DISQUS

David · 12 months ago

Hmmm good question. I agree that there are certain levels of SM and SMM that overlap with marketing, PR, and customer service, but ultimately it should boil down to the very specifics of why social media is being used. Is it for brand marketing, product development and product loyalty purpose? Is it for business revenue generation? Is it for public and media relations? Is it for customer usability and customer relationship management? Or is it a mixture of a bunch of different directions? And if it is a mixture, then which direction is the primary cause and which direction is secondary? I believe that by finding out what direction(s) the SMM is going to be used, then the resources will then be allotted accordingly. If the direction seems to be multi-faceted, then an in-house collaborative effort between a marketing expert, a PR expert, a web guru, and a customer service rep can be gathered as a team to head this out.

I can understand having MS do multiple social medias in different groups, and knowing how some of the groups work, it gets complicated because each group is driven by different business needs and have different infrastructures than others. The team that I was in at one point only had a core group of 10, while others I have seen were more in the realm of 30+, so different groups will have more/less resources depending on the size. And I can't even tell you the business directives that drive them.

kevinurie · 12 months ago

Great insights David! I guess I just think that if you are only using SM to do one thing, you are missing out on the real benefits of SM.

If you use SM to build connections and relationships with people, the PR, customer service, and marketing benefits will just fall into place.

David · 12 months ago

The benefits are definitely there, but then will one get the fullness of these benefits by the above methods?