Is it time for a ‘Chief Social Media Officer’?

A Chief Social Media Officer or CSMO role might appear to some as being superfluous to an organization. Do you really need social media reporting directly into the CEO? Perhaps not. Is this just a way for those snake oil social media people to make themselves feel more important? I don’t think so.

Yet and Still, for some organizations that truly put an emphasis on the power and implementation of social media, a CSMO might prove useful. Having a C-Level executive heading an organizations social media endeavor (or any endevor for that matter) enables  the department to exert visibility and communication from top to bottom and across the organization.

But the question is, which organizations would need a Chief Social Media Officer?

I think the answer is, it depends. Most small organizations would probably not need a CSMO because ofter the level of C-Level execs is slim to none. On the other hand, most very large organizations probably wouldn’t need a social media big cheese reporting directly to the Big, big cheese. That said, I think some small to medium sized businesses, especially (but not limited to) organizations that put a premium on the implementation of strategic marketing campaigns could find a CSMO essential to there marketing success.

Observantly, I can say that the sher fact that organizations are even considering creating positions such as CSMO says a lot about the potential weight social media is building in today and tomorrows business world.

So my question to the readers is, is it time for a Chief Social Media Officer?

What do you think? Could your organization find a CSMO or similar position useful to its future success?