they are having by filling in an online form, and a customer service representative will respond to the queries in the order they are received. Customers can provide billing or receipt numbers to help the representative. The team can respond to issues at any time of the day through the social media platform to keep customer satisfaction levels high.

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Why is an Enterprise Social Network Important for a Business?

Enterprise social media benefits can positively impact employees’ professional lives and help the business thrive by leveraging a unified social media platform.

Efficient Communication

ESNs streamline communication between coworkers by replacing lengthy email threads with either public or private social media communication channels. Workers can communicate using private channels and messaging within the ESN social media platform. Employees can track the conversations and make sure they are not missing out on any crucial details shared through the social media network.

The social media technology makes company directories more accessible. Employees don’t need to spend time looking for email addresses to send coworkers messages on separate platforms. Instead, they can find their colleagues in real-time through the social media network for communication purposes.

Cloud-based Knowledge Repository

Enterprise social networks function as an all-access social media platform. Employees can get access to all company content and documents, such as :   

• Data gathered for various projects on social media platforms

• Guides shared through the social media platform

• Industry news shared on social media sites

• Research papers available on the social media platform

• Training resources shared via social media

Integrating a cloud-based knowledge repository with the enterprise social media platform streamlines the company’s document and content management. It also allows employees to access the most current version of any file on the social media network. A centralized knowledge repository makes onboarding new employees quicker and easier. Since they can gain access to information through the social media platform right away, they can start contributing immediately.

Internal Social Network

ESNs are a good place to set up informal social media channels to build camaraderie between employees. Users can discuss topics that interest them in a virtual social media space. Workers can be encouraged to share facts about themselves through social media posts and form closer ties with their coworkers, even if they are working in different locations.

Centralized Collaboration  

Placing all the company’s shared documents, task assignments, and project data on a single social media platform makes it easy for employees to keep track of projects. Enterprise social networks make it easier for teams to collaborate no matter where the individual members are located through various social media channels. These social media platforms work well for teams that are fully remote or partly remote.

The addition of comprehensive social media analytics tools within some ESNs allows companies to monitor and measure employee engagement and productivity effectively on their social media platforms.

A social media communication network that allows all employees to collaborate in real-time improves overall employee morale. It helps all team members feel as though they belong to a connected social media community. Fostering a sense of belonging is important among employees during times when team members may not have the opportunity to meet their colleagues face-to-face.

Encourages an Inclusive Corporate Culture 

Enterprise social network software can’t transform a company’s social media corporate culture to make it an inclusive one. The corporate culture must be well established before the decision is made to introduce an ESN or any social media tool. An ESN can clarify company culture for new hires and remote employees who aren’t in the company’s offices daily through social media content.

When these workers watch videos and read social media content about their coworkers, it helps them get a clear idea of the company culture. They can feel comfortable about communicating with their colleagues and sharing their ideas through social media posts and interactions, which can only benefit the company as a whole.

Increases Employee Productivity

In many companies, employees use several social media tools and platforms to find information, collaborate, and communicate with each other. They must switch between various social media apps throughout the day, which ends up wasting a lot of time. 

An ESN that integrates with popular work tools the employees are familiar with, such as Google Drive, Microsoft SharePoint, Slack, and other social media apps, allows employees to access these apps in one place. They can work much more productively as a result.

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Encourages Cross-team Collaboration 

The ESN makes it easier for teams within the company to collaborate. The social media communication platform allows them to share documents and social media content for projects they are working on together. Document management is made easier and more convenient with the integrated social media tools.

Drives Transparency within the Company

An ESN enhances transparency within the company through its social media platform. It creates a sense of being part of something bigger and encourages employee engagement. The transparency of an internal social media network makes it easier for a manager to share when an employee has done a great job with the rest of the team and the entire company through posts and updates. The positive feedback will encourage the employee to continue working hard and may influence others to follow suit.

Remote Workers Feel Included 

Remote workers don’t have the advantage of asking the person sitting near them a question when they have a problem at work. If their company has deployed an ESN, their coworkers are available to them through the enterprise social media networking tools on the social media platform.

All users can ask questions and make comments publicly or privately on the social media platform to stay connected with their fellow employees and managers. They can read company updates from executives through social media posts and content, feeling as though they are connected to what is happening in the corporation.