There are many people that claim they are social media professionals… bla bla bla. There are MANY companies looking for social media professionals. But how do you know if someone is really a professional or just someone that thinks they are a professional. There definitely IS a difference.
This morning, Augie Ray wrote an article about how to identify a great SMP (social media professional). So I decided to analyze myself to see just how good I really am- and areas for improvement… Below is what Augie suggests with my commentary and personal analysis.
Are they active and professional participants in Social Media? Do they have a blog, and if so, is it updated regularly? Are they on Twitter, and are their tweets enlightening or noisy? Do they participate in LinkedIn groups, and if so, do they engage in insightful discussions or are they merely promoting themselves? I am highly dubious of Social Media experts who are absent or infrequent participants in Social Media.
Blog? Yes. Updated regularly? Somewhat- every time I find something I feel is really worth sharing. Quality over quantity is my motto. Just like my Tweets! Speaking of Tweets… Twitter? Yes. Enlightening? Maybe. Noisy? No. LinkedIn? Yes! Group participation? Absolutely! I actually have had some really compelling discussions… Although, I sometimes find LinkedIn to be spammy, I have found some great links and information from other users. I’ve found some great contacts and hope to continue to participate and learn more.
Do they brag about the size of their Twitter following? A widely-read and respected blog is brag-worthy–traffic, engagement, and authoritative links cannot be easily faked. But an enormous Twitter following is not necessarily a sign of Social Media expertise. Some folks built their following the old-fashioned way–they earned it by being smart people who others want to know and follow–but many others have amassed tens of thousands of followers by using auto-follow tools that collect and follow anyone, regardless of relevance. If a potential candidate brags about the size of their Twitter following and not the influence they have or the way they developed quality followers, proceed with caution.
Twitter following? No… I don’t brag… I think there are a lot of ‘auto follow’ people and promotional people… As you can see in my blog, I’m not a major fan of Twitter. It’s very time consuming to sort through the information to get valuable information. Tools make it easier, but I’m still trying to learn best practices for business and personal use.
How long have they been in the marketing, communications, or PR business? I have met many passionate and smart young people in the field of Social Media, but expertise is not amassed in six or twelve months. There is a definitely a place for young professionals on a Social Media team, but that place shouldn’t be advising large companies or brands about the nuances, ethics, or measurement of Social Media. Professionals with an impressive background in digital, marketing, or public relations are able to ground their Social Media knowledge and recommendations on communication best practices and not simply their own personal experiences on Twitter.
Am I a veteran? Absolutely not. I have worked professionally in social media since January, 2009. There’s not a whole lot I can do to speed up my years of experience. It comes with time- but I do whatever I can do to learn and participate with other veterans. I’m learning this business just like I would learn anything else. With a lot of hard work.
What are their stands on the ethics and laws in Social Media? Social Media offers great opportunities but also substantial risks. We’ve seen many high-profile missteps, such as companies spamming Twitter hash-tags and game developers caught posting fake positive ratings on their own games. Ask your prospective Social Media consultants what their stand is on paying bloggers (they ought to have an extremely cautious approach to cash compensation and instead recommend relevant blogger outreach) or their expectations of bloggers disclosing relationships and remuneration (total disclosure–period).
Ethics- a big one. Ethics are important but it’s a gray area. Spamming in Twitter using hash-tags obviously ruins the point of Twitter. It’s like spam anywhere else- it’s unwanted and gives a horrible reputation to the company. I have learned, though, that as a legit business, it’s easy to use spamming techniques to try and get the word out. I’ve often asked myself where that line is between mass announcements and spamming? Aside from spam- paying people to blog is not something I’ve practiced. People blog for us to get their names noticed and to share their expertise.
Do they start by asking about the audience and goals or by talking about Facebook, Twitter, and widgets? Facebook and Twitter are certainly the headline-grabbing Social Networks of the day, and they likely will be at the top of the Social Media heap for quite some time. Despite that (or perhaps because of that) any Social Media consultant worth your time will not start by reviewing opportunities on Facebook and Twitter. They should begin–as should any professional communications expert–with a thorough understanding of the target audience, their habits, and needs, as well as the goals of the program. For a high-level overview of a smart Social Media strategic process, check out Forrester’s Groundswell POST approach.
