Best Enterprise Social Networking Software in 2024

Enterprise social networking has given employees in the business world a whole new dimension, as it has inspired them to use a new skill for business purposes: social networking. The phenomenon has gone all the way from entertaining to irreplaceable, and has prescribed social media platforms with a new role to keep organizations and customers connected. This being said, Facebook and Twitter are no longer your after-work activities: they are the core of your online business processes.

The process of introducing the best enterprise social networking tools in the office is gaining steam outside consumer space, and the rationale ought to be prescribed both for its internal and external connecting power. Internally, social tools enable employees to collaborate and get access to knowledge and materials, while externally it improves business connections both with customers and potential partners in the ecosystem. Eventually, every company will have to implement the best enterprise social networking tools for enterprises and SMBs in order to benefit from communication opportunities.

Enterprise Social Networking refers to taking advantage of social relations between people with similar business activities/interests. It is either an external business networking service which modifies companies’ intranets, or an integrated part of their classic communication and project management platforms.

Regardless of whether you’re thinking to invest in such a system for the first time or to upgrade your current one, there will be a variety of amazing platforms to choose from. While having the right to choose is usually a good circumstance, it can be equally confusing for business owners who didn’t prepare to look for one. So, how should you prepare?

The core of your preparation should be to consider the size of your company. Each platform out there caters to a different type of business, meaning that large international corporations can’t use one that is suitable for startups with less than 30 people. In addition, you should prepare a list of essential requirements and expectations, and settle for nothing less than a platform that can respond to them.

We recommend you start by registering for the free trial plans or demo offered by leading enterprise social networking software providers to get a chance to try out the features at no cost. This will help you to do a comparison and learn about the strengths and drawbacks of each individual software. Here is a list of the apps that have received impressive SmartScore rankings and Customer Satisfaction Rating in our enterprise social networking software reviews: Clarizen reviews, eXo Platform, Slack, Noodle Intranet, Zoho Connect, and Igloo Software.

• Small businesses use the software to help employees collaborate across locations and departments.
• Medium-sized companies connect, compete, and achieve using the solution.
• Large enterprises like DHL, Shell, Capgemini, and 7-Eleven are also major users of the software.

• Clarizen: Clarizen combines robust project management with quality social collaboration to enable your team to execute ideas productively.
• eXo Platform: eXo Platform offers a wide range of collaboration tools integrated around a social layer.
• Slack:  Slack is a messaging application that brings all your communication together in one place. It offers real-time messaging, search, and archiving for modern teams.
• Zoho Connect: Zoho Connect offers an enterprise social network that enables users to connect with their colleagues and share ideas.
• Igloo Software:  Igloo Software provides a web-based intranet solution for small business that helps teams manage their projects, workflows, and resources.
• Yammer: Yammer is an ESN software that is often described as “Facebook for businesses.” It helps manage both internal and external corporate communication via a social portal.

• Enterprise microblogging – Users can start conversations, create polls, share news, files, and links, and view and reply to posts from colleagues.
• Mobile apps – Full-featured apps for Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and Blackberry with real-time updates and notifications.
• Instant messaging and group chat – You can chat 1-to-1 with a team member or group chat will all the project members at once.
• Blogs, Wikis, and Posts – You can create and collaboratively edit web pages using a WYSIWYG editor.
• Video conferencing – You can participate in a video conference using your computer’s webcam and microphone.

The truth is that almost every company needs a different set of features depending on its scale or industry, but there is still something we could wrap up as being the ‘compulsory package’ for every business:

Social Dashboards: Dashboards are the cornerstone of your intranet communication, being the start up page from where you get to contact all team members, share files, and discuss different topics. The crisp interface organizes information in a comprehensive way, resembling a social newsfeed where you get to follow all updates that matter to you.

The ‘People’ section: This section plays the role of a contact book where information regarding internal/eternal parties of interest is synchronized straight from social networks. You will be able to see personal data, skills, history of social activities, group participation, and many other hints available to the social community.

Content creation: A good ESNS lets you create content on dot – an invaluable feature for teams that used to switch between channels to create pages and share spreadsheets. Information is visible and regularly updated, instead of staying hidden in private inboxes.

Comments and tagging support: To start, you should be able to follow tags and comments, and add one of yours straight from your ESN app. A search filter for capturing particular comments and tags could be even more handy.

Integration and mobile-friendliness: An ESNS has to function in harmony with your existing social infrastructure, meaning that you won’t have any trouble integrating it with your CRM, HR, ERP, or other system. Advanced platforms even offer out-of-the-box integrations, such as the one with Salesforce.com or Microsoft SharePoint.

