The quest for who should “control” a social media campaign seems never ending. This is a debate that I’ve had with friends working across the communications industry. And while this should never turn into a personal attack, it absolutely turns into a battle big enough for the WWE. Not only are is this power struggle happening internally between departments, but externally between digital agencies, PR firms and social boutiques all vying for the social slice of the client’s business.
The importance of figuring out this debate once and for all reminds me a lot of Duane “the Rock” Johnson’s eyebrow–they’re both on the rise. Think about the training, the tone and the niche audience. It’s a battle royale, locked in a cage with a ladder, and only one competitor is coming out alive. Maybe it’s not that extreme, but from where I sit, the stakes are pretty high.That’s why I’ve set out to moderate this discussion at SxSW 2011. Bringing in perspectives from Pizza Hut, Infiniti, and Mashable, we can look at all of these considerations and more to help us decide, once and for all… Who owns social?
The Training
Most professionals battling for control in the social space are veterans that hopped onto this train long before Ashton was tweeting. They’re working with years of experience and, often, a competitive streak. Without years of a regimented workout in social media, no resume length can guarantee the proper preparation for the digital ring. Social media is an evolving beast. To be successful, like any athlete, you’ve got to change your workout up, lest your game get tired. What would you put in a social media training regimen?
Setting the Tone
In the social media world your content must stand for something. The social agenda is going to be driven strongly by what department runs the platform. For example; if the IT department is running a social media channel a follower is, in theory, more likely to hear about new technology developments and other topics of IT interest. Make sure that the voice set on these platforms is the one you want to stand out.
This is part of setting the tone for what a follower should expect in the future. Throwing up cues to play along a specific type of content once a week gives fans something to look forward to. How do you devise your social media tone and how do you cue your fans to play along?
Niche Audience
As the social media platforms continue to grow, we’re looking at new possibilities for the web, including one prediction that slates Facebook to replace websites. There is still an audience learning to accept this new way of interacting, so for now social media practitioners can still hold a niche audience’s attention—albeit quite a large niche. Going back to our fun WWE reference, that’s one group who understands how to cater their content to their niche group of fans. With over 1,052,000 fans on Facebook and a cult following, they clearly know how to grow their audience.
Finding the strategy to tailor social media to a niche audience is a tough battle. Depending on the brand, this could be an internal group that knows intricate details, or this could be an external agency. The benefit of an agency is that it may not be inflicted with what the book Made to Stick terms as the, Curse of Knowledge, or knowing to much about a concept or brand to explain it to others.
So what do you think?
Marketers: Should a social media campaign be a shared project between departments or should one department own it and who?
Agencies: What’s the justification for a PR firm taking this ownership versus the full-service digital partner?
Share you thoughts with us below and please vote for my SXSW panel: Social Media Mud Wrestling: Who Owns Social? Let the mud-slinging begin!
Written by Jessi Odenbach
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Peter
