Social Media Literacy Is Vital to Success as a Business Leader

By Shane Gibson

We have all seen the studies and claims by experts that the great social media gold rush is over. This typically results in a chorus of disdain from social media experts and social media managers globally. It’s almost entertaining to sit back and watch the debate rage on Twitter, LinkedIn and popular news sites.

The reality is social media is not going away – in fact it has evolved into a business discipline. It has become vital to our business success but also broader in it’s use within large organizations.

Last year we witnessed a slight increase in the number of new job openings for people with titles such as the coveted Social Media Manager – this makes it seem that things have slowed down, but according to statistics from LinkedIn there has also been a year-on-year 1300% increase in overall job postings for general positions that require social media literacy – and 42% of these postings are at the senior level in both private and public sector organizations.

Today’s vice-president of marketing or chief brand officer can’t just be good at managing social staff or recruiting them. When an organization is looking to hire a senior marketing person or business executive they now consider social media as a vital hands-on competency. It can no longer be an afterthought or something that marketing executives should be arbitrarily delegating or outsourcing.

Three years ago when I talked to organizations about social media, most wanted someone to manage their social media for them. I had to debate, twist arms and provide mountains of data to prove that the best path was for me to train them, and work with them, not do it for them. Most people saw social media as a cubicle. Today the tides have shifted and social media literacy is now being seen as an organization-wide mandate and necessary for business survival.

Forward thinking organizations like Ford Canada, Paladin Security, ICBC and Make-a-Wish BC/Yukon (disclosure: these are my agency clients) are focused on helping staff at all levels use social media. It’s not just for marketing: their CEOs, sales staff, customer service and even CFOs in some of these organizations are tweeting, writing blog posts and establishing themselves as thought leaders using social media.

In the industry leading study The State of Social Business 2013: The Maturing of Social Media into Social Business, the Altimeter Group found that training and education around social media is in the top 3 areas of focus for the businesses. With that said only 13% of organizations have a social media policy and/or have educated their staff on it. This training and knowledge gap poses a considerable risk to most organizations from both a legal and brand integrity perspective.

So what does it mean to be social media literate as a business leader? There are five key areas that I would suggest you focus on when building a social media education program for you and your team:

1. Social media policy and set of guidelines:
   Create one and then educate all staff on it. This sets the tone for the company. It also protects staff, the brand and your stakeholders. (One thing you will notice is that most headlines on social media missteps are created by blundering senior executives or officials – these people have more to lose when something goes wrong and so does their organization)
2. The Rules of engagement:
   There are best practices and different sets of etiquette for each social media tool and demographic. There are also important things to do (and avoid) around building community, connecting with business partners and dealing with negativity online.
3. The tools of engagement:
   Anyone on your team using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., on behalf of the company or at work needs this to be part of their professional development. A two-hour crash course on Twitter can save a newbie days of trial and error. You must make sure that is easy for staff to start using the tools.
4. Social media strategy:
   People need to understand the business application of social media and how to integrate its use into their business unit and individual roles. This in many cases would be broken down by business unit. Your sales team will use social media strategically different than marketing or service. From prize contests to specifically reaching out to a select demographic – social business strategy is needed.
5. Social media management and measurement:
   This area can be a significant investment and a vital component of your social media program. Tools like Radian6, HootSuite and social CRM tools like SalesForce.com or Nimble can help you organize, measure and professionalize your social media use. They organize and help you embed business processes while using an otherwise messy chaotic medium. This is a key piece of knowledge and intelligence you will need.

You may never work in a social media department, but your future success will be reliant on you becoming a social businessperson. The sooner that investment is made the more secure your business and career future will be.

Shane Gibson is co-author of Sociable! How Social Media is Turning Sales and Marketing Upside-down and Guerrilla Social Media Marketing. He is also Chief Social Officer of Socialized! (http://socialized.me), a Vancouver-based social media agency. Follow Shane on Twitter @ShaneGibson and check out his JJA speaker profile by clicking here.