Social Media: I’ve Heard This Story Before

After working the past three years with various companies to integrate social media to enhance their business, it’s become clear to me that I’ve been down this same road before. The questions, obstacles and opportunities that brands face today with social media are eerily similar to ones they faced more than a decade ago with the emergence of the Web.

You would think by now that many companies would also recognize these similarities and the lessons learned from the past to expedite the adoption of social media across their organizations. Unfortunately, it appears we are on the same painful path of the past. Sometimes I feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. What exactly do I mean? Let me count just a few of the ways:

1. Do We Need To Do This? Raise your hand if you work for a company that is still debating the merits of social media and whether or not it’s even worth the time or effort. I’ve been part of many discussions on this topic and they are exactly like the ones in the mid-90’s when brands argued (get this) the value of having a Web strategy and “do we really need to have a Web site?”
2. How Much Should We Invest? Today, you can find companies that spend from $1,000 to $1 million a year on social media. There is no magic number or budget range. That depends on where this new cross-disciplinary knowledge falls on your internal priority list. Companies debated for years on where they would find the incremental budget for their Web operations. There doesn’t seem to be much arguing on that issue anymore.
3. Who Owns This? Sometimes it’s hard to stifle the smiles and chuckles when this one comes up in meetings. It’s an issue you know is always going to be raised, you just don’t know when. Forward-thinking brands almost always realize early on that social media intelligence should be integrated into all facets of their organization, just like their Web strategy evolved years ago.
4. Do We Need Dedicated Staff? Yes, and the sooner a company comes to terms with this one the better. It’s why Corporate Community Manager is one of the hottest jobs in the country, even in a recession and why every social media consultant I know is very busy these days.
5. Is This Global and Scalable? If my memory serves me right it took most companies about five years to move their Web strategies and operations from U.S. focused to global. It seems to me that feels like the same timetable we are on now with social media adoption on an enterprise level.
6. How Do We Measure Success? There was no accepted ROI metric for the impact of the Web on business when brands finally began diving in with both feet, and many would argue there still isn’t one today. While it should always be a very desirable and focused goal, it should not be a show stopper for any company to delay its entrance into this important new area of business.
7. When Will the C-Suite Get Involved? There is little doubt that social media is far below the radar of most CEOs these days. That’s absolutely no different than what it was more than a decade ago when companies developed their first Web plans. I can still recall the puzzled look on the face of one CEO when we presented the strategy for his company’s first Web site. Try to name a CEO today who doesn’t think his site now represents a critical part of his business.

Sometimes what goes around comes around in this business. And many of us are better because of that and even more prepared the second time around.

Mike Spataro