Now that the large majority of marketing and business professionals have drank the social media kool aid so-to-speak, I think one of the major questions on everyone’s mind is actually “now that we know we need to be taking part in social media, how do we go about it, and who do we put in charge?”
It’s a big question for sure and businesses have come up with several solutions all with varying levels of success. Over the next few posts, I’m going to look into several of the most common scenarios and how/why they can work.
Scenario #1: The Over-eager Intern
You see this a lot and I don’t think it’s always terrible. On the plus, interns are generally full of youthful enthusiasm for their new companies and eager to impress and hopefully land a job. They should be more than comfortable in the online space and, let’s face it, they’ve just come out of University where Facebook is probably one of the more dominant activities one’s daily life! (Students, please don’t take offence…. I am only speaking from experience)
But let me ask you this: If you found out your intern spent a lot of time watching TV would that lead you to believe they would be the perfect person to produce your next television commercial? I didn’t think so. This is a professional media channel so it’s important to give it the respect it deserves and make sure it’s being handled properly – not just passed off to whoever has the time. The other issue I have with this scenario is that internships are temporary positions. How does somebody who is only a temporary part of the organization become a proper face for that company? What real chance at developing relationships do they have and how do they transfer these to the next person who comes along?
The only way I can see this turning out well is if the company actually plans to hire this individual after their internship because they are that very special intern who immediately embraces and immerses themselves in the organizational culture and values. Even with all of this in place, I would still put an intern, or any new employee, under the guidance of somebody higher up and make sure they are having everything approved as they go. But that’s just me.
Who’s in charge of your company’s social media program?
- Rosa Meyer
6 Comments
Great post Rosa!
“Who’s in charge of your company’s social media program?”
I am. The Supreme Commander. I never let Sancho or Oskar post on behalf of the company – at least not without me having looked at what they’re up to. And you’re right: it was only after they’d proven themselves worthy of long term engagement with HPM Inc. that I even let them near the keyboard.
Keep writing (btw: who was it suggested you just “get a blog and start writing?”).
hpm
(another btw: I discovered your blog post via gist.com – which I discovered via a tweet from @awsamuel – she’s someone you should be watching if you’re not already. Probably one of the smartest writers about social media in YVR / North America [she writes for HBR but is based out of YVR and runs SocialSignal.com w/ her husband])
ta ta,
hpm
With our company being farely small, each of us is involved in the social media marketing. We take turns commenting, posting to forums, bookmarking articles, Tweeting, updating Facebook, and networking. At the same time though, we understand the importance of our efforts being unified and consistent. The same goes for the social media/networking accounts of our clients which we manage.
Thanks for the post! It was fun and informative.