It’s the marketing strategy over all. Let me start by saying that social media, as a whole, is a great new way to maximize viral marketing techniques. I believe that the social media marketing strategy is just a piece of the puzzle of the marketing strategy overall. The message needs to be the same, the theme will be the same, and the image is absolutely the same. If there is an individual- or a team- in each area of the marketing strategy, they all must be working together to achieve great things. This is not about using Facebook and Twitter to change your brand, although, that’s the piece that I would like to work with.
Do they suggest Social Media is free, cheap, and/or easy? There is no cost to set up a Twitter account or a Facebook page; pretty much everything else has a price tag. Monitoring buzz, participating, listening, identifying audience habits, measuring success, designing and programming social applications, fostering relationships with bloggers, building thriving communities, and furnishing relevant content all require time and expense. Beware the Social Media expert who underestimates the investment and time required for a successful Social Media program.
Cost? That’s my only beef with social media. Using applications like Twitter is very time consuming. I’ve already touched on that point. It’s also rather expensive to hire an agency to come up with your brand slogan. Look at the most famous branding campaign in recent history; Nike, Just do it. I can imagine that those three little words didn’t come up overnight. I’m sure the price tag that Wieden & Kennedy came up with wasn’t as small as the slogan was either. My point is, there is a cost to everything. I know just as well as the next guy that time is money. But that’s what business is about. It’s still relatively cheap to manage a social media campaign aside from time. I’ve been working for over 6 months with a budget of… $0.
Do they ground their recommendations and plans in a thorough understanding of your brand? Your brand has a point of view, a voice, a purpose, and points of differentiation from competitors. These brand attributes are no less (and very probably more important) in Social Media than traditional media. Your employees who participate must bring their personalities to their interactions with customers and partners, but they also have to represent the brand. Any Social Media plan not informed by the brand is a one-size-fits-all solution that fails to leverage and enhance consumer perception of the brand.
Branding. A company like CareerEco will have a different voice than, perhaps, a character in a move might. I honestly don’t have any experience in changing from different brands, but I can’t wait to learn more. I do know that there are things I’ll discuss on my personal Twitter that I wouldn’t be discussing with CareerEco followers. That’s just being professional, though!
Do they prepare you and the organization for the ongoing commitment? Some Social Media strategies might be short-term in nature (such as User-Generated Content campaign or Social sweepstakes), but most involve a long-term commitment to listen and participate. Launching and then abandoning a Twitter account, Facebook page or community is almost never the right approach, so it’s vital a Social Media plan consider not only the costs and time necessary to launch the program, but also the resources or investment required to maintain the engagement on an ongoing basis.
Who’s going to maintain this stuff?! That’s what I’m here for! That’s what I expect to happen!
Does their plan include training, monitoring, and defined expectations for employees involved? Assigning an employee or group of employees to participate and manage Social Media profiles, groups, or communities without setting expectations and furnishing support is a recipe for disaster. Employees must be trained on the appropriate use of Social Media tools, told what is expected of them and how their performance will be measured, and monitored and coached on an ongoing basis.
Team work? At CareerEco, I’m pretty much the sole social media manager. We hold weekly meetings together and if others are going to get in on the effort, we discuss specific duties for a particular need in Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook.
What is their approach to measuring success? There are two ends of the spectrum to be avoided–Social Media experts who promise ROI and those who suggest or launch plans without any regard for measurement. On the one hand, computing actual financial Return on Investment on Social Media efforts is no less challenging than it is to compute ROI on a television campaign or a customer service program; on the other hand, every business effort should have established metrics (qualitative or quantitative) so that results can be evaluated and used to revise and enhance processes. An appropriate and sensible approach is to define a measurement plan based on the objectives and to execute the means to monitor and evaluate the program per that plan.
How do you measure success in a SM plan? With my experience, we measure success in the amount of attendees we get at our monthly events or the amount of new sign ups related to the amount of effort and traffic in different areas.
