What is the focus of your company’s marketing department? Branding, telling a story, getting the company name in the minds of the target market, right? Right.
What is the focus of your company’s sales department? Building relationships, solving customer problems, bringing in dollars, correct? Good.
What is the focus of your company’s research and development department? Innovating, developing solutions, quality checks. Am I right? Yes.
While each department listed above is integral to the success of a company, you don’t see much overlap among them. How, then, is the marketing department supposed to tell the company’s story, quickly address customer issues and show the innovations and future of the business on social media channels that run 24/7?
Many try to utilize a cross-functional, internal social media or real-time media team. While this makes sense in theory – who knows the goings on of a company and its customers better than its own colleagues? …It does not make sense in practice. Most times, departments work at full capacity. Adding responsibilities to individuals and departments that are at capacity causes internal stress and results in a haphazard social media strategy strung together when time allows.
You’ve got to know: People can tell.
A second option for a successful social media strategy and implementation process exists in utilizing an outside source – an agency. If you allow them to, an agency can manage, work in and amongst many departments and provide actionable results for the sales team. This is cross-functional, takes very little time on the part of the departments involved and allows your company to maintain a necessary presence on useful social channels.
Agencies that embrace social media as a tool for their clients live, breathe and sleep it. We have tools, we use the channels, we know the market, and we have a top level view of our clients. We are able to see how departments weave into and work with one another. We are the solution to your social media woes.
Today’s markets expect more from companies. Brands need to engage online, and companies that do this successfully will see real results.
