What is a Social Media Expert?
This question has been bothering me for a good six months now. It bothers me even more now that I am trying to utilize my Twitter account to its maximum capabilities. I am not sure what exactly is a social media expert and what exactly it is they do. They remind me of the “probloggers” that sprouted when blogging was beginning to hit the big time. All they really did was give you advice on how to blog and all of the advice was common sense and got repeated over and over again. They didn’t really do any good in the world.
Now we have social media experts that do…see I don’t know what they do. From what I gather they find a site that uses social features and say “company X needs to better utilize site Y.” Is that how it goes? Or maybe you have to sound surprised when you find that “company D isn’t up to par with the world since they are not on Facebook or Twitter.” Seriously, I have the feeling that anyone can be a social media expert.
Let’s see what would happen if I walked into a business and they were paying me to consult them on social media. I guess this is what I would tell them:
- Create a Facebook group and page and use it to connect with people.
- Create a Twitter account and use it to talk to people and let people know about your company.
- Say nice things and keep track of what people are saying to you.
- Be consistent, don’t disappear for months.
- Be honest, don’t pretend you can outsmart the public.
- ???????
- Profit.
Chris Brogan used to call himself one, but I guess now he simply says he advises companies on how to use social media tools. Is Shel Israel one because he covers all things social media? If he is that is kind of scary considering what happened to him last year. Mack Collier is considered a bigshot in the social media world I hear, but he can’t even get his blog off of blogspot? Wayne Sutton talks a lot about social media and even calls himself a social media & technology strategist, but looking at his site I see links to places that don’t even exist anymore (pownce and magnolia for example). UPDATE: Wayne has completely redesigned his site and removed the links that I was pointing out. Not sure how much of a coincidence this is.
I have no issues with these guys (keeping doing your thing fellas) and from what I gather they are all extremely nice people, but I just don’t understand exactly what all of them are supposed to be doing. As humans we have been social since the beginning of our existence so it is not a new science. The only thing new here is the technology and to be honest it isn’t that much different.
Ever been to a party and people seem to gather around one individual? Why is that? Well usually because the person is interesting. Want people to follow you on Twitter? Guess what? Be interesting.
Ever been in a relationship where either you lied or the person you were with lied? How did that turn out? Not good. Want people to respect your company and follow you on Twitter and other “crazy social media realms”? Guess what? Be honest.
I’m hoping that someone can come here and clue me in because I really am interested to know what separates these people from the rest of the world. An expert designer is different than me because he designs a million times better than I do. An architect knows how to design buildings and I don’t. A heart surgeon can perform a triple bypass and I can’t. A social media expert can…stare at his Twitter feed longer than I can?
And please don’t tell me the answer is they know how to get people to follow them. Anyone can do that if that is their main goal by using age old marketing techniques. If the answer is they talk more than others then maybe you got me there. I just don’t feel like I am missing something that the rest of the world is getting so hopefully you can help me out.
36 Responses
Wayne Sutton / 03.04.09
Hello Paul, I’m no expert but as you stated in your post I’m a social media & technology strategist and what that details is that I create workflows and solutions to individuals and business how to use social media and other online tools how to establish their brand or reach new clients. It’s more than just twitter and facebook and you’ll be surprise how many people don’t understand sites like twitter or event how to get started with a blog.
As for was qualifies me, I would say my experience, before “social media” was even a buzzword or trend I was an internet consultant,/web designer/ blogger. Still I’m no expert but I would think a social media expert would be someone with experience, a track record and uses the tools he or she preaches.
The social media space is now crowded and everyone is doing it, you’re on point with the “problogger” parable but with the economy I think only the strong and real “social media” people will survive.
I hope I was able to answer your question and as for my site, I’m very aware of pownce and magnolia link. I’m currently relaunching wayne-sutton.com and have been sending people to my blog, http://socialwayne.com
I’m @waynesutton on twitter and I remember when social media was cool.
Anton / 03.04.09
I see social media experts not as people who can stare at Twitter the longest, but more like:
- Someone who knows the who the right people are to follow that align with their specific goals. As in, not just “friends”. Peers, future clients, audience, etc…
- Someone who understands the timing and flow of communication on a global scale. It’s like weather. Some people drive straight into storms with what they type, if you know what I mean.
- Being able to forecast what types of communication are needed in these services to better target their audience and steer the direction of whatever they need.
At least those are my random thoughts about it from the past five minutes. Feel free to critique. Additionally, anyone who’s interested to can follow me on Twitter if they like @anton (take heed, I don’t consider myself a “social media expert”, I’m just a crazy boy with a keyboard).
