With Social Media Comes Great Opportunity
I believe that social media represents, in two words and five syllables, nothing short of a revolution within any business, or any industry for that matter. And, for individuals, it represents the democratization of media and equalization of influence. It presents an equal opportunity platform to broadcast and publish at will, earning audiences and prominence that directly align with the level of individual participation and investment in engagement. The socialization of media affects and empowers more than personal brands however.
Essentially all brands are entitled to become media, earn audiences and build online communities, and that is powerful as well as emancipating.
The Socialization of Media
Within every organization, social media is championed from within, sparked by external influences that awaken a new sense of awareness and inspire a genuine ambition to bring about change.
At some point however, social media permeates the fabric of every business until it reaches the very essence that defines the spirit, persona, and intention of the brand. It's natural of course, for new media's promise and opportunity to escalate within the organization once its potential is unlocked and revealed.
As such, the inevitable question emerges, "Who owns social media?"
What if we asked the question another way....Who owns email?
The answer is that email, even though it is among the most social of all channels we use today, is not owned by any one department. Email is simply a tool to communicate.
Once we let go of the rope in this veritable tug of war of who owns social media and realize that no one necessarily owns this diverse medium, we can then concentrate our efforts on shaping the perception of our brand and contribute to its sense of value and purpose within the influential communities that define our markets.
Social media, at the very least, galvanizes the socialization of businesses, down to departmental and individual roles. Service, marketing, PR, HR, sales, finance, product, will maintain a social presence as dictated and demanded by their communities, thus evoking the movement from social CRM (sCRM) to SRM.
eMarketer recently shared a study published by Mzinga and Babson Executive Research that examined how each business area embraced social media...
As expected, marketing earned the top spot with 57% using social media as part of the overall program. Internal collaboration and learning followed with 39% and as the implications and unseen potential for new media unfolds, digital literacy becomes paramount for the future success of any business. Customer service ranked third with 29% and sales, human resources and strategy trailed at 25%, 21%, and 16% respectively.
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