Enterprise Social Network - What Is It & Why Do You Need It?

Nowadays, there are many tools a business can employ to boost work ethic, productivity, and, ultimately, profit. One of these tools is an Enterprise Social Network (ESN). An ESN is a great tool any business that relies on team communication can use to improve communication and collaboration. But what exactly is an ESN, and how can it help your business grow? In this article, we answer these questions, and we go further and discuss the top 5 best ESN tools currently available - let's get started!

What Is An Enterprise Social Network?

An Enterprise Social Network is an organization-specific platform used by companies for communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. Think of it as a central communication platform in which a company's team members can easily interact with each other.

Enterprise social networking is used to improve internal communication, encouraging team members to be proactive and increase productivity. Enterprise social networking tools include instant messaging, group discussions, project management tools, and file sharing.

5 Best Enterprise Social Network Tools

1) eclincher

eclincher is a versatile tool, its main use is as a social media management platform, but its ESN tools are so good that it easily takes the number one spot. eclincher's ESN features include:

A unified single social inbox - Allowing your team to manage multiple social media accounts and engage with your customers more efficiently.

Content creation and scheduling - Your team can schedule all the business's social media marketing posts from the comfort of one platform.

Streamline collaboration - eclincher has many handy features that make communication between team members much easier. Additionally, the tools also help your team members work more efficiently and boost overall productivity, such as task management.

If you are looking for a platform with impressive enterprise social networking capabilities plus some great tools to take your social media marketing to the next level - then go for eclincher!

2) Marketo

Like eclincher, Marketo automates most of your marketing processes and makes social media campaigns more effective. But it's also one of the best enterprise social networks. Using this platform, team members can collaborate more efficiently and improve communication. Overall, Marketo is a great alternative to eclincher! It can also be used to track social mentions and much more!

3) Zendesk

Zendesk is primarily a customer service and engagement platform, but with a little bit of creativity, it can be used as an ESN. Zendesk features a centralized ticketing system - allowing teams to manage customer support better. You can also use it to post on the best social media platforms for real estate as well.

The platform also has multi-channel support, this feature allows teams to handle customer inquiries from a plethora of sources, such as emails, live chats, and social and informal communication on social media.

4) Salesforce

Many people know Salesforce as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform, but did you know that it is a great ESN tool as well? Salesforce has a chatter that acts as a company-wide communication network. Additionally, the platform features a shared contact database, boosting collaboration between team members for all things marketing, sales, and customer support.

5) Social Sprout

This is an effective social media scheduling tool you can employ as an ESN platform to boost internal communication and collaboration. Like eclincher, the tool also has a unified inbox that you can use to manage all social networking interactions. You can also use it to schedule and publish posts - making life for your marketing team much easier. Overall, Social Sprout is a great tool if you want your team to collaborate better and execute social media strategies better.

Benefits Of An Enterprise Social Network

1) Streamlines Internal Communications

An ESN creates a centralized internal platform team members can use for informal conversations and sharing information. Gone are the days of going back and forth with email chains - an ESN facilitates better communication between your team because they can more easily address issues, share updates and make decisions than with emails.

2) Creates A Repository Of Company Knowledge

An ESN serves as a centralized knowledge repository - allowing your team to access and contribute to everything relating to the business. Team members can search for answers in the cloud-based knowledge repository and gain valuable insights into the company's business activities and processes.

3) Promotes Collaboration

ESNs are a great way of promoting collaboration because they create virtual spaces where team members can openly communicate, share resources and perform more efficient project and document management. Team members can easily communicate with team members in other departments and locations - facilitating a drive for increased productivity and innovation.

Things To Consider Before Picking an ESN

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1) Company Goals

It is important to define your company goals and what you wish to achieve using the enterprise tools. It is important to take into consideration all the relevant information, such as whether it can contribute to better communication, collaboration, and productivity.

Additionally, identify areas in your business that needs improvement and select a platform that addresses those areas and aligns with your company goals. Doing so can enhance employee morale, productivity, engagement, and innovation.

2) Governance Policies

There should always be a strict list of governance policies when using social tools within your organization. The policies should aim to promote acceptable usage, privacy, and security. An ESN is still a place where business should be the primary focus - keeping this in mind is important when creating guidelines.

Find an ESN that promotes your guidelines and can enforce them - trust me, this is essential!

3) Company Budget

An ESN can be a costly ongoing endeavor. Therefore, it is important to decide whether the ESN will boost productivity so much that it can justify the cost of the ESN. Smaller companies are more susceptible to this.

Implementing and maintaining an ESN includes subscription fees, training, support, and customization. Therefore, choose an ESN that balances features and affordability,

Frequently Asked Questions

What is meant by enterprise social network?

An Enterprise Social Network is a platform that promotes company culture by providing tools to boost productivity and collaborative efforts.

What is an enterprise social network example?

An ESN example is eclincher and Slack. These tools streamline team collaboration and promote innovation and better work efficiency.

What is the difference between intranet and enterprise social network?

An intranet is primarily used as a repository for documents and resources. In comparison, an ESN is used for team interaction, collaboration, and communication.

What are 5 examples of social networks?

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok

Which companies are social enterprises?

eclincher, Slack, Yammer, and ZenDesk are all examples of excellent social enterprises.

The Bottom Line

An ESN is an excellent platform you can employ in your business to boost team collaboration and productivity. However, it is important to consider what are your budget and the goals you wish to achieve by using this tool. Additionally, creating strict governance policies is vital in preventing team members from using the ESN for the wrong reasons. If you wish to know more about an ESN and how it can help your team boost work ethic and productivity - then feel free to reach out to us. We guide you through all the steps and help you make the right decision for your business.