Who is Handling Your Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing is one of the more recent additions to SEO. In the last few years it’s grown from an online medium reserved mostly for college kids and early adopters to an integral part of Fortune 500 companies’ marketing strategy. It seems that every business and brand has at least a Facebook page or Twitter handle. More and more professionals are creating LinkedIn profiles for themselves and their businesses. Brick and mortar business are adopting location-based social networking platforms like Foursquare and Gowalla to reward patrons and YouTube has become just as popular for companies to promote their products as it is for posting skateboarding dogs.
The younger generations are typically deemed to be more comfortable with the ever changing and adapting social media landscape, so some companies have opted to put their social media marketing management into the hands of their “Twitern” ( an intern brought in to handle the company’s Twitter account and be the wizard behind the social networking curtain). I think this is a mistake.
A company’s social media strategy ties directly into their overall marketing strategy, as well as effecting their online reputation. Social media marketing is too important of a task to place in the hands of an intern. Let’s be honest, they are probably working for free (or one of the lucky few for college credit), are only going to be there for a few months and probably aren’t incredibly invested in the success of your company. They are there to build their resume and get recommendations, which is fine. That’s why anyone is willing to work for free under the guise of “intern.” But do you really want to hand you online presence over to that?
You social media marketing should be handled by a permanent employee (or outside agency) that truly understands your brand, business model and online marketing goals. They will be in charge of your online voice and personality, so they better know what they are talking about. Effectively managing a social media marketing strategy takes countless hours, because it has to constantly be monitored and updated. They have to understand the goal of each social networking profile, as well as the audience that uses that medium. Messages have to be tweaked to fit the style and format of each site, but the overall strategy has to work towards the same end goal.
Back in March, an employee at New Media Strategies (who was Chrysler’s social media agency at the time) dropped the F-bomb in a tweet from the @ChryslerAuto account, taking a shot at Detroit drivers. After deleting the tweet, Chrysler quickly fired New Media Strategies. Chances are the employee thought he was using his personal account to send the tweet, but accidentally posted from @ChryslerAuto. If a professional agency can make such a big mistake, what can happen when you hand the social media reigns over to someone who isn’t qualified to drive?
Social media allows you to directly interact with your consumers, so who is going to be doing the talking?
10 Responses to “Who is Handling Your Social Media Marketing?”
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I find it pretty crazy that a company like Chrysler even needs to hire an agency to handle their social media. Don’t they have the resources to have that executed in-house?
Hey Maciej,
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts!
Very true indeed!
Take Care,
Nick
Who’s handling social media at my employer? I am.
Dragged them kicking and screaming onto Twitter and FB last year. THIS year, the VP admitted he wasn’t convinced then, but now sees the potential. The interesting part is I’m well past a “certain age” myself, yet I’m definitely one of the most social-savvy people in the company.
Businesses that write off those of us who sport a few gray hairs as being dinosaurs who don’t (or can’t) “get” social are overlooking a potentially valuable resource. There are plenty of us out here with mad social skilz AND the business experience to help our employers avoid the rookie mistakes a younger, less seasoned Twintern might commit.
Hi Nick,
This is a great post, and a must read, especially for those that feed themselves by doing SEO. Unless they want to starve, they will quickly learn that it is no longer SEO, or SEM, or Social Media Marketing, but it is the ability to offer the total package. Comprehensive marketing coverage in whatever form the company needs. Thanks,
Bryan
I agree Nick, social media really needs to become a part of the online IMC of companies. Its more than just throwing content out there and seeing if it sticks. Without really knowing the industry, especially in B2B, you can actually be hurting your brand!
BTW love your Android App
Hi Bryan,
Thanks for reading and for your comment!
I agree it is certainly more than SEO or social media it is about building a comprehensive marketing program…
Take Care!
Nick
Nick you are always to the point and on target. Thanks for another great post.
I think you made a valid point about not putting an intern (who perhaps isn’t even qualified) in charge of a social media strategy for business. This can be risky with little reward. It’s best to go with someone from within who knows the structure, philosophy, mission, and history of the company. For example, if a business has received negative publicity is or trying to handle a crisis – public relations and marketing experience is needed to turn the negative situation into positive.
You hit the nail on the head. Clients who want cheap (or free) social media mgmt will get what they pay for. It is incredibly time consuming, and should be done strategically. Or as a colleague says, just because a mailman can deliver the mail, would you entrust your direct mail strategy to him/her? Good post, Nick.
NIce case in point. There are also online companies who populate your social networks them with likes and tweet followers for a package (say 2,000 followers/likes)fee. I do not really see the point of doing that. I agree that a real trained person should do the marketing aspect of the social media network since, those who will follow can be potential customers.