Everyone’s getting involved in social media these days. Brands have appointed social media directors and some have hired large teams dedicated to social. Agencies have started social media practices and hired practitioners dedicated to social, or created new agencies specifically for social media marketing. After working with brands using a mixture of most of the structures above, it’s become clear to me that no matter what the approach, social media has become one of the ultimate tools for integration.
What do I mean by this? Simple…social strategies without integration are one-dimensional in execution.
For example, the social media program run by customer service alone misses the sales potential. Someone has to be in charge, but to realize the full potential of social platforms, that owner must be collaborating across departments and agencies to provide the most robust customer experience.
Brands Must Integrate Across Internal Departments
Every company is structured differently, but the most common departments in charge of social are marketing, PR and customer service. As sales become more common in social, merchandising will also need to be involved.
Agencies Must Integrate Across Expertise
Each agency has given ownership for social to different groups. Most commonly, digital, PR and relationship marketing groups will need to work hand-in-hand to create the best social offering for clients.
Here are a few concrete ideas for how to make integration happen with your social efforts:
Set a Strategy Together
One of the most important first steps is to create clear goals and objectives for social. This should happen together, so the group can all weigh in and priorities can be established together. We’ve built our social strategy framework in a workshop format to do just that.
Create Clear Ownership and Responsibility
Clear roles and responsibilities will go a long way toward achieving social success. Someone needs to be in charge, but setting expectations for how much and how often the other groups contribute provides a road map for social integration.
Solicit Feedback from the Group
Get the most out of integration by soliciting regular feedback from all the disciplines involved in your social efforts. Don’t just interact with the merchandising folks when you have a need; set up regular reports to share with the team and get their thoughts on what’s working or new ideas.
I believe that the strongest social media presences right now are coming from more integrated approaches. As Facebook adds more robust features, its uses will become broader and it will require more than a social media guru to work well.
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