Hats off to David Zaleski at iMedia Connection for capturing a serious topic in a humorous way.
Zaleski says at the end of his video lashing that there’s no need for social media managers. I wouldn’t go that far, but statistics do point to a downward trend. According to newly released stats from career site Indeed.com, growth in positions with the title “social media manager” slowed to 50% in the past year, a dramatic decline from recent years, when triple and even quadruple digit growth was commonplace.
Ryan Holmes, CEO of HootSuite, believes the decline in social media managers indicates a sea change in the way that social media itself is used within organizations. Once the exclusive domain of digital gurus, Twitter, Facebook, and other tools are gradually becoming everyone’s responsibility.
To my mind, everyone’s responsibility means a shared responsibility. Brands do in fact need agency partners who live and breathe digital media to develop a strategic framework and help guide the discussion online. Brands also need people inside the company to step up and field customer requests when they come in via social, and to help deliver “real news” from inside the company.
Social is about real people and real voices — when a skilled staffer or team of staffers takes on social media marketing responsibilities, the authentic voice that comes through is impossible to fake or replicate and that’s worth a lot.
