Why Social media often fails to impress the C-suite

As companies have witnessed a change in their customers’ purchasing behaviour and a fragmentation of the media landscape, they are not only rethinking the way they interact with their customers, but also how they organise. In line with these changes, involvement in social media is becoming the norm. But how to master these new media?

To master these new media, we have seen companies introduce extensive planning processes and content calendars, and purchase expensive software tools to track and analyse their social media efforts. They have also hired social media managers and external agencies. The investment in time and money is extensive.

Despite this considerable social media outlay, they often fail to secure a return. The primarily reason for this is the huge gap between the commercial priorities and the output of these channels.

Together with our colleagues at Kunde & Co, we have over the last three years helped some of Europe’s largest companies use social media as a business driver. We have conducted a wide range of social media audits and had the opportunity to discuss these with executive stakeholders. In doing so, we have scratched below the