Mark Burgess
@mnburgess
#mengonline

I totally get the point that social media is a broad tool or channel with multiple uses. It sounds as if you are doing a great job of helping companies sort out the issues of who should be managing the conversation and integrating the various efforts. This seems like a tough job and one that I haven't heard addressed in a comprehensive way as you describe. At the conferences, it seems a bit more piecemeal, with each group looking at it from their own unique vantage point. Do you have any specific tools for managing this complexity? I'm particularly interested in the interface between the corporate brand and the product/service brands.

Rephrase your questions and replace “eMail” or “telephone” for the words “social media.” Of course the PR department, and the marketing department, and the customer service department, etc. all have many valid uses for any communication channel.

In Firecat Studio's engagements, we find that one department usually leads the organization into the social media conversation, but then strategy discussions need to involve several different stakeholders from various departments – corresponding to their responsibilities.

* Marketing should weigh in on brand experience and brand messaging.
* Sales needs to monitor who's in the conversation and messages about specific products or services.
* Customer service/support needs to hear about complaints or questions. Somebody needs to “care publicly” about any difficulties, then solve issues offline, report success when it makes sense.
* HR often has a stake in the company's online presence, albeit in different social spaces (LinkedIn is a great example).

Those are the broad strokes of strategy our firm helps organizations navigate. In the ideal situation, stakeholders from each of those areas participate in brainstorming and strategy discussions, and all have a way of “listening” to the social stream that pertains to their business function.