David Brooks  25.01.2016

It seems only a short while ago that social media platforms such as Facebook, were largely dismissed by b2b marketers as inappropriate to their business.

Within our own client portfolio the perceived value of Facebook ranged from enthusiastic endorsement to outright hostility in the business context. Some companies blocked access to such trivial, time-wasting sites but with Facebook said to be about to introduce Facebook at Work it might be time to revisit these work policies which are not rules laid down in the distant past, but recently introduced company procedures.

This speed of diffusion is flagging up another problem with company staff are being left behind. What is being dubbed the ‘social media skills gap’ is widening. An interesting factor from research into this skills area suggests that it is not just the older work force that are failing to use the social media tools effectively, but the Millennial generation too – people who have grown up with social media.

So the debate we have reported in blogs over recent years is arguably shifting from does social media have a role in business at all, to have the company got the skills to move forward in this changing work environment?



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