There’s always a lot of debate around the question of “what department does social media marketing fall under?” Some say marketing, some say PR, some say product, and others say advertising/sales. In fact, social media can probably fall under many more departments. Companies are always trying to figure out who pays for social media, who takes on the risks, who gets the rewards, etc. Instead of trying to fit social media under a particular department(s), why not create a separate social media department?
I have yet to see or hear about a company that has created a social media department and nobody really talks about doing it, but why not? I think it’s only a matter of time before social media grows to the point where it will be required to be its own department. Companies are slowly starting to understand how valuable social media is and how powerful customer relationships are. So let’s talk about why social media should be a separate entity with its own budget and its own team.
- When social media is a part of many different departments, it’s tough to get stuff done. Every change or implementation needs to get signed off by almost the whole company before it can go into effect, that’s just not going to work.
- A company needs to have someone on the social media game 24/7, do all of the departments have people to allocate to make this happen? Probably not. Somebody (or a few people) needs to constantly be out there staying on top of different social media technologies and building customer relationships.
- There needs to be a central hub for all social media strategies so that various departments can all seek help and ask questions. The social media strategy for marketing, product, pr, and sales should all come from one central team of social media strategists that understand the various departments and their needs. You can’t have everyone going out and creating their own strategies and hiring their own consultants, that just gets messy and unorganized. Having one department that creates social media strategies is more efficient and effective as they will understand ALL the social media strategies that are being put in place.
- Budgeting is always an issue, departments are usually very hesitant to give up funds for something, especially when that “something” can’t be measured as easily as say, traditional advertising. Creating a separate department with a separate budget will help solve that problem (now you just need to figure out a social media department budget, but that’s a much easier task)
- A dedicated department has more time, dedication, and personal interest in creating and innovating social media strategies. A social media department LOVES social media (or should) therefore you should be able to count on them to stay on top of the social media space.
- Other departments already have enough to worry about with expense reports, presentations, market analysis, etc. that all compete for their time. This means that social media strategies do not get the time and effort they deserve, creating a social media department will solve this.
- A dedicated social media department will be able to give more to the community and will be able to build stronger customer relationships. Remember, the social media department will be building quality relationships and interacting with users non-stop, no other department is going to be able to devote this amount of time to reach out to users and make valuable community contributions.
- Relationships are probably one of the most valuable things that a company should be going after. Social media is one of the best ways to build these relationships. Sticking social media under marketing or PR simply does not do it justice, in fact it’s a bit insulting don’t you think?
First off special thanks to Royal Ants Josh for his late night twitter contributions!
These are just a few reasons why social media should be a separate department. I’d love to hear some of your thoughts and ideas. You tell me, should social media be it’s own department? Why or why not?
Comments