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How to manage social channels in a large business?

Author's avatar By Chris Soames 14 Sep, 2012
Essential Essential topic

Spredfast release Social Engagement Index Report which shows different company roles for managing social media status updates

Value/Importance: [rating=3]

Recommended link: Download 30 page PDF research summary - registration required

Our commentary

This report from Spredfast highlights some interesting trends in how businesses are utilising social media channels. The title is a little misleading since it suggests degree of consumer engagement with social media, it goes have some info on this, but we didn't find it so actionable. What we found more interesting is how businesses are managing social media. Spredfast defines 5 roles:

  • Admins have access to all features and functionality in Spredfast including the ability to monitor, publish, configure, and make administrative changes.
  • Managers monitor and publish content and manage basic account settings (add and edit users, groups, streams).
  • Editors monitor and publish content.
  • Writers create original content and respond to network engagement (content created by this role is often sent through an approval path).
  • Viewers can see streams, published content, and analytics but cannot publish or edit.

These are the typical number of users by role:

The snippets below from their report give you an insight into the trends in adoption of social media practices within companies:

  • Brands are centralizing social activity, engagement, and measurement to orchestrate social for internal and external engagement
  • Social Media is no longer one person’s job
  • Publishing is heavier on Twitter, though engagement on Facebook is higher
social segments at a glance

The 30 page document prompts some useful thoughts, worth reading if you're managing social media in a large business. The likelihood is that you find the same trends in your own business but still worth it for the little nuggets that you are bound to find.

Marketing implications

The fascinating takeaway of the document for me was how much brands are utilising social as another channel to obsess over, even to the point where it is turned solely into a broadcast tool, missing the point in a lot of ways. My key reminders from this report are:

  • Focus on the fuel for Social - Great pieces of content
  • Facebook generates the most engagement, therefore should be a primary a focus
  • Twitter is a conversation tool, so start a conversation with content & respond / reply to the conversation on Twitter too
  • Technology is key to running this efficiently

You can check the post out here.

Author's avatar

By Chris Soames

Chris Soames is a Smart Insights blogger and consultant, he has worked in digital marketing for over 6 years with the last few years managing international web strategies for a leading travel brand. Now the Commercial Director at First 10, an Integrated marketing agency, he helps clients get clarity on their marketing strategy and create campaigns engineered to engage with their consumers to help drive sell-through. Most of all, Chris enjoys working with talented people who want to create great (& commercial) things not just tick boxes.

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