Who is responsible for social media?

A colleague sent me an email this afternoon.  The email wasn't especially earth shattering in that it shared yet another set of 'research' looking at whether social media was valuable, how many companies tried it and the old classic of who is responsible for it.

Apparently about 1/3 placed social media in the marketing team, another 1/3 in the PR team, and so on.  It kinda has me tearing my hair out because it misses the point of social media.

I posted at the start of the month that social media is a cultural thing.  It doesn't belong to one department any more than it belongs to one individual within that department.  

The most effective users of social media have it underpinning their very way of being, where everyone is regarded as capable of promoting the company or helping out with customer service.

It should support internal communications as well as external comms, allowing you to manage talent as well as interacting with customers.  We should have seen the back of silo mentalities long ago, but sadly it seems many still exist.

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8 thoughts on “Who is responsible for social media?

  1. It is owned by no one, depending on the activity the scope is what decides who owns what. If it lives on Twitter it is owned by PR or CRM group depending on what the activation/conversation is. Could also be owned by marketing team depending on their social media budget. If it is something on Facebook, same thing goes, if it is a campaign for pushing viral messaging out then it is digital media and creative to make something that can build.

    All depends on what aspect of social media is the focus and how the consumer is supposed to interact. The question is do you want the consumer to join a conversation, do you want them to share something cool, or do you want to do something completely different.

  2. You hit the nail right on the head in this article by saying “It’s about everyone.” Of course, consistency of message, training, and alignment across social media activities are advised. However, rather than looking at social media as an entity to be ‘owned,’ companies should consider social media and social networking as a way to engage with communities, to learn, to share information, and to nurture customer and prospect relationships. If you subscribe to this notion, social media can be powerful to all areas of a company, including AR/PR, R&D, Marketing, Customer Service, Finance, etc. After all, markets are dynamic and anyone within or outside of the company could become a valuable brand ambassador.

  3. I think the nature of social media is best served in integration, collaboration and communication — especially between departments. Companies do tend to ghetto-ize their departments, and this shows in their web presence and social media offerings — breaking away from this tendency to divide seems like a good first step — at my current company, I keep the lines of communication between customer service and marketing open — using the social media presence to listen as well as promote. Already, this friendly interaction is better serving our customers’ interests by aggregating feedback and assigning it to the best people to act on it.

  4. As someone just setting up in my first business I am finding using social media an excellent medium for making contacts. And keeping up to date with sector related issues.

  5. Social media doesn't sit comfortably in any department because by definition, it's a new thing, a new way of doing business and that's the challenge to which organisations have to adapt.

    Different organizations are placing it in different places at the moment, depending on their existing organizational strengths, resoources and cultural setup. This has a bearing on the kind of social media approach they adopt, the strategies and business models they can develop, the behaviours that go into the brand, their operations, and how successful they are.

  6. From my point of view, once we start talking about who or which function should be 'responsible' for social media we have missed the point. There are some similarities between now and 15 years ago as Michael points out, but the dynamic is very very different. And, I would say that to look back and compare social with websites is inappropriate. Comparing it to the internet in general is more robust.

    Even so, social is completely different and in all honesty i lose the plot, especially with internal marketing functions and external agencies when i hear them talk about SM in the same way they have always done with the general marketing toolkit. "We can build your (Insert latest buzzword/tool here) for you." But SM is not like that. It is fundamentally different and, perhaps the most important thing to remember, it is not something you/we can control. It is not something that a company wants to do that it then 'rolls out' or decides to unleash on its customers. (or employees) Its the other way around. for the first time, the technology and the impetus/momentum is coming from outside the organisation.

    Probably the most important thing to remember is that SM is breaking down the lines between the key groups – employee, ex employee, future employee and the customer – they are after all, largely one and the same despite many years of denial. The lines are blurring and involvement is growing, so for any one function or any one person – a social media expert – to take responsibility is flawed.

  7. One group ultimately must own the dissemination of information on social media platforms. If one group doesn’t own it, then the potential for confusing the brand is high. Coordination across functional areas and having a cohesive strategy- one that is constantly evolving is key. Companies should have strong internal communication before they can have strong, consistent external communications and brand. Not mentioned but critical is IT – they have to support the strategy and manage the security element. Security is one of the major reasons many companies are resistant to engaging in Social Media.

  8. Whilst I agree that it should be something everyone ultimately does, I still think you need someone to take responsibility for it, to lead things and so on.

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