ZDNet’s Jennifer Leggio has an intriguing post on whether social media has evolved to the point where companies need a Chief Social Media Officer.

In my mind, the answer is “absolutely”, although I would suggest they’re more of a priority for companies that have active and ambitious social media strategies (e.g. Dell, IBM, Comcast)

So, why the need for a CSMO (aka Cosmo)? The biggest reason is that social media involves a lot of moving parts within a corporate structure: marketing, communications, sales, customer/supplier support, investor relations, research and development and product management.

To successfully execute on social media strategies, companies a social media champion/evangelist at the executive table when strategic decisions and priorities are being made. This person would work closely with the CEO, chief marketing officer, chief information officer and chief technology officer (That’s a lot of chiefs!) to ensure a company’s social media plans align with the overall strategic direction.

It goes without saying that a CSMO needs to have solid experience and a broad skill set to do the job well. And the reality may be there aren’t many of these kind of people around right now. But as social media becomes more embraced and a part of the marketing/communications landscape, the need for a CSMO will increase – as will the number of people capable of doing the job.

As for who works for a CSMO, there needs to be a community manager with strong communication, writing and social media skills, as well as support staff to handle the monitoring and measuring of the social media landscape.

While some people argue all of these people add more cost to a corporate structure, they’re a necessary evil as social media becomes a more important and bigger part of the strategic mix.

More: John Moore argues there’s no need for a CSMO because existing executives already at the table should be able to handle “the use of social media tools”.