The question of who should be planning and executing social marketing strategies within a company has come up quite a bit lately. Which is why we are seeing so many businesses outsourcing their entire social marketing strategy.
In my opinion, Social marketing can fall somewhere between PR, web development, content management, marketing and advertising. I don’t think it really matters who takes responsiblity for it. However it is imperative that if you want your social marketing program to be successful, whoever leads the effort must set clear goals and be passionate about what they are doing and why they are doing it.
There are currently no set guidelines for social marketing. It is a fluid communications tool and it should remain that way at least until you get some traction with your efforts. Companies can get great exposure for their brand if they are true to their brand and understand what attracts people to the brand. With social marketing, there is not clear path to building community around a brand, but patience is a must, as well as tracking your progress and being able to change course and be fluid.
