<p>Social business is becoming more of a priority for smaller firms that are striving to become more productive. According to an article in Tech Page One, the challenge is to combine the financial benefits of social and customer engagement efforts with sales and marketing. Meeting that goal requires the proper optimization of a company's IT department.</p><p>The Value of Social</p><p>The article also reported that midsize firms know that social collaboration is valuable. Due to limited resources, however, there are obstacles from the start to getting the quantifiable business outcomes that they desire. Time, money and IT knowledge are often inadequate for what companies initially want to achieve regarding the implementation of various social platforms and marketing channels. They are endeavoring to find a connection between social networking and a return on investment. Smaller companies can monitor key metrics on a weekly or monthly basis to measure social media success. Presence, engagement, conversions and sales can be tied to social collaboration, and because every platform is different and offers various benefits, interactions must be measured differently.</p><p>Socially Understood</p><p><a href="http://midsizeinsider.com/en-us/article/social-business-priorities-for-midsize-f">Keep reading...</a></p>