While not vital, these days social media can play a huge part in whether a brand makes it or breaks it - especially when we're talking a small start-up brand. But whose job should it be to handle a brand's social media? New research from The Creative Group found the majority of advertising and marketing executives believe the PR department should be in charge of a brand's social media accounts.
The report found 51 per cent of respondents believe public relations/communications should own the social channel. This compares to 39 per cent of respondents surveyed in 2013. Only 28 per cent of respondents believe marketing should be responsible for social media, compared to 35 per cent in 2013. Customer service and the CEO/owner were found to be the least favoured for the job, with customer service getting nine per cent of the votes and the CEO/owner receiving just five per cent.
Giving two very opposite opinions on whether social media should be looked after by the PR or marketing department is Ketchum digital strategy VP Jim Lin and leading social marketing strategist Ted Rubin. "PR is best suited for social media because social media is essentially a conversation. While marketing or ad firms own the message of a brand, the PR function owns the conversation about the brand," says Lin.
"The core purpose of PR is to generate a conversation about the brand via third parties. Whether that be media, influencers or consumers (on social media), the PR professional is the most adept at thinking dynamically about that conversation. A PR professional is best equipped to predict red flags, deal with crises, steer the conversation and influence third parties."
Rubin argues: “At the core, social media activities are a function of marketing, just as PR, communications and customer service should be. Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large.
"The CMO should oversee all marketing, PR, communications, customer service and customer experience management. Every touchpoint with the consumer needs to come under her purview. Often this is not the case: customer service and PR/communications are often siloed. This is a big mistake in the new marketing/social world since the message needs to emanate from one source. True marketers understand that they must be the lead stewards for brand, reputation, communication and customer relationships."
Image: Sara Che blog.
