Who owns social media?
Some companies are wondering where and how they start with social media and who should take responsibility for this new field. In our experience it is best to begin with briefings looking at the implications social media has for your business and examples of how other companies are using social media. Or alternatively a social media audit can be useful so you can start to see what conversations are taking place online about your business.
Another good starting point is guidelines for staff on how to use social media. This helps to raise awareness in the business of the risks and opportunities presented by social media.
Then it is a good idea to start with a small project: either a blog or a Twitter channel so that you are beginning to open up conversations with your key audiences.
Typically social media initiatives are taken by the media/PR/marketing departments as they are usually first to realise how the world of communications is changing and their remit enables them to adopt new methods of communications to build relations with key audiences. However it is a fact that social media touches all aspects of a business including customer relations, internal communications and HR. What we are seeing is that the initiators of social media in the business are acting as bridges to other departments and gradually the organisation is becoming more aware and involved.
The risks of doing nothing in relation to social media are high. The key audiences of most organisations are now using social media to distribute news and opinions about those organisations. So if you are not even listening to what is being said about you through social media, you are going to be left behind; you could miss important developments or your more nimble competitors could pick up on issues you are not even aware of.
