Every area of the company is talking about social media. The HR department wants to use it for recruiting, customer service is watching for feedback and questions, the sales team thinks it's one gigantic prospect list, and the CEO has suddenly realized that this kind of free-for-all is too risky in a world where one misstep spreads like wildfire across social networks.
So, who makes the rules? Who takes ownership of this powerful communications channel? Here are five reasons why it has to be the marketing department, along with some tips for driving a successful enterprise-wide social media program.
1. Marketing has the most to gain
The marketing group has the most to gain in advancing the social media presence of your brand. Yet, while marketing is focusing on the upside potential of the social media channel, the IT team can see it as a threat to the security of the company's technical infrastructure and the data that it supports. Still other groups may consider it a fad or a channel for casual, intermittent use.
The marketing group is the one most likely to keep the heat on in terms of driving the adoption process forward, and it can partner with IT, human resources, customer service, and other departments that will be utilizing the channel, to ensure the varying needs of each business area are considered.
2. Marketing has the most to lose
Marketing is ultimately responsible for "the brand." As a brand's social presence grows, it's critical that the marketing team manage and be involved in the development of policies and protocols to be used by the various departments to create the customer experiences and interactions that shape the brand in the social channel and beyond. Departmental silos come down as soon as all of the employees are empowered to communicate on behalf of the brand they support, but it's the marketing team that ultimately the shapes the company's formal messaging that drives those conversations.
3. Marketing is responsible for measuring the power of the brand
Traditionally, brand value is tracked and measured by the marketing department, and ongoing assessments of a brand's place in the social media community are no different. Social media metrics have emerged as a powerful indicator of brand performance both online and off, and the marketing team is best positioned to utilize social media data to make business-changing improvements to messaging, materials, and communications strategies. Much of what is happening in the social channel requires reporting and analysis; analyzing communications data and trends and turning them back into workable action is what marketing does.
4. Marketing is relied upon by the rest of the organization for shaping the messaging
It falls to the marketing team to create corporate messaging, style, and tone. Other business areas utilize these standards to communicate with their particular audiences, customizing the overarching messaging with the experiences they create. It is natural for anyone representing the company publicly to look to marketing for guidance. Therefore, a marketing-driven social media strategy -- complete with guidelines, policies, and communications protocols -- results in an enterprise-wide adoption roll-out that is credible, efficient, and pulled together.
5. Marketing has the most experience in sourcing communications initiatives
The marketing team is experienced in training people to communicate on behalf of the brand in approved and optimal ways, and is poised to coordinate the type of ongoing training necessary to support the organization's varied social media goals. Marketing is also in the best position to help other areas of the company plan their function-specific social media initiatives and can offer valuable insights into resource planning, goal setting, measurement and monitoring tactics, and more. This centralized approach also ensures synergy throughout the diverse initiatives deployed across the organization and less risk of dilution as digital outposts are utilized in multiple ways and not necessarily created from scratch for each purpose.
Smart organizations are recognizing that social media activities go beyond the marketing discipline and are leveraging social strategies enterprise-wide. While this multifaceted approach can result in valuable opportunities and growth business-wide, it comes with ever-increasing risk that companies cannot ignore. A marketing-led social media strategy meets the needs of the entire company while ensuring brand consistency, clarity, and protection.
Veronica "Niki" Fielding is president of Digital Brand Expressions.
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