A UTalk Martketing article, “Marketers not sure into which category social media falls” talks about a new study from the Internet Advertising Bureau that says 88% of brands rated social media as “important” and plan to allocate more of their budget to it in the coming year. But whose responsibility is it to handle this new, social tool? Many respondents said marketing, but a few added PR, research, customer service, and even IT. It seems a wise choice would be creating several social media teams, spanning departments, and giving the best overview of this new landscape. Companies can no longer avoid it: social media should play an integral part in new product campaigns, particularly on sites like Twitter and Facebook, which were rated among the top by advertisers using social media. The challenge is allocating resources appropriately and using the social interaction to gain customers, ensuring a ROI, all while holding a professional, accountable presence.

Wrap-up: Discuss social media usage with all your departments, forming a plan of action to ensure a wise online strategy.

Sam Hartman, Feb. 24, 2010

Note: Post not sponsored.