When it comes to social media in the enterprise, we’re at an interesting inflection point. For some time now, companies have been trying to figure out the business value of social media in communicating with customers as well as communicating internally among themselves.

Many are still figuring it out, many already have, and many have decided social media simply isn’t for them. Those who have figured it out realize social media isn’t one size fits all. It’s not a single technology with a single purpose. Depending on which tools are used and how, social media can translate into better marketing, better internal visibility and collaboration, better customer service – but whatever business function is improved, it should ultimately translate into better business for the organization as a whole.

I hesitate to say that any company has truly mastered social media, for social media is in constant flux – bent every which way by the constant evolution of technology and how it incites or reflects changes in the way people behave. But in my experience, the companies that have figured out how to harness the power of social media for business gain have been able to do it by combining the alignment of people, tools and methods with an ongoing process of experimentation, value assessment and continued refinement. But before this can happen, decisions need to be made.

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