Which Department Should Run Your Social Media Campaign?

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	NEW MEDIA EDGE

	June 9, 2010

Which Department Should Run Your Social Media Campaign?
By: Nancy Bistritz

As a writer in a previous life, I am amazed at how you can begin to write a piece, bound and determined on one path, only to find yourself derailed as the article unfolds. I found myself in that exact position with this article. I was all set to write about how the scope of responsibility for social media falls on everyone’s shoulders, how its effects ripple through an organization, and how it is impossible for one discipline or department to own it.

I thought about how the media/marketing/advertising landscape has changed over the past three years, and that evolution of social media from a flash-in-the-pan idea has become mainstream for many organizations. I was thinking about how this medium has become a way of life for so many people, organizations, and businesses.

I was prepared to ask you, the reader, who should “own” social media efforts? Should PR? Should customer service? Should marketing? Should human resources?

For those PR-controlled organizations, perhaps the scariest question: Should we dare let our own executives have a voice on social networks?

I was prepared to answer with a resounding yes to all of the preceding questions.

After all, each one of those disciplines and individuals has their own business objectives and ultimately needs to have both a say in social media initiatives. The objective for the PR department isn’t necessarily going to be the objective for the HR department, and the objective for the executive definitely won’t mirror that of the customer service department.

The fact of the matter, I would find out as this article was unfolding, was that wasn’t the case. While each department has specific objectives and a way of communicating an organization’s messages, at the end of the day, someone has to own the effort, or as the saying goes, no one will.

The reality is that in 2010, public relations departments are actually the ones pulling the strings when it comes to social media budgets and strategies. (This is where my article took a different turn.) While it’s important that all of the departments I mention have their hand in social media efforts, someone has to be responsible for the strategy (yes, strategies should accompany social media initiatives).

What the Strategic Communication & Public Relations Center out of the University of Southern California found was:

Approximately 25 percent of companies put between 81-100 percent of budgetary control over social media in PR’s hands, compared to marketing, with only 12.6 percent getting the same level of control; and

Twenty-four percent of participants reported that PR/communications departments have 81-100 percent of strategic control of social media.

These findings were particularly interesting to me -- especially when I look at all of the departments that have their hand in social media. So, what gives? According to the study, there are four factors contributing to PR now running the social media show:

1. PR tactics tend to be informational, rather than sales focused;

2. PR tactics tend to emphasize a dialogue versus a monologue;

3. PR tactics tend to embrace longer forms of communication; and

4. PR tactics are typically associated with lower costs.

Remember: Whoever takes control of social media for your organization, needs to understand the level of commitment involved in it. It’s not a fad; it certainly isn’t just for the younger generation, and it definitely won’t fix an already failing organization. No offense to the CSuite, but many times that’s not something that’s easily digestible (nor should it be) by the CMO or CEO. Not only that, but it’s usually the PR contact who’s accustomed to producing the kinds of metrics that the CSuite needs (and wants) to see.

It is, however, an initiative that can (when properly executed and strategized) yield results, improvements, and satisfied consumers. There’s no question that social media is becoming the glue that bonds departments, messages, and consumers/brands together.

Comments

Add Your Comments

Alex Macias-Macias Advertising (Miami, FL)	on 23 Jun 2010 at 6:56 pm

Interesting article, but I think that sometimes defining these roles can be a bit premature in nature. As an Ad Agency owner, I can only share our experience. For us, Social Media usually falls as part of a larger communication strategy. Sometimes even part of a branding & creative campaign. PR is obviously essential in our process, but we usually create and provide the concept/idea, the target, the tone, the creative, and content to be shared by our PR partners, especially for consistency. Simply because it is usually part of a multi faceted idea created by our agency. Content can vary, but a strategy always needs to be present. At the end of the day, we beleive that Social Media is simply a new medium for content and not just an online conversation as many seem to think. I am also missing an essential topic that is not even mentioned, which is the importance of data mining and analytics which track these online efforts, efficiency, user feedback, and trends. This is so important to a successful and efficient Social Media campaign yet we are trying to figure out who does the talking vs who should we be talking to...and why? Does the PR agency want to assume this interactive role or does an ad agency's (or comapny's) Interactive or digital team compile this information? For our clients, we are the ones that usually get this information, tweek the strategy to fit our latest findings and then share a relevant messages through all our mediums, including the voice of our PR partners. To me its not who does what, but why. Your actual capabilities, knowledge, and resources should dictate what's best for your client. As advertising is truly is an integration of multiple disciplines, it doesnt really matter who does it, but who does it best in order to achieve the expected results for each particular project. Since its constantaly evolving we should all keep an open mind on how to structure Social Media!

Ari Herzog (Massachusetts)	on 21 Jun 2010 at 10:21 am

It is intriguing this entire post and nearly every comment (minus one) focus on existing business operations. Why must the web be tailored or controlled by a business operation that exists prior to such deployment, versus creating an interdepartment taskforce? PR may be informational and into dialogues, but neither of those concepts sell products. ROI is equatable to sales and marketing, not publicity.

