Esoteric knowledge and added value

Social media’s potential goes beyond creating branded spaces filled with advertising material. As an interface between the brand and the rest of the world, the interactions created through these tools demand far more information of a much more niche nature than usually distributed via advertising. Sometimes, neither the agency nor the marketing department are able to deliver or engage on this level. So why focus all social media activity within these business units?

As the custodians of the brand, those coordinating marketing communications do have a role in any social media effort, even just to maintain an Integrated Marketing Communications strategy. However, in execution sometimes a brand’s strategic goals are best served by those outside of the marketing and communications professions.

It is the industry and professional information that people from other parts of the organisation have that can sometimes add real value. In industries where esoteric knowledge defines the product or creates the point of difference, making this information more visible and easier to access can help build or promote the brand. This practice is hardly unique, and already exists offline.

Hiring super users as brand ambassadors, like bartenders to represent drinks companies, is already a proven practice. Extending this to include using employees with special knowledge of the brand and products to generate content and interact with customers online is not much of a paradigm shift.