Carol Rozwell

This week I had the pleasure of doing two webinars on the subject of how to develop a social media strategy. During the sessions, I asked several polling questions about the status of social media initiatives. Not everyone attending the session chose to participate in the poll. Nonetheless, I still got a sampling from over 150 attendees. Here are the answers to two of the polling questions.

Who is leading your social media initiatives?

• 45% – line of business manager
• 23% – multiple groups are leading separate initiatives
• 16% – IT
• 14% – Social media steering committee
• 2% – HR

What social media initiatives do you have underway?

• 52% – customer facing driven by marketing or sales
• 22% – employee facing driven by HR or IT
• 17% – nothing is currently underway
• 6% – customer support or call center
• 3% – business partner facing driven by supply chain or manufacturing

Since many organizations are still in the early days of social media experimentation, it’s not surprising to see multiple, uncoordinated initiatives underway and a strong preference for customer facing activities. It’s not a stretch to see how social media helps strengthen customer relationships and enhance brand awareness so it’s a good place to start. But the pioneers need to explore how social media can benefit other parts of the business and make sure they coordinate efforts across the organization. Executing too many disparate efforts reduces effectiveness and causes confusion.

As organizations incorporate more and more social media into their activities, business leaders need to develop a strategic view as well as a tactical plan. To help with these challenges, check out the Business Gets Social research.

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Category: Uncategorized     Tags: Collaboration dynamics, Social media, Social networking, Social networks, social software

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