Jason Winocour — Hunter Public Relations (New York City)	on 18 Jun 2010 at 3:44 pm

Very well done piece. I agree that PR should lead the way in social media marketing for three reasons — some of which align with the study conducted by USC’s Strategic Communication & Public Relations Center: 1. PR practitioners are trained in the principles of dialogue, rather than monologue 2. Social media is media, which means content is king 3. PR is all about the soft sell, and so is social media Check out http://bit.ly/cYvULM

Ralph J. Davila (Akron, OH)	on 17 Jun 2010 at 4:34 pm

Nicely put Nancy! Social media, even though everyone thinks they know everything about it, is continually changing and evolving. All of us PR folks need to take the reigns when it comes to social media. We are the disseminators of information, both internally and externally. Our expertise in all forms of communication make us the obvious choice to research, plan, execute and evaluate social media campaigns. We are rooted in the written word, research (should be!) and strategic thinking. As seen in many cases, when people use monologue versus dialogue in their social media practices, the lines of communication break. Talk "to" your audience, not "at" them! - Ralph Davila

prfriends (Germany)	on 17 Jun 2010 at 10:04 am

Isn't the question rather how organisation should reorganize their different departments due to new emerging changes in communications, PR, marketing, sales and support channels? Rethink the system, adapting to a changing market - that should be the focus in my opinion instead of fighting over the control of a channel

Mikel King (NY, NY)	on 16 Jun 2010 at 11:16 pm

I have enjoyed this article but the discussion on LinkedIn about is even more enlightening. I can truly empathize with the statement about how writing can sometime s lead to a result you had not anticipated at the start.

Michael Fetter (Charlotte, nc)	on 16 Jun 2010 at 9:06 pm

There is no right answer to this question. It all depends on the structure of the company as well as which dept. is the most capable, and has the proper talent. For most corporations this would be the PR or Communications dept. as they would have the experience crafting the corporate message. But, and it is a big but they would have to learn and understand that social media is not just another tool to deliver the standard corporate message. They need to understand writing for the internet is not the same as your standard press release and communicating through social media is not what most of these dept's are accustomed to. So if I had to answer this question with a simple answer it would be the dept that is currently maintaining the company web site with input from the surrounding depts.

Cris McGrath (Canberra, Australia)	on 15 Jun 2010 at 8:14 pm

From a Government point of view, ownership of the channel may live with PR or Comms but the messages being delivered, the engagement of the clients and ownership of the content would remain with the relevant business areas.

David Queamante (San Antonio)	on 15 Jun 2010 at 5:50 pm

The PR group is definitely the best equipped to handle the conversational/informational tone required to make Social Media work; Much better equipped than the best copywriters and ad men! That being said, there should be an content funnel with input from the cSuite, research departments, media and other agency contributors.

Ernest Burden (Edmonton, AB Canada)	on 15 Jun 2010 at 1:42 pm

I believe Mr. Byrnes' extreme example is closest to the direction I see things heading. Though I also believe individuals within an organization should be allowed a separate voice, but with some oversight from the "Director of Social Media (the DSM.). Just as individual ministries within a government speak about their own portfolios while still maintaining the "party" voice, individuals within a company must be able to speak about developments from their own unique perspective. Thanks, ad-creative.com twitter: @Nakuusiaq

Doris Aguirre ( Dallas, TX)	on 15 Jun 2010 at 1:35 pm

I recently attended a conference focusing on PR & Social Media. One of the questions asked was "Is Social Media a PR function or an Advertising function"? Who should own it? The overall decision on the research conducted is that Social Media is very definitely a function that should be directed by the Public Relations department. Because it is dealing with the image of the organization and also involves the media, albeit, social media, it's something that belongs to PR. Even within social media, you have to deal with crisis communications, such as the recent case with BP and the oil spill. I'm sure that's a social media mess that the PR person has had to try to clean up and repair. All in all, PR is Social Media & visa versa. Social Media is just another tool within the PR attache case.

Mike Byrnes (Boston, MA)	on 11 Jun 2010 at 3:25 pm

One extreme to think about... social media is replacing PR! The social meida revolution is changing the way we get information. Just look at the decline in number of people buying newspapers. It is clear that that some of the traditional outlets for PR are drying up. Sources of news and opinions now come from tweets, blogs, etc. So the question will soon change from which department should run social media to which groups should report into the social media department. Mike Byrnes, President Byrnes Consulting, LLC http://byrnesconsulting.com/ Twitter: ByrnesConsultin

Logan Wallace - Welt Branding (Cincinnati, OH)	on 11 Jun 2010 at 9:38 am

Great article. Getting clients/prospects to realize the commitment involved and the idea of having a social media strategy is far and away the most difficult part about all of this. While there are NO social media experts out there, due to the dynamic nature of the beast, having an employee who specializes in the area is definitely a must. Successful strategies are only as good as the person(s) that carry them out. I've found that great social media campaigns & content that spawn interaction from a community (that it has built), typically come from someone that has immersed themselves in the mindset/world of social media. You wouldn't hire the crazy cat lady next door to train lions for your circus based on her experience with domestic felines, would you?

Carol McCall (North Carolina)	on 09 Jun 2010 at 10:18 am

Yes, it's as if there needs to be a special liaison between C Suite, PR, HR and Sales. ALL of the information matters and companies that utilize techniques and process to weave their communications effectively are the one the public understands and responds to. That response can be revenue. When our customers/constituents/students/congregation understand and enjoy the message/product/lesson/opportunity, they can connect with us. Discerning C Suite-ers can either be or hire the Chief Weaver. Aha! Maybe that is the new position's name: CWO: Chief Weaving Officer! Sign me up.

About the Author
Nancy Bistritz

Nancy Bistritz is the Director of Marketing/Communications for Montreal-based interactive agency Nurun, She works closely with teams in Nurun’s U.S. offices on public relations outreach, and marketing and business development strategies. She is also an integral part of Nurun’s worldwide communications team.

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