Categories: Articles

Figuring Out Who Should Own Social Media

Who should own Social Media? Yes, I’m re-opening this can of worms. But, it’s not my fault. I was listening to the New Communications Conversations Podcast: Joseph Jaffe, Jim Nail And Jen McClure Discuss Conversational Marketing Study today and there was a very lively discussion on the topic. Jim Nail of Cymfony was opposed to it being the Public Relations firms because he felt that their jobs mainly revolve around controlling the message, while Joseph Jaffe toyed with the idea that it should be a hybrid of the Advertising and PR agencies in a more integrated fashion.

I think it’s Digital Marketing agencies who need to step up and own the Social Media marketing landscape. Agencies who are primed in the interactive marketing space start off with a core understanding of how people connect online, and how different users interact within online communities. Traditional advertising firms constantly struggle with how to add interactive into the mix. The fact that this still happens in the Marketing world makes me squirm. Interactive is still an after-thought to many agencies. Public Relations firms have the communications and conversations component down, but (usually) lack in the Web development department in terms of producing and marketing the initiative.

While listening to the New Communications Conversations Podcast it came to me. It’s us… the Digital Marketing Agencies… the Interactive Marketers that should lead the charge. How can we win this piece of the strategy? Work closely with both the traditional agency to understand the brand (and its values) and work equally with the public relations firm to understand the message and communications platforms.

Clearly, Social Media – as it stands today – should be owned by the Digital Marketing Agency.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.