The biggest struggle that C-Suites have with social media is trying to figure out how it fits within their organizations. For example, if you’re a specialist in marketing, they understand what you do. If you’re an expert in PR, they can tell you where your desk is located. But if you’re skilled in the art of social media, C-Suites scratch their heads while determining where to pencil your name onto an org chart. Do you belong in sales? Customer support? Information Technology? Product development? HR? Accounting? Legal? Since social media cuts across all of these organizations, the answer is frequently the subject of debate.
I don’t blame them for their confusion. It seems that whenever they ask about social media, the explanation involves unfamiliar terms (blogging, podcasting, twittering, Facebook wall entries) rather than the long term objectives that these activities support. C-Suites want to invest time and money into social media, but won’t until someone can explain the business case using terms that are more than ten years old.
Recently, I’ve been searching for a tall thin concept that helps C-Suites understand the role that social media plays within their organizations. If I’m successful, it will answer all of the lingering questions, including those such as ROI, objective, strategy, goals, and tactics.
My research has oriented me toward Audience is an Asset–a concept that an audience built through social media channels is a corporate asset with real financial value.
Over the next few posts I’ll be sharing with you some of the insights that I’ve been gathering while studying the balance sheets of traditional media companies.
In the mean time, I’d love your thoughts.
Photo Credit: a r b o
Tags: audience is an asset audience as an asset ron ploof executive executives c-suite financial balance sheet
