About a week ago, I posted a study to our NewsHub about which communications discipline “owns” social media. The research, which was published by
the California Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, was fascinating because it found that public relations is winning the social media budget battle.
The money statistic from the study: “One-quarter (25.4%) of surveyed communications decision-makers say PR/communication departments have 81-100% of budgetary control over digital and social media; only half as many (12.6%) say marketing has that much control.”
Bloggers and social network users have spilled a lot of digital ink over this study. One article that caught my eye (and ire) today was published at the Talent Zoo blog by Nancy Bistritz on June 9. Nancy thought she was going to write an article about how it’s critical for different departments to collaborate when it comes to social media. But, she changed her mind when she came across the Anenenberg study cited above.
She argued: “Remember: Whoever takes control of social media for your organization, needs to understand the level of commitment involved in it. It’s not a fad; it certainly isn’t just for the younger generation, and it definitely won’t fix an already failing organization. No offense to the CSuite, but many times that’s not something that’s easily digestible (nor should it be) by the CMO or CEO. Not only that, but it’s usually the PR contact who’s accustomed to producing the kinds of metrics that the CSuite needs (and wants) to see.”
If You’re Talking About Ownership You’ve Lost Already
There are a few reasons why I think the conversation about what department should “own” social media is a waste of time:
- It’s About Changing The Foundation, Not Communications Tactics: Social media has forced ossified and out of touch organizations to refocus on the basics: their customers (this goes for non-profits and for-profits). If you want to build a stellar social media ready organization, you’ve got to transform your organizational processes so that people are empowered to make decisions and give customers what they want. It’s about foundation building, not tactical maneuvering.
- Success Requires Sharing & Collaboration, Not Silo Building and Turf Wars: If your organization is going to operate at social media speed, you need to focus on sharing information and insights. Hoarding knowledge and fighting turf wars is a waste of time and energy.
- Social Media’s Revolutionary, But It Will Never Be the Only Game in Town: Todd Defren of Shift Communications (who I happen to respect) told a marketing student: “Why would you CHOOSE to focus on decaying [traditional marketing] models, metrics and techniques when it is clear that the entire world is hurtling towards profound changes in communications?”Todd made a mistake telling the student that focusing on traditional marketing techniques is wrong-headed.Advocating this approach is an even more egregious error in the healthcare arena. Consider a recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project indicating that people with chronic conditions are less likely to be online and using social technologies. (However, when they do access the Web, they are more likely to use social tools.) Many of the most prevalent conditions in the world (cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes) are chronic conditions. If you want to communicate with these patients, you’d better:
- Have a firm grasp of integrated marketing techniques
- Become a sponge and study what people from across the health marketing communications industry have done to motivate and empower people
I can’t say this enough: In healthcare, it’s not about:
- Ownership
- Turf wars
- Silos
- Social media myopia
It’s about collaborating, being open to diverse perspectives, using effective strategies/tactics and being open to new ideas.
P.S. If you’d like to learn how to do this, we’ve got an online and offline boot camp you might want to attend.
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For me, the most important reason has always been the first bullet: it’s about changing the way you do business and treat customers that’s important, not about changing the window dressing or who designs it.
I agree with Joe Cascio. Maybe Field’s was a little off to say “the customer is always right,” but they certainly are our top priority. PR and Marketing departments together will likely, I believe, create a superior product to that of either’s creation…transdisciplinary collaboration brings so much to the table.