Booya.
Paul Scrivens / 03.04.09
@Wayne: Thanks for offering an explanation of what you do, but you have to understand I still have a problem here and that is how does an expert/strategist/whatever provide ROI to businesses? Couldn’t we all say I helped company A start a blog and communicate with their audience? Hell, I founded the first company in the world that focused totally on blogs for businesses (http://businesslogs.com) and I’m no where near an expert.
All I can say is that I can show you the tech, give you some guiding principles and hope it works out for you. How much that increases your bottomline I don’t know.
What are the characteristics that separate the elite from the also rans in your opinion because to be honest I don’t see the difference between you, me and Chris Brogan. At this moment I honestly feel I can tell companies the same thing you tell businesses and I know I don’t feel the same way with other professions.
@Anton: So follow people. If companies don’t know who to follow already or have some awareness then they have failed being a business for a while.
If they don’t have at the very least an awareness of new technologies once they been around for a while then again they are failing as a business. Doesn’t mean they should use them, but awareness I would think they know. If they don’t, would they even know what a Social Media expert is or that they exist?
And thirdly, basically watch what you say. That’s what I got from your second point. And yes people, follow Anton, he is good at talking about himself :P
Mack Collier / 03.04.09
I can’t speak for anyone else, but what I do as a social media consultant is I help companies better understand how they can use social media as a way to better connect and communicate with their customers. It could be that Company A has no business whatsoever using ANY type of social media. Or it could be Company A should be using Twitter and launch a blog, based on RESEARCH that determines that their current and potential customers are using these tools AND that it makes sense to integrate these tools into the company’s LARGER communication strategy.
BTW here is the conversation that you would be more likely to have if you talked to a company about doing social media work with them:
Company A – Hey Paul! Listen, we want to start blogging, can you help us with that?
(Now there’s two ways you can answer this question)
1 – I sure can! Let’s go ahead and get this ball rolling, I’ll send you a proposal later today, and if it’s acceptable, I can go ahead and get started as soon as I get your retainer!
2 – Ok first question; Why do you want to start a blog?
Your job as a ’social media expert’ is to help a company research their market, themselves, and then decide IF a social media initiative/strategy is the right choice for them. If it is, then you work with that company to create a social media strategy that works in synch with their larger communication strategy, and help them launch said strategy.
You do NOT tell a company that’s just contacted you that they should be on Facebook, or Twitter, or blogging. How would you know?!?
You don’t make money by launching a blog cause that’s what a company wanted you to do. You make money by helping a business solve a problem they are having in effectively communicating with their customers.
BTW having a lot of followers/friends/links does NOT make you a ’social media expert’. Don’t focus on the tools, focus on the connections that the tools help facilitate.
Tyme White / 03.04.09
When I deal with my clients I have to take into account their long-term goals and help them achieve those goals. Sometimes social media options aren’t the answer as their efforts and focus would be better placed in other areas to make them competitive in their niche.
I do not understand how people can advise business owners without having business training and experience. I can point to countless examples of companies, particular online-based ones, that went completely down the wrong path because they jumped on the popular trend at the time.
But those on the internet know this social media trend isn’t “that” much different than AOL back in the day.
People are jumping on the social media wave for the wrong reasons. Social media isn’t the glory answer for most businesses and our economy right now is a good example of that.
The true “social media expert” will be able to demonstrate their skill at aiding a business achieve their goals efficiently and effectively. Can accurately predict trends and instead of following the wave is creating the new trends.
Wayne Sutton / 03.04.09
What she said “The true “social media expert” will be able to demonstrate their skill at aiding a business achieve their goals efficiently and effectively. Can accurately predict trends and instead of following the wave is creating the new trends.”
Well put Tyme
Paul on your update, FYI I’ve been working on this site for a few days, and the old site my go back live later today as I continue to add content.
Have a great day.
Mack Collier / 03.04.09
“What are the characteristics that separate the elite from the also rans in your opinion because to be honest I don’t see the difference between you, me and Chris Brogan. At this moment I honestly feel I can tell companies the same thing you tell businesses and I know I don’t feel the same way with other professions.”
I think the difference is, you are comparing yourself to people that are making their living doing social media work, while you (I am assuming) are not. You mentioned Chris, but you have to remember that Chris is actively promoting himself as someone that works with companies on their social media strategies, and that also speaks and teaches on social media. I do the same thing, and it’s no coincidence that I have companies often contacting me to get more information about the services I provide. Chris does as well, as I’m sure do most people that offer such services.
