In a recent post on Mandate Communications’ blog, Mark Pack said:
Mark Pack
“Given the way in which social media cuts across customer services, PR and
marketing there is no one size fits all answer to where social media
operations best sit in a company.”
Yes, this is true, but it’s just part of the story. It’s true: there is no one-size-fits all answer to where social media best ’sits’ in a company. And yes, social media does cut across customer service, PR and marketing.
But social media also cuts across product development, sales, operations, human resources and most any other company function. Social media is an engagement channel. Marketing is about engaging and relating. BUSINESS is about engaging and relating – not only with an external audience (prospects & clients) but with internal audiences also (employees).
If, “where social media best sits” means “where the “information” winds up internally”, doesn’t it depend on what message the information is communicating? A better question in this instance would be how is the information / message going to get to the right people internally?
If, however, “where social media best sits” means”who is in charge of social media”, think about the question above and ask who is best positioned to effectively and efficiently get this information, these messages to the right people internally?
When companies engage online, whether in a social network, Twitter, Blog or sharing sites; the information that comes back is what I think is the most important determinate of where social media best ’sits’.
The majority of companies don’t operate, nor are they organized in a way that supports this kind of cross functional communication. The traditional hierarchical top-down business structure is in conflict with the grass-roots, bottom up engagement that is social media. The view from the C-Suite (CEO, CFO, CIO, or CTO) is often quite different than that on the front line. So before any social media effort can be successful,
- The big dogs, aka the C-Staff, has to be fully supportive, and
- The messaging going out and coming in has to be consistence and shared across the entire company.
Pack quotes EConsultancy’s Social Media and Online PR survey saying less than one in five (19%) of companies use cross-functional
teams to manage their social media activity. That is a number that
could and should grow significantly over the next year.
I’ll add to that – it’s a number that better grow significantly over the next year.
Here’s an idea for an organization with a cross-function social media team. Sample_Social_Media_OrgChart. Let me know what you think. Will it work?
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