In my last post, I pointed out how the concept that social media experts may start to die out before they are fully able to bloom. Not all social media experts, but the field itself may start to expand to many a job category’s job description and therefore condense the specific need for actual “experts”. Where not there yet, not by a long shot, but the future can sneak up on you really fast.
I go back to a conversation I had with a colleague a little over a year ago. This guy is a brilliant social media type. Part marketer, part technology guru. One of those types that’s on every social network out there.
He interviewed at a local growing and dynamic marketing and public affairs company. It’s relatively young, but it’s managed to create for itself an image as an awesome place to join. Actually “hip”. There aren’t many places in DC that that can be said of.
He was interviewing with the head of the company for what would likely be a newly created position. Essentially, he’d be creating a social media department for the company. They already had divisions of advertising, public relations, public affairs, government relations, grassroots organizing, investor relations, crisis management, etc. They should have already had a social media division but, like many companies, they didn’t.
What struck me was a question that the CEO asked him. “How soon can you make it profitable?”
That’s a horrible question and it showed me that the CEO didn’t know what he was talking about.
Yes, social media can be a stand alone division. But unlike the above mentioned divisions, social media can both supplement and complement each and every one of those capabilities. For grassroots politics, develop an online community of supporters. For investor relations, develop a blog for the CFO and others to talk to investors. For advertising, develop widgets for online use of fans.
The money making power of social media comes not with it being just a stand alone service by itself, it comes by being something that can be integrated into other service offerings.
But that doesn’t mean that social media should be looked at as a commodity. The mindset of the CEO is proof of that. If he knew so little of social media to see it as just another service in a silo, then he’s got a lot to learn. And he shouldn’t be making directive decisions on this. He should be – to use a word my friends in social media love to use – listening. And learning. And getting an understanding.
So he shouldn’t be looking at the direct bottom line of the one perceived division. He should be looking at the whole effect this new era has on his business and its service offerings.
That’s the real bottom line.
Oh, and my colleague decided against taking the job. Instead, he started his own firm, where he’s doing just fine.
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