What is the future of the social media strategist role?
This is a particularly interesting question, and one that we grapple with constantly…given that our entire business is social business strategy.
It’s been said before, that there are no “phone strategists” or “fax machine strategists” and since social media are just evolutionary technologies, similar to phone or fax, it is likely that there will cease to be social specific roles.
While I can see that perspective and appreciate it, there are several variables inherent to social media that make those comparisons tantamount to comparing apples and parking meters.
One Phone, One Fax, Many Apps
The phone changed the world. But there was ONE phone. You made a call using one single device.
The fax machine was a big deal for a while. But it was a single technology. Standard.
Facebook cannot search Twitter. Google+ cannot post to Slideshare. Instagram and Vine are both video platforms, yet both are different from YouTube.
Heck, even phones and faxes have changed somewhat as a result of the internet, mobile phones and apps.
Social Media is bigger than phones
I’ve said this many, many times now. If all we think about when we hear “social media” is Twitter and Facebook, then we are doomed to miss the big opportunities.
There is still too much confusion about what social media actually is, and, more importantly, as it relates to business how it fits.
While someone would suggest that there are no “phone consultants,” I would disagree…it’s called the IT department. IT departments typically select the phone system, decide whether or not to go VOIP, setup the intercom and speed dials, etc.
A well run IT department is one that strategically thinks about its budget to use technology to drive business value through increased productivity, cost savings or increased speed.
Similarly, there is going to be a need for individuals that are staying current with behavioral and technological trends, helping companies identify the opportunities, helping companies avoid liabilities, and helping companies utilize these social technologies to drive business value.
That position may become an internal role, it may be an outsourced role. However there is one thing I am confident about, the social media strategist role may disappear, but if it does, it will not simply get swallowed up by one department. Marketing or IT will not be the ones solely accountable for how social fits. And the companies that go that route, will miss out on the opportunity to use social as a driver of value across the enterprise, from marketing to HR, to operations, to IT. Every area of a social business will need to be thinking about social. So if the outsourced teams disappear, which I highly doubt, it will be absorbed across the company into every department. But even if that happens…I think we’re a decade away from seeing that.