I’ve been very pleased to see the companies starting to take their new media channels more seriously over the last three to six months.
Some have experimented with interns and student media projects as a way of conceding that they simply don’t have budget to dedicate. I must admit I am very nervous about putting junior communicators in the public domain. I stopped recommending this kind of approach about 18 months ago when a project I set up slid horribly sideways and the strategy work in place was wasted. It was bad advice.
I now recommend training existing middle, to senior level communicators to use new media tools. Driving social media accounts is teachable. Becoming a seasoned communicator takes time.
Now before you get defensive and accuse me of pushing my own agenda and being mean to young people trying to get ahead, please hear me out.
I am constantly frustrated by the ignorance and reluctance of communication practitioners to up skill and learn about new media channels and two-way communications. Some of you deserve to have your jobs taken off you by upstart little punks, and believe me; they will take your jobs.
However, there are three reasons why you need your stronger communicators in the driving seat.
1. Commercial acumen- Organisations are strange places and I don’t care how smart or entrepreneurial or super assertive you are, it takes time to understand how businesses and organisational objectives hang together. You need work experience.
2. Writing skills- I have been fortunate to work in teams with some very experienced and highly skilled written communicators. They would regularly destroy my work and tar and feather me for typos and grammatical crimes against humanity. You need to keep the quality of your organisation’s brand communications high. Especially when you are publishing on the fly in the public domain.
3. Instinct- I rang an MP’s press secretary this morning for a “I just think you should know” update. It was nothing really but I could feel that he felt it too. The pause, the ‘hmmm can you send me the report’, the ‘I’ve got your cell number don’t I?” Online communities and commentators can turn on you very quickly. Your force needs to be strong or at least, not weak and helpless.
New media channels are not second-tier channels and if you can’t afford to resource them properly, then it may not be the best choice for you to move forward in them. The people driving your accounts are spokespeople and need to be taken seriously from both a customer and an organisational point of view.
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