by Rick Alcantara of Jerseycoachonline.com
Deciding who should control social media within a company is anything but cut-and-dried. A public relations person says “PR,” while a marketer almost certainly indicates “marketing.”
“I think public relations is best suited to drive social media,” says Chris Bechtel, CEO of iPressroom. “Social media best practices call for jargon-free, clear, and authentic communications – which PR pros are best trained to provide.”
Philadelphia-based PR strategist Jim DeLorenzo agrees. “Social media is about interaction with the ‘public.’” While most of the 30 respondents to my recent LinkedIn forum question thought that HR and IT should help manage social media, only one thought IT should control it.
“The better question,” says Rick Simmons, president, Dinkum Interactive, “might be: ‘Who should monitor it?’ The answer has to be, ‘IT and marketing.’”
Not everyone agreed. “IT enables the technology but does not usually know the strategy behind social media objectives,” says Anthony Cirillo, ABC, owner of Fast Forward Consulting.
Similarly, Mary Deming Barber, communications consultant at The Barber Group, says, “Social media is about engagement and conversation, neither of which are strengths of IT or HR. Beyond that, the decision to place ‘control’ in PR, marketing, communications or other seems to be based on an individual company and its structure.”
Several respondents indicated that the answer is situational. “If it is for lead generation then maybe sales,” says Patrick Murphy, director at SiliconCloud.com, “but for raising brand awareness then maybe PR.”
Says Parissa Behnia, VP at the Pasfarda Arts and Cultural Exchange, “In instances of customer complaints, the voice of social media belongs to the PR function. If extending offers or making multiple touch points about offers/brands, then the messaging belongs to Marketing.”
Judith Harlan, owner of Web Words at Work, says, “I put social media under marketing. But I’d also set it up so individuals in each department are on the social-media team, with authority to post department-specific comments.”
Whether anyone can control social media “Seems antithetical to the ethos and diversity of social media,” says Warren Levy, president of Compelling Meetings.
Collaboration across departments is key to any successful media operation. Jocelyn Canfield, owner of Communication Results, says, “Organizations are best served by collaboration, not control. PR, marketing, HR, IR, corp communications all have a vested interest in effective social media activities, while IT and graphic design can be an important allies in seamless execution. If everyone feels ownership, everyone benefits.”
