This post discusses whose responsibility it is to look after social media within an organisation.
So who does it lie with?
Marketing?
Traditionally, you would say marketing. It is their role to build awareness of a companies products and to build the company brand. These are the experts at creating and carrying out a marketing campaign. Are the marketers the people who know the in’s and out’s of why their customers are actually buying their products?
Directors, CEO, founders?
These guys are the captains steering the ship. This group needs to communicate the vision for the organisation. Do you think the captain knows how to fix the engine?
Sales?
These are the people at the cutting edge of the buying process and are on the front line talking to customers about problems in their business. But hang on, shouldn’t a sales person be out there selling and not just sitting around on Facebook and Twitter all day?
Customer Service?
This department spends the most time talking to customers. They get to see it from the front line: what it is that the customers say and feel about your company and its products/service.
PR?
The PR department are responsible for how the company’s image is portrayed to the outside world. If people are talking about your company/brand, perhaps it should fall into their laps?
If you haven’t guessed where this is going, the project needs to be a collaboration. All parties are as important as each other.
In an ideal world the organisation/department would have at least one member of staff whose role it to create, manage and monitor the social media within the organisation.
The role of this person would be to manage the process and gain input from all departments. They would be accountable for getting the job done. The CEO can communicate the company strategy and values, marketing can advise how social media sits within the overall marketing strategy and the sales force can refine the message to reflect the customers buying reasons. Customer service can provide solutions to customer issues and PR can ensure the company image and reputation are upheld.
This is not a job for an 20-year-old intern, even if they may have some of the social networking skills already. This a role for a project manager who can align themselves and communicate across the organisation. They need to be creative, ambitious, motivated and have a good grasp on why people actually buy the products. They have an appreciation for all things social.
Sound like you? Maybe you just need to be in the right place at the right time. If they haven’t done it, already the company may not create a new role. If they do, you can bet your bottom dollar it will be an entry level role on £20k or so a year. You pay peanuts, you get monkeys!
Whether your B2B or B2C, you need to get involved. Social media is not going to disappear, it is only going to grow. Start early and avoid having to try to catch up later.
You need to get everyone in your organisation involved from the bottom to the top. You need to invest in social across your business.
Your turn
Have you any experience in a role like this? Did you help create the role from within a company? How did you get buy in from all the different departments?
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