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PP 399
Integrated Strategic Communication on Facebook: How Social Customers Challenge Current Practices
C. Wolf
1
, A. Godulla
2
1
University of Leipzig, Institute of Communication and Media Studies, Leipzig, Germany
2
University of Applied Science Würzburg-Schweinfurt, Würzburg, Germany
Social media usage has spread rapidly within Europe. Although basically created as a network for individual users, social media like facebook are extensively
used for strategic communication (and marketing) by all kinds of organizations to interact with different groups of stakeholders. Since 2007 the European
Communication Monitor reports its growing relevance: In 2014, almost two thirds of the respondents stated social media as an important tool for strategic
professionals (Zerfass et al, 2014). Nevertheless, research also indicates, that many organizations do not focus on the interactive nature of the platform they
rather use it as an information channel or marketing instrument to monitor users (Wright & Hinson, 2011; Author, 2015). Due to the openness of social
networks to interactivity and participation, users can use social media platforms to give feedback to organizations and complain about problems – which
is visible for the public of the network. Hence, organizations may see their facebook fanpage as a tool for strategic communication while their social cus‑
tomers, however, actually use it as a customer service site to solve problems with products or services. This contains new opportunities and challenges for
the communicative customer relationship management to collaborate with the strategic communication department. Therefore, we ask: How do customer
relationship managers face these structural challenges to manage convergent tendencies on digital platforms within historically separated structures in or‑
ganizations? Referring to the concept of integrated strategic communication (e.g. Bruhn, Martin, & Schnebelen, 2014), we conducted qualitative interviews
with customer relationship managers in 30 German organizations (in five different industries).The biggest part of the respondents stated a stable relevance
of facebook within the repertoire of customer relationship management, while offline instruments decrease. The majority of the organizations in the sam‑
ple has created new job positions to manage new media channels and raised budgets. While twelve organizations in the sample have restructured their
departments, eleven have created new ones. However, similar to research focused on communication departments, customer relationship management
also does not seem to have strategies to deal with social customers: 19 interviewees stated that they do not have implemented a social media strategy or
a content strategy, twelve of them do not practice issues monitoring. However, 20 participants do have strategies to handle crisis, but not especially focused
on shitstorms (only eight have installed those). Although they have mostly established social media guidelines for staff, only one third has guidelines
concerning customer contact. The results further indicate a split in the sample considering integrated communication: Half of the sample collaborates with
public relations or marketing. Human resources, however, is rarely involved. Only three organizations stated to have no collaboration with other relevant
departments. Responsible persons meet regularly. To sum up, customer relationship managers are already aware of the convergent usage of social media
fanpages and mostly face challenges on an individual level: While persons meet regularly, the interviews indicate a lack of institutionalized integrated
strategic concepts.