What is the role of social media in a company’s overall strategy?

Like so many, I have been binge-watching a variety of shows across a variety of the streaming platforms.  One that caught my attention recently is Netflix’s “Emily in Paris.” Emily is 20-something making her dream come true, working in Paris.  Her task is to bring an American point of view to a venerable French marketing firm.

And while her character is creating buzz about her clients, the show itself has created quite the buzz as well.

Throughout each episode, it seems that Emily is intentionally excluded from lunches and meetings with her new coworkers and is left uninformed about the company’s overall strategy. A self-starter, Emily takes it upon herself to build up the brand but with no clear direction, she is bound to make mistakes along the way.

A recent study from The Institute for Public Relations shows that burnout is at an all-time high for social media managers like Emily, as companies continue to rely on  social media communication. The study reveals that social media managers only plan to stay in their position for about two years because those positions often offer little room to grow into a leadership role. Further, the study says that 27% of social media managers are fully informed about their company’s overall communication strategy. So although Emily is just a fictional character, the storyline seems to bear out what has been found in the study.

Strategy is critical whether you are talking about social media, content marketing, media relations or any of the other tactics included in your organization’s communications plan. If social media is viewed as an integral part of your communication and marketing efforts, then those responsible for it need to be equipped with the right tools to build brand awareness and reputation and act a source of company knowledge when engaging.