the respondents as one of the departments that handles social
media strategy (multiple answers were permitted). Meanwhile,
26% of the respondents named product development, 23% said
customer service, and 16% cited sales.
Fauscette calls this shift a sign that the social media market
is maturing. He says this means the technology will begin to
become part of I T’s purview. “We’re starting to see I T more
involved in what they should be doing: helping to find and imple-
ment the right tools, produce the tools and optimize the work.”
He also notes that when
social media moves out of
marketing’s control, “it puts
you in a much better posi-
tion from a business perspec-
tive to look at it in broader
terms.” That’s what IT can
come in and start to do.
IT’s Role:
Tool Master
For now, though, IT shows
up in the integration and
implementation of the tools,
a role that Fauscette says
makes sense. When the
technology moves beyond
experimenting or depart-ment-level expense charge-offs, “the CIO is in the room
a lot of the time. Firms
need a broader perspective,”
Fauscette says.
One CIO who’s “in the
room” is Craig Neeb, both
CIO and vice president of
multichannel
marketing at
International
Speedway
Corp., which
runs racetracks
across the
country.
Neeb has
been CIO at
International
Speedway in Daytona Beach
since 2000. He added his
marketing role in 2008,
about a year before social media became important to the com-
pany’s marketing strategy. International Speedway now uses
websites for each of its dozen tracks and runs mobile market-
ing and social media campaigns, primarily on Facebook and
Twitter. It also has a customer contact center that makes and
takes phone calls and runs Web chats.
Because the company is publicly traded, having control over
the marketing technology helps Neeb make sure it’s in compli-
ance with regulations, such as those spelled out in the Sarbanes-
Oxley Act, and guidelines promulgated by private industry
groups, such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security
Standards.
Unlike American Greetings, International Speedway will let
pretty much any employee post on its websites and social media
sites, but first they must go through what Neeb calls “a small
little training program” that takes about an hour.
Some of that open attitude is reflected in the company’s man-
agement structure. “We don’t do anything in functional silos,”
Neeb says. “Our digital strategy isn’t owned by a department.”
Neeb thinks that com-
panies will have to adopt
broader management of social
media.“I don’t see how you
can effectively manage any
media outlet in a vacuum,”
he says, noting that I T brings
expertise in technology for
compliance, security and
systems management.
IT should also increase its
own use of social networking
tools. While customer support
organizations are embracing
social media, Gartner analyst
“CIOs can’t be noobs,” says Marx, meaning newbies.
Especially if they want to avoid being anti-social. u
Fitzgerald is a freelance writer based in Cambridge, Mass.
SOHCORP09946_REACH_ENDUSER_Fractional_CW.indd
8-23-2011 4: 13 PM Eric Liu / Eric Liu
Job
Client
Media Type
Live
Trim
SonicWALL
Print
None
Job info
Art Director
Copywriter
Account Mgr
Studio Artist
Philip
Grant
Trent/Leanne
Eric
Approvals
Fonts
Times (Regular), Helvetica Neue (55 Roman, 85 Heavy, 75 Bold, Regular)
Fonts & Images
Saved at 100% from DSFeliu by Printed At
555 Market Street, 19th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
© 2011 Sonic WALL, Inc. Sonic WALL and the Sonic WALL logo are registered trademarks of Sonic WALL, Inc. DYNAMIC SECURIT Y FOR THE GLOBAL NE TWORK [ TOUGH QUESTION #18 ] SONICWALL ENTERPRISE. SECURES THE
C18573_1c_CW.indd
08.26.11
133 L/S
HP
A18573c01F_ext_alt_300ucr.tif
Craig Neeb
WHO MAKES THE HIGHEST
PERFORMANCE LOW LATENCY
NEXT-GEN FIREWALL?
SonicWALL’s advanced security platform
consolidates Next-Gen Firewall app control,
gateway protection, and SSL inspection for
enterprises along with WAN acceleration for
distributed ofces. SonicWALL’s low latency
platform scans every packet of every protocol,
securing the network, controlling Web 2.0 apps, and optimizing
bandwidth. Learn how our SuperMassive™ E10000 and the
rest of our network security line-up puts secure network
optimization within reach at sonicwall.com/optimize
