Two big questions continue to circulate through the social media space: What is the ROI of Social Media, and Who Owns Social Media. This is the first in a series of 4 posts about my thoughts and philosophy on these topics. My objective is to bring clarity for those seeking greater understanding of how social media will impact their organization.
Despite seeming unrelated, I think that these questions are actually inter-related. The first step to gaining clarity is to parse the question of ownership into two subsets: Thought leadership within the field; and accountability within an organization.
Thought Leadership in Social Media
The question, “Who owns social media” is asked in one of two contexts:
within an organizational context
Will our social media program be controlled by the PR department, the marketing department, HR, etc.
or outside the organizational context
Who is developing best practices, who are the thought leaders, what are the standards and who is determining what they are.
Let’s tackle the second one first. This question of thought leadership, social media best practices, and standards of consulting care is asking, from 30,000 feet, who should I trust to give me social media advice.
Social Media Experts
“The Groundswell” authors Li and Bernoff describe how the democratization of information sharing technologies has shifted power toward the individual consumer. The tsunami alarm has been activated and the business world is scrambling for a foothold to reach high ground before the wave comes ashore. In response, hoards of individuals have claimed subject matter expertise in social media. Unfortunately, the title of “Social Media Expert” is easy to find but tough to validate. So called experts, gurus, ninjas, blackbelts, samurais and masters (martial arts, anyone?) may have come from any of a thousand previous disciplines – marketing, web design, sales, retail, what-have-you – each in some way rationalizing how their previous experience qualifies them as an expert. I am passing no moral judgment here, as there is a flip side to this coin that deserves equal scrutiny.
Despite the vacuum that has been created in the white space of social media business practices, the enabling technologies, governance and implementation are still virgin territory. It is the New Frontier of technology adoption for businesses. To wit, the definition of “Social Media” continues to evolve. The breadth of social practice areas continues to expand. There is Social Media Marketing, Social Media Networking, Social CRM, Social Ops, the list goes on. Think about this for a moment: a highly competitive economic environment in which businesses are seeking urgent answers against a backdrop of relatively undefined space. In other words, for a properly positioned individual the economic opportunity that would result from wide spread expert status is huge. It is no surprise then, that the outcry against “snake oil peddlers” in social media as often as not comes from other “experts”. Those who feel they have a more legitimate claim to the kingdom can often be heard lamenting (whining about?) the “hacks”, “posers”, and other “illegitimate” heirs to the social media expert throne. They claim that their efforts to develop best practices and industry standards are being undermined by the work of lesser-qualified practitioners. In response to the question “Who owns social media” they ostensibly reply, “We do, of course. We are legitimate, and if other, lesser qualified people are allowed to answer these big important questions, they will screw it up, damage the industry, and victimize business clients for their own gain.”
All things in commerce are caveat emptor. Business managers should never be considered victims of their own decisions. The onus is on the business manager to validate the legitimacy of anyone claiming the ability to help them solve a problem. For any given organization, the acceptable qualifications for a social media consultant (as with any other consultant) are fluid and should reflect the specific objectives, scope and budget of the engagement.
Social Media Best Practices
So, who owns social media? Who is defining the best practices and standards in social media? There are lots of individuals who are getting positive press for their work in the field at an enterprise level. For the small and medium business owner, these guys are out of reach. Further, there is no accepted organizing body for social media practitioners. The business reality is that social media best practices are going to be specific to your industry, company size, and specific functions and objectives. That said, for those searching for social media practitioners, “expert”, “guru”, and all manner of martial artist monikers should be granted by the client, rather than self-proclaimed. He or she should explain what they are proficient in, how they can help, and what their limitations are. A social media consultant, like the medium they practice in, should be authentic, add value, solve problems to the best of their ability, and not venture into areas beyond their level of competency.
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