Social Media - Who Does It Belong To?

We hear the debate carrying on in offices and blogs alike about who actually owns this thing that has such an unownableness about it (yes, I made that word up, but as with my four-year-old’s coinage of the term “lasterday,” it just makes more sense than anything I could have found in Webster’s). For a while there it could fly somewhat under the radar, save for the occasional online crisis, but with the overwhelming adoption by businesses, the undeniable impact it had on our national political scene last year, and the feeling that everyone is already using social media channels so much that we are genuinely surprised when we find anyone who says they aren’t, every company is trying to figure out who owns it.

Is it public relations?
Is it information technology?
Is it direct response?
Is it customer service?
Is it internal communications?
Is it branding?

Well… yes.

Unlike other big web movements like Search and e-Commerce, social media really does involve everyone. Messaging is critical. Customer concerns are exposed. Employees are engaged. Technology is essential. Customer relationships are deepened. Your brand is on the line.

It seems that the biggest mistake some companies are making is to try to find an internal home where it is owned by one group (or person!), which doesn’t promote coordination and integration with traditional media relations, search marketing, paid advertising, operations, product development and customer relationship efforts. This siloed approach is typically an attempt to “do something” - which is unfortunately where a lot of companies begin in their adoption of social media.

Tackling this area in an exceptional way takes an effort to get everyone together from all marketing, communications and technology disciplines to develop an overall strategy and then define the specific ways to take advantage of this powerful channel into consumers’ lives. Our smartest clients are doing just that, getting all the right people in a room together and finding out that there are a lot of synergies between social media and all of their other consumer touch points – and they would have missed out on making their presence that much more effective. Plus, this way, we don’t have to argue over who it belongs to, right?

Glenn Whiting