At the same time, you have to look for a tool that can be accessed and used from multiple devices, in order to contact peers, share information, and follow updates wherever you are.

Performance improvement features: The presence and quality of these features depends on the creativity of developers, and it is exactly where ESNSs start being different from each other, and how they focus on a particular industry. Depending on the needs of your business, you can look for a program with multi-selection activities, idea voting, talent mentoring, local development support, etc.

For the sake of truth, enterprise social networking software tools are not exactly affordable, and you have to use a large portion of your marketing budget to cover the expense of getting one. Still, if you sit down and re-evaluate the goals of your business, you will most probably conclude that using an ESNS with its full potential is a good fit for your growth, profitability, and quality relationships. What we’re trying to say here is that a good ESNS is more likely to save your money, than to waste it.

Our detailed comparisons reveal the following compelling benefits:

Cost-effectiveness: As we already pointed out, an enterprise social networking system is supposed to be cost effective. There will be a certain portion of your budget that has to be invested in the tool, but the tool itself will open an endless sea of possibilities to enhance your relationships: instead of wandering across platforms to see who contacted you or where you’ve been mentioned, you’ll have a virtual organizer to take the workload off your shoulder.

Developing optimization: Social networks are growing and developing, and so is your need to keep up with latest trends and obtain competitive advantage. It is an area where you’re just not allowed to relax, and where thereof ESNSs become the most handy.

As a business holder nowadays, you’re not only supposed to respond to customers’ expectations, but to exceed them repeatedly. The entire machinery of developing social networks, competing companies, and eager-to-know customers shapes the more and more demanding list of optimization expectations. Being completely honest, your role has nothing to do with creating trends any more – you need to learn how to be influential in the market.

A whole new level of customer support: Social networking software is usually packed with well-built and fine-tuned support, meaning that you get to consult experienced and knowledge-loaded professionals when building a social networking strategy. In fact, the best among them will stay agile and anticipate issues to contact you when necessary. Reaching out to them should be as simple as possible, such as live chat or a 24/7 phone line.

Improved relationship with customers: As you already know from personal experience, the mere fact of being there and providing services on multiple platforms can do miracles for your reputation and trustworthiness. Customers find the experience of being able to contact you invaluable, and it is usually the fact that you’re featured on multiple locations that convinces them to use your services. Reaching out to the audience is good for building potential partnerships, attracting investors, and other parties that may be interested in what you’re doing.

Improved internal communication: Purchasing an internal communication system means providing employees with a full-featured collaboration platform where they won’t be distracted by out-of-schedule activities. As an admin, you will be able to monitor that communication and to discover critical issues before they even happen.

A variety of great features: ESNSs are robust with advanced features for managing your brand, most of them related to processing quality, improved productivity, reliability, and daily processes you need to take care of.

As we already indicated, ESN software are a meaningful investment, and just until recently businesses were required to spend tens of thousands each month to cover licensing fees. It was mostly because ESN software were available only on SaaS basis (and therefore hosted by the vendor). Nowadays, many producers have moved to the cloud and simplified plug-in connections and data storage, which has had an important role in lowering their head-spinning prices.

Licenses are usually associated with the number of users you want to include in the system, the same as the volume of social networking you’re planning to follow, the location, and the expectations of your business. Vendors usually offer monthly licenses, or an annual contract which can save costs in the long run.

With bigger groups come bigger requirements. As such, ESNs typically offer an enterprise package that significantly costs more per person, but packs even more features than usual. This may include premium support lines so you can get priority help when trying to resolve issues, more stringent security protocols, backup services, and bigger storage allowances per user. To offset the costs, providers usually require a minimum number of users in order to qualify for enterprise packages.

• Low engagement rates. Enterprise Social Networks may seem like the smart choice to keep communication lines open within the company, but implementing it often requires a lot of effort and requires change management intervention.
• Transparency. While the goal is to promote collaboration by sharing ideas and files, there will always be information deemed too sensitive or confidential to share across the company. Consequently, some bosses or departments might find it hard to share information for fear of leakage.
• Image perception. Some hardliners may find the idea of social media usage in an office setting as either too casual or even unprofessional and best left outside the office.

Over the past two decades, social media networks have exploded into the scene, and it would be hard to find actual areas that are not covered by this global phenomenon. Acknowledging the reach of social media, plus its ability to influence users all over, business have not only advertised heavily in this medium, but invested in creating their own closed network for their own corporate needs.

Businesses, notably the larger ones, accept that staying connected is a requirement to maintain the lines of communication among employees. Replicating the success of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites in a corporate environment is a huge step toward keeping workers engaged, and ensuring that shoptalk remains within the shop. Big Brother isn’t watching you anymore, he’s chatting with you.