Departmentalizing Vs. Denial

By: Caroline Herndon, Staff Writer

In an economic downturn, everybody shrinks. The budget dries up. Staffs are cut. Customers are lost. That’s why using social media sounds counterintuitive. How can a business master new technology and a new way of thinking while struggling to stay afloat?

Currently, companies respond to social media in two ways, depending on their size. Larger businesses do what they do best: create yet another department. Small businesses are already swamped: they simply ignore the new technology.

Neither approach works. Social media works best when integrated into many or all departments, particularly marketing and customer service. Within the company, unity flourishes, and from outside, new customers are found and the faithful are rewarded and empowered. All well and good in an ideal world, but what should companies do now, while social media is still developing?

Larger companies should resist the subdividing urge. By creating a new division, they must hire new staff, fill out more paperwork, and create new schisms in the company. In other words, they waste time and money.

Not only is it inefficient to create a social media division, but it hinders social media’s primary function. Applications such as Facebook and Twitter (and countless others) allow companies to know their customers, and vice-versa. Who better to have this knowledge than marketing and customer service personnel? By creating yet another go-between, companies risk distancing customers even more.

While larger companies can use social media, it’s even more useful for small business. Large corporations can’t turn on a dime: change takes time while the market passes them by. Moreover, small businesses can multitask, and learning new tasks is just part of the job.

For example, consider the famous demise of GM. Gas went up, the market responded, and GM made more SUVs. They failed to keep their finger on America’s pulse – consumers. Meanwhile, smaller companies (read: Honda and Toyota) sped ahead. What if GM had stayed in touch with consumers?

Consider your own company. What preexisting departments could use some help? Could customer service be more efficient? Do you want to reach a different audience? Need feedback on your product or service? Even if your company is doing better than most, there is always room for improvement, and social media could help fill the gaps. Ask the people already in those departments how greater contact with customers could be used, then make a social media strategy to boost your company’s position in the market – and your customers’ reach.