I can’t keep track of the number of instances here where I’ve written these words: brands–and pretty much everyone else with a digital presence–are in the media business today. So, it’s heartening to see what other people have to add on the topic. People like Brian Solis, author of Engage and principal of Future Works, a social media agency working in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.
In his most recent blog post, “The Future of Marketing Starts with Publishing Part 2”, Solis argues for a new CEO to meet the needs of today’s media demands on a company.
The new CEO is for all intents and purposes a Chief Editorial Officer and is responsible for the timely creation and distribution for relevant and material content delivered as attractive and engaging social objects. Once social objects are introduced into the wild, businesses are then challenged to ensure that these objects are supported by representatives who will spur conversations and reactions as well as implementing Social Media Optimization (SMO) techniques to ensure their “findability” when consumers are searching for relevant information.
Decision makers in every business, from entrepreneurs to local business owners to executives at enterprise organization are learning to appreciate the prospectus of social media and its promise to materialize a brighter, more interactive and customer-focused future. Very few however, create the change necessary to support the establishment of new media programming and perhaps more significantly, do not endorse or lead the humanization of the company and its culture.
When I was at BFG Communications, my title was Content Director, but it could as just as easily been Chief Editorial Officer. Which is another way of saying, it’s great to have this person operating on the client-side, but the work can also be outsourced to an agency, or boutique, with a content practice.
