This Post by Chris Brogan first of all was excellent (read it), but more importantly got me thinking….
He’s wondering where the community thinks tools like Twitter, blogs, Facebook, etc belong in a company. Should they be handled by marketing, PR, HR, etc? In addition to his ideas, it got me thinking about what a huge opportunity there is for marketers, consultants, and agencies to teach clients. I think most companies think of these tools and social media in general as a way to reach out to their user base (which is true). But there’s also a great opportunity to use these tools on an internal level to streamline communication, build teams, and solidify a brand. Check out the full article and my .02 is below:
I think the applications of each of these services will vary a lot depending on the product / service and size of the company, but just a few thoughts:
Blogging – A great tool for building community and providing service. Especially if its authentic. Specifically, if it can be used as a way for users to interact directly with a CEO or higher up. If I had a negative experience with a product, how cool would it be if my concerns were heard directly by a VP or CEO and they reached out via the blog to fix the problem or at least let me know that they heard me? Its a very valuable tool that only costs you your time.
Twitter – Will probably become the best resource to get ideas out to your “Tribe” (Seth Godin’s beating the idea of leading tribes like a drum and I agree). Its rapid fire, real time, and easy.
Additionally, the internal applications can rock as well, in terms of inter-department communication and team building. Plus it has the ‘it factor’ at the moment.
The really cool thing for people working in social media consulting or agencies is that you now have a HUGE opportunity to not only help clients use these tools to communicate with their customers, but an even BIGGER opportunity to help them use and leverage these tools to better communicate within their organization and build a cohesive brand internally and externally.
