How Eight Company Departments Contribute to Social Media Differently

Before you create a social media strategy for your business, you need to identify who is going to contribute and how.

So, who in a company should “do” social media?

Everyone.

The answer is cliché, but everyone can play a part in the social media mix; social media spans across many different departments.

Here’s a breakdown of how different departments can contribute and utilize a company’s social media presence.

Marketing – The social media lead

In most companies, social media generally falls under the marketing department. They often are looked to to coordinate efforts, monitor the conversation, and track & analyze results that correlate to the company’s goals.

PR – Outbound communication

The PR department can utilize social media to help with the company’s outbound communication. Social media can help PR departments not only push out press releases and company news, but they can also utilize their social media outlets to help keep the general public informed in times of bad publicity. (read: Social Media – The New PR Fire Extinguisher)

Customer Support – “Social care”

There is an up-and-coming term being used in customer support circles, and that is “social care”. Social care is customer service on social platforms, and is very quickly becoming the population’s preferred method of customer service. It’s becoming more common for people to tweet at your company or write on your Facebook wall seeking help or a response.

In fact, recent studies show that 1 in 3 people prefer using social media customer service over phone, and 42 percent of consumers complaining on social media expect a response within 60 minutes.

Human Resources – Social recruiting

HR departments can cut expenses for recruiting by posting jobs to not only LinkedIn, but Facebook and Twitter as well. Buying targeted ads on Facebook or LinkedIn can be a cheaper alternative to sending a team of recruiters to a slew of college campuses looking for new talent.

Sales – Lead targeting & nurturing

If utilized properly, social media can be a great place for the sales team to target leads and create positive touch-points for their customers & prospects.

Salespeople can target and follow their customers and prospects on social media to stay up-to-date with what is new and important in their company. That way, when they get a chance to speak with their customer or prospect, they can have an intelligent conversation about how your company can help them achieve their current goals.

CEO’s & VP’s – Transparency and culture

Everyone loves feeling important and informed, and senior-level executives can do that for their followers by posting status updates, pictures, or videos that can help provide transparency of the company culture. Companies shouldn’t be afraid to post photos of company outings, give shout out to to local teams who may have recently won a big game, or show public support of a good cause, etc.

Creative Team – Images & video

Users of social media love content that visual and image-based. In addition to having high-quality images and great video content, creative teams also create graphics for landing pages, backgrounds, and profile pictures.

IT – Integration

Once you get your social media platforms up and running, you’ll want to promote those. The IT department can help put social media icons on your websites, email signatures, and anywhere else you’d like to promote your social media channels.

 

–Lance Brown