In spending a good portion of the last 6 weeks on the road –
in markets home and abroad — I took the opportunity to ask some large and small groups of marketing and communications professionals a question: how many of you have a Twitter account? Or are active on Facebook?
Last week, I asked the same question to a room full of procurement and HR executives. And the number of affirmative responses was almost identical — about 30%.
Granted, it’s not exactly sound science, but I find that communications professionals who don’t have “social” or “digital” in their titles often believe that it’s really not their responsibility to learn about social media, and thus, they don’t explore the digital world.
I think nothing could put them in greater peril a few years down the road. I’m using Twitter as an example here, but my point applies to all social media: learn it, or face the likelihood that you will become less relevant.
This may sound harsh to some, but consider that by the year 2020, 50% of the US workforce will be Millennials. Their connection with, and expectations from, social media are as strong as those of the Boomer generation’s from television. It’s simply the way they work and live, and the implications for everything from marketing products and services, to driving innovation and cutting costs are staggering.
Consider, too, that IBM’s 2012 survey of over 1,700 CEOs shows that 57% of them are committed to building social organizations, using digital media. And some of the fastest growing applications of social media are happening with internal/employee communications — to address real business issues that can be quantified in dollars and cents.
I’m thinking it’s not a good idea to have procurement leaders and HR executives know more about social media than any member of a communications or marketing team. And when the CEO is tweeting, blogging, posting or “liking” digital properties that remain a mystery to the experts in communications, I have to believe career trouble is certainly brewing.
Social media is not exclusively an external, brand marketing or PR discipline. It’s a platform that enables collaboration, problem solving, insights gathering and reputation building. Put simply, social media is the fastest-growing competency need for ALL marketing and communications practitioners.
The most common reasons why communications professionals tell me they’re not engaged in social media include, “We have someone who does that,” or “I don’t have time for it, and I certainly don’t need another addictive habit in my life.”
Those excuses may have bought some time, but it hasn’t bought good time; it’s time lost. My advice is to get back on that social media train, and fast. Explore Twitter, set up a Facebook account, create a LinkedIn profile for starters, and find your way to a social media Boot Camp that gets you in the game. Or just write me for recommendations. I’ve come across quite a few of them.
Regardless of your reason for avoiding or procrastinating, it’s never too late to get social. It may very well end up being the new North Star for marketing and communications and next-generation leadership in our field.