Now if you were to start consulting in social media (again assuming that you aren’t now)then you would likely have companies start contacting you about doing work for them, or speaking for them, etc. If you did a good job, you would be able to keep doing this work, and other people would keep seeking you out for more work.
That’s usually how it works. Your point seems to be that ‘well I can do everything these guys are doing!’ If that’s the case, perhaps you should consider launching your own career as a social media consultant? Feel free to email me if you need any advice, as I’d be happy to help if I can!
Mike Rundle / 03.04.09
It does seem similar to “pro blogging” back a couple years ago. Back then, and still today, people *start* blogs and their main topic is how to make money… with that blog.
It’s a chicken or the egg problem; can you talk about how to make money with blogs if you haven’t done it yet, or are still in the process of doing it? Can you claim to be an expert and tell companies how to launch their social media platforms… when you’re still working on building your network and social media network?
Sounds a bit like some people wake up one morning and decide to be a social media expert, so they start following 2,000 more people than the day before, they start up a blog about social media, and then perhaps start talking about what companies should be doing, etc.
I rarely see the “consultant” phrase attached to social media, usually the word is “expert” so I think that’s where my confusion comes in. Can you start off being an expert? No. Can you start off being a consultant if you’re still trying to build your personal brand? No.
Paul Scrivens / 03.04.09
@Mack: Unfortunately you provided me with the answer that I expected Social Media people to provide me with. Sit back and read what you wrote and honestly help me distinguish how a company can’t figure this out on their own.
You are a technology company and your audience uses the internet to get information about you and your products a lot. It would be a good thing to engage them online in some way.
You are a fertilizer company and your audience has nothing to do with the internet when checking you out. Social Media would be a waste. Maybe I am oversimplifying things here and just need some examples of how an expert is an expert vs anyone else.
I sincerely feel I can write a guide on Social Media in a day or week, post it up and have companies follow it and have no problem.
(Just read your new comment)
Well now I am even more confused because you said I could just jump right into the field and help companies out. Now I am truly baffled because do I want to become an expert in a field that anyone is allowed to just jump into and call themselves and expert? The problem is I don’t understand what benefit I am bringing to companies that they can actually measure. Maybe customer satisfaction or some other index rises. That would make more sense to me.
I mean if companies want to pay me to talk to them about these things sure I have no problem handing out my advice, but I don’t think I am going to make it a profession. I enjoy other things too much. I do appreciate your offer to help, but I’m still confused here and your comments have only left me more confused. It really can’t be this easy.
In the world of design I can honestly say there are experts because they have real world designs put out there that have impacted the world. Not one hit wonders, but consistent designs that change things. Who is the social media expert that has impacted our society, the public, hell the world?
Paul Scrivens / 03.04.09
@Wayne: I know you can’t design that fast. I also know people don’t always click on the links to see the site, so I was updating for those people so they don’t think you really are behind the times.
And is there an unwritten rule where you aren’t allowed to get a little bit angry in public if you are a social media person? Come on now Wayne, I can feel the tension in your comment especially when you leave “Have a great day”. If I offended you in some way I apologize.
This is a healthy discussion where we are trying to get to the meat of things to possibly help the “social media” industry out as a whole. The one person giving solid advice here (Tyme) doesn’t call herself an expert. Don’t we see this as a problem?
Mack Collier / 03.04.09
“Unfortunately you provided me with the answer that I expected Social Media people to provide me with. Sit back and read what you wrote and honestly help me distinguish how a company can’t figure this out on their own.”
There’s a difference between what a company CAN figure out, and what they have TIME to figure out. Social media isn’t rocket science, they are just communication tools. Anyone can use them effectively IF they know how. Many companies don’t have the time/resources to learn how, so they outsource that to someone else.
Now ideally, that person they outsource social media work to would ALSO teach them how to properly use these tools themselves, so they can become self-sufficient and stop outsourcing the work.
“Well now I am even more confused because you said I could just jump right into the field and help companies out.”
No I said you can start offering social media consulting/teaching/speaking services. Of course, so can your Aunt Bessie. The QUALITY of those services will determine if you can make social media consulting a VIABLE and SUSTAINABLE business for you.
I think you are making this harder than it has to be. For example, I’ve already committed to speaking at about 6 events for this year. I was offered to speak at each event by someone that I had either already spoken for and they invited me back, or they attended an event that I spoke at, and wanted me to speak at their event. Same thing with consulting work. I perform a job for a client, they are pleased with the end result, and refer someone else to me, and/or hire me to do another project for them.
Again, I think you are making this harder than it has to be. Some people enjoy social media consulting, and must be successful enough at it to keep doing it.
