PR+MKTG Camp Chicago revealed that social media is partially to blame for organizational turf confusion. Its mandate that everyone engage customers is leading to blurred communication boundaries.

When polled, attendees believed driving sales and customer support were now considered leading roles for PR and marketing professionals. This shift in responsibilities may come as a surprise to the heads of sales and customer support who traditionally “own” the customer.

On the other hand, one of PR+MKTG Camp’s moderators, Bill Belcher, director of corporate communications at Boeing, made it very clear PR owned reporter relations at Boeing.  However, don’t tell that to reporters who can and do bypass traditional channels by taking advantage of employees on Twitter and Facebook for company news and tips.

This turf confusion extends to managing social media budgets.  When attendees were asked who controls the social media budget in your organization? They laughed and said “Everyone.”

If everybody is in charge of social media, then ultimately nobody really is. Some may argue that the lack of ownership may be the whole point of social media. But the negative of side of overlapping or undefined roles is the potential for duplicative social media campaigns, an undisciplined message and negative customer feedback.

In this state of confusion, PR+MKTG Camp Chicago demonstrates the importance of alignment in helping marketing and PR professionals understand their shared role in managing:

- Customer Ownership (what does owning the customer mean)
- Engagement Policies (messaging and messenger)
- Hand off Procedures (internal communications and sharing information)
- Follow up Processes (making sure the customer is served)
- Shared Performance Metrics (sharing the rewards and blame)

In short social media has created opportunities for greater customer engagement.  It is up to PR and marketing provide organizational structure and purpose.

Browse Other Posts

• « PR+MKTG Camp Chicago Takeaway 1: From Definition to Impact
• » PR+MKTG Camp Chicago Takeaway 3 – Building a Social Media Framework

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