In many of the client organizations where we pitch social media PR, I see an interesting trend. It is usually an employee – most of the times, a lone employee! – who spearheads any kind of social media outreach for the entire organization, mostly as a subset of his/ her personal social media branding efforts. The kind of effort may be small and some times insignificant too, but this is the person who actually creates some kind of voice for the organization online, beyond conventional modes like the corporate website. The communications or the marketing team usually is still thinking of how to kickstart the brands’ presence on social media.
This is particularly more pronounced for Indian operations of MNCs – the worldwide headquarters of these MNCs may have an established social media outreach program, but the Indian office remains largely clueless. We also found this to be true when we do the homework before pitching for conventional PR/ social media PR, for a new client.
The point is that this lone guy may not be doing it right, but he’s at least doing it. And that requires guidance and appreciation. It could be someone from the technical team, in an IT company. Or it could be someone from a support function in any other company – but the fact that this person went beyond his organizational tasks or his personal branding/ mandate on socia media, and thought of getting a presence for the company in social media is something that needs encouragement. For an organization, it is such people that really matter, to create a presence beyond what PR creates for the senior leaders/ designated spokespersons.
That’s actually the beauty of social media – anyone can start it, but only the ones who get the tone of their content right last. So, while the communications/ marketing team may appreciate this effort, it’d help to chart a path for that person and his/ her effort, so that it serves as a great example for employees helping an organization ramp up on social media.
This Chicago Tribune piece on how younger employees are helping older ones get on to social media serves as a valid proof point to what we see as a trend in some of our client (and prospective client) organizations.