Why is Marketing best suited to manage corporate social media activities?
At the core social media activities are a function of Marketing, just as PR, Communications and Customer Service should be. Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. IMHO, the CMO should oversee all marketing, PR, communications, customer service, and customer experience management. Every touch point with the consumer needs to come under her purview. Often this is not the case—customer service and communications/pr are often siloed. This is a big mistake in the new marketing/social world since the message needs to emanate from one source. True marketers understand that they must be the lead stewards for brand, reputation, communication, and customer relationships.
Are some tasks better suited to Marketing versus PR or another department entirely?
Now that I have explained my thinking with regard to Marketing being the overall steward, we can move to what should be said by whom, and whether it lives in one place,or throughout the organization. I believe a social mindset needs to be part of the culture and DNA of an organization so that every team can operate as needed day-to-day, and all employees will be empowered to support the brand and allow always ongoing communication to happen. When social media operates from a separate group or from a separate location, or only one silo, there is a greater probability of poor integration with all other efforts that happen simultaneously every day. What needs to happen is that social media thinking and practice should be closely linked to the brand and customer teams so they are involved as soon as communication objectives have been established and daily needs surface.
How can teams collaborate to execute successful corporate social media programs?
By having an integrated overall Marketing strategy that includes Social side-by-side with, and a part of, PR/Comms, Customer Service and Customer Experience, the company’s management and execution of its customer and brand assets becomes seamless. All strategic elements come together and reflect a clear and consistent understanding of the value the company offers to its customers, community, employees and partners.
Social media platforms, via the engagement culture you empower, are the only place where a company can engage with their customers, vendors, employees and the community, in a day-to-day personal and business perspective, in real-time. This concept and culture will serve as the crucial link that unites a company’s marketing strategy with the ultimate goal… trust, loyalty and sales.
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