Social Media Expert…. Hero Or Zero? Part 1

Posted by Jack Smith in Social Media | View Comments

CONSUMER BEWARE!

So this post has been stewing around in the back of my mind for several weeks.  However, seeing the below add in Entrepreneur Magazine last week, reading Chris Brogan’s post 10-no-4 Days to become a Social Media Expert and a great call with @sallywitzky on the same topic, it is time to post.

Before hiring a social media ‘expert’ to speak, work for you or take advice from, please take a few minutes to do your homework so you can be sure you are listening to someone who has ‘been there, done that’.   Here are some great resources to get you started.

Social Media Club Phoenix -  How Do You Know if Your Social Media Vendor Gets It?

From Kyle Lacy – 25 Steps to Choosing a Social Media Consultant and Educator

From Alltop – 10 Questions to Evaluate A Social Media ‘Expert’

There is no substitute for social media experience so even if your are talking to your PR or Marketing Agency about Social Media and they have been in business for 20 years, it doesn’t make them an expert in the social media.  Please make sure whoever you are talking about has actually done it and ARE A PART OF IT!  And just because they can setup an account profile it does not give them the ability to put together a successful strategy.  That is like a person learning to hit a driver off the tee box and then saying they are a professional golfer.  It just doesn’t work that way.

There are a lot of people currently claiming to be social media consultants and experts who have very little experience in how to combine technology and marketing to make money for a business.  I tell my clients it has taken me 15 years to get to the point where I feel comfortable talking to them about this topic.  That is because I feel a person or team needs to put together 4 key ingredients to be successful in social media:

1. Technology – Technology is constantly changing and new tools are being released every day.  If you don’t have a grasp on the underlying technology, you’re going to miss out on synergies and integration p0ints that allow you to better leverage your content and achieve greater efficiencies.
2. Marketing – If you are delivering the wrong messages to the wrong people, nobody will listen and you have just wasted your time.
3. Business Acumen – At the end of the day, our social media clients are looking for a return on their investment and if you can’t put that into dollars, then why are you doing it?
4. Lastly, experience.  No, you won’t find people with 5 years of experience with Twitter.  But what you can do is view their Twitter stream to see if they are active, and if so, now often.  You should also look for and review their blog and find their Facebook & LinkedIn accounts or any other number of social media sites to see if they participate in the world they are claiming expertise in.  There is etiquette, rules and norms in social media and if your guide isn’t up to speed, they are just as likely to be ignored for breaking rules as they are for any of the above reasons.

These skill sets aren’t developed overnight.  Just like most things in business, they take time and so does a successful social media campaign.  So put the time in upfront to do a little research so that you won’t look back and wonder why you weren’t successful harnessing the awesome power of social media.