When 100 Channels Is a Communications Problem, Not an Asset

Tech Data had over 100 social media channels running across the globe. Different teams, different regions, different standards — and a communications function that had grown organically to the point where no one had a clear picture of what the company was actually saying in public, or to whom.

The engagement started with a listening and audit phase: interviews with teams across geographies, a review of existing operations and performance, and an honest assessment of what was working and what was just creating noise. The findings were consistent across every region. The channel proliferation hadn’t grown the audience — it had fragmented it.

The recommendation was consolidation. That meant making the case to stakeholders across multiple business units that fewer, better-managed channels would outperform the sprawl — and building the governance framework that would make that true after the engagement ended. Some channels were restructured. Others were eliminated entirely. The teams that remained were trained on the new operating model and given clear ownership of their lanes.

The work was fundamentally about helping a large organization get honest about what it was communicating and to whom — and then building the structure to do that consistently.