I stumbled upon these stats in an article on PR Daily. It’s written by Nancy Bistritz, a media and communications exec in Canada who has been looking into which departments at major companies seem to be taking control of social media efforts. Turns out, its PR and, according to Ms. Bistritz and the the research teams at the Strategic Communication & Public Relations Center out of the University of Southern California, here is why.

–Approximately 25 percent of companies put between 81-100 percent of budgetary control over social media in PR’s hands, compared to marketing, with only 12.6 percent getting the same level of control.

According to the study, there are four factors contributing to PR now running the social media show:

1. PR tactics tend to be informational, rather than sales focused;

2. PR tactics tend to emphasize a dialogue versus a monologue;

3. PR tactics tend to embrace longer forms of communication; and

4. PR tactics are typically associated with lower costs.

Nancy also states, “Whoever takes control of social media for your organization, needs to understand the level of commitment involved in it. It’s not a fad; it certainly isn’t just for the younger generation, and it definitely won’t fix an already failing organization. It is, however, an initiative that can (when properly executed and strategized) yield results, improvements, and satisfied consumers. There’s no question that social media is becoming the glue that bonds departments, messages, and consumers/brands together.”

We agree.

Click here to read the entire article from PR Daily.