In my “day job” I work for a marketing technology software company. I happened to have an interesting hallway conversation with a co-worker today. We got to discussing the state of our company blog and some topical conversations on there regarding email readability on smartphones. Using web analytics, we’re able to discern that about 10% of our email recipients view our emails on smartphones. This begged the question from my co-worker, “Do we, or anyone else for that matter, need to really concern ourselves with what could be additional expenses and ‘hassles’ of accommodating that 10%? And what about social media? Is it really worth time and effort? Should it be a shared responsibility across a group or do you need a full-time headcount to manage it?”
My answer(s): yes, yes, yes and yes!
Social media as a whole, whether it be blogs, Twitter, Facebook, is a new means of being able to manage your company’s brand and communicate your customer base. If you don’t take the lead in managing your company’s persona in this wild frontier, someone else could. Is that what you really want? I call this a wild frontier because the social media realm is still very nascent. There are literally new applications springing up everyday and then offshoots from some of the more popular ones. (Check out this comprehensive graphic of the ‘Social Media’ spectrum) Even the omnipresent Google has just recently entered the fray relatively recently with Google Buzz.
Back to our discussion, that 10% segment represent early adopters. Here is a group of people using smartphones to view their email and actually interact with the offers within. Typically these early adopters are also embracing other new technologies and means of communication such as social media. Facebook shares that “there are more than 100 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.” If you’re including these people in your target audience of recipients, chances are that they will Tweet and blog, for better or worse, about how their experience was in dealing with your company. As early adopters, this segment too is likely to have their own sphere of followers. Another statistic from Facebook reveals that the average Facebook user has 130 friends. If a vocal member of your email campaign couldn’t read the email you just sent them because they’re on an iPhone, you’ve got a potential base of 130 people who they’ll trash you in front of. Then think of those folks and their 130 friends each, and so on and so on!
As to whether your company should share the responsibility or make it a dedicated role, I’d argue that both are needed. With the current state of the global economy, everyone’s resources are strapped. However, being active in the realm of social media doesn’t need to be burdensome. And, when it is a shared responsibility, the task of maintaining a presence and managing it, can lighten the load for all involved. This has to become part of your corporate culture though. I have witnessed firsthand people being made to blog as well as opening up the opportunity to blog. It makes all the difference in the world. Those who are truly interested in it will gravitate to it and be more prolific with it. That “voice” will come through. Having a larger group of your employees/co-workers participate can also open up new opportunities for engagement and interactions. It also breeds a sense of shared ownership in the overall success of the endeavor.
There are also a myriad of applications available to help share common accounts. If you have a Facebook Fan Page, you can have multiple administrators manage an account via their own Facebook account. For Twitter, multiple users within an organization can use applications such as Digsby or Hootsuite to Tweet to a single account.
Additionally, it’s always great to have a dedicated owner of your organization’s social media efforts. This person would be the “go to” person for overseeing the effort as well as ensuring that questions and comments are answered in a timely fashion. They’d also be the resource to monitor what’s working and what’s not. After all, with the depth and complexity of the current social media landscape, no one can be everything… and with the nuances of various tools, you don’t have to be everywhere. Some platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are now regarded as “must haves” for some companies, but you need to find what is right for your situation. Some companies thrive solely on Twitter. Others are more successful with video blogging, and thus, YouTube and Vimeo are the way to go. Perhaps a more interactive community is right for your organization and a Ning site is what is more appropriate. Having a dedicated resource take the helm and help you navigate the choices is important to the success of your efforts.
So, don’t dismiss the potential that lives in social media. It is a means of directly shaping your brand and communicating with customers and prospects. But, as with any new effort, don’t think you need to be everything to everyone. Choose the path that is the right one for you.