Not sure what the issue is here. So what if some guy calls himself an ‘expert’ and he isn’t? If he isn’t, and tries to sell himself as being such, his lack of expertise will soon be his downfall. I guess that’s just not something I want to devote too much attention to.
Kyle Bradshaw / 03.04.09
I’m an early adopter of social media.
My AIM screen name is 12 years old.
I owned a 28000 baud modem and waited 20 minutes to download a JPG of Anna Nicole Smith’s boobs from a BBS.
Does that make me an expert, or just a big nerd?
From what I can tell, “social media expert” is just a way for tech(ish) savvy older folks to label themselves as people in touch with the way the “younger people” do things.
@ky out
Tyme White / 03.04.09
Well, let’s be honest here. Scrivs and I could cross every “T” and dot every “I” and you wouldn’t agree…because you’d be admitting your job isn’t needed. You kinda have to argue your point no matter how much it stops making sense. One cannot deny the conflict of interest your position(s).
Let me be clear: I’m not bashing social media experts. I am saying that when a niche can’t agree within itself what qualifies one to be a social media expert/strategist, evangelist, etc. (let’s be real, it’s just a spin on words) there is something VERY wrong and needs to be addressed.
Fix it.
Paul Scrivens / 03.04.09
Alright maybe I’m comparing apples and oranges here so please continue to try to help me out (I do appreciate you sticking around). In the design world anyone can offer their services, but you can distinguish quality from one designer to the next. In the programming world the same thing applies. In the Social Media world what is going to distinguish consultant A from consultant B especially since everyone can offer their services?
I would think this is something companies should know. Since you say I am overthinking it is it really as simple as consultant A told me dont’ worry about these technologies while consultant B told me to use Twitter and helped me get 100 followers?
Jackson Fox / 03.04.09
@paul: “I mean if companies want to pay me to talk to them about these things sure I have no problem handing out my advice, but I don’t think I am going to make it a profession. I enjoy other things too much. I do appreciate your offer to help, but I’m still confused here and your comments have only left me more confused. It really can’t be this easy.”
Isn’t that exactly what you did with BusinessLogs? You spent a lot of time with blogs, noticed that a lot of businesses weren’t really getting it, and setup a business to help them design and build blogs. You were a Blog Expert.
You might not have called yourself that, but you did the work.
I call myself a “User Experience Designer” but I do the same work as people calling themselves “Information Architects,” “Interaction Designers”, “Web Designers,” etc.
“Social Media Experts” are consultants by another name. Lots of them probably suck at it, but that’s what they do and that’s what they call themselves.
There are very few professions in the world where one has to qualify to wield a title.
So, WTF is a “Social Media Expert”? They’re a consultant that helps companies create a plan for utilizing “social media” effectively, and possibly helps them implement that plan. What’s the ROI? I can’t say, CTR maybe, engagement, or just warm fuzzies. Maybe it’s simple that glimmer of understanding, the “oh, so THAT’S what Twitter is” moment.
For the record, I think “Social Media Expert” is a terrible title. “Expert” is such a tricky word, as this discussion amply demonstrates.
Bill Cammack / 03.04.09
I wrote about this in January in Social Media Experts? (SMEs).
Briefly, there are two tiers. There’s the level of people that actually have a tangible skill in something and deserve to be called experts in their field. There’s also the level of people who happen to know a little more than the next man and can leverage that to convince that person to pay them for their knowledge instead of taking the time, energy and expense to ATTEMPT to reinvent the wheel.
Most likely, people starting now are going to fail anyway because they’re so far behind the cutting edge. There are people that started last month on Twitter, and I’m coming up on my two-year anniversary of being on Twitter. You’re damn skippy that these newjacks need to find someone that knows more than they do and pay them to point them in the right direction. They don’t have two years to figure out what I already know.
Meanwhile, there are people that have 10x and 30x the Twitter followers I have. Does that make them “better”? Nope. I could have mercilessly spammed people’s accounts hoping that they would follow me back like other people did, except I would have ended up with what I didn’t want, which is a bunch of defunct accounts “following” me, making me look like I had more reach than I actually do.
Anyway, similar to when people used to get paid to code HTML, the shakeout’s gonna occur when it becomes easy for everybody to figure out and implement Social Media, like when they came up with WYSIWYG HTML editors. It was a WRAP.
Until then, people will continue to get paid for having a little more knowledge than someone else, and I’m not knocking their hustle, but it’s DEFINITELY a hustle. This normally becomes apparent when they get laid off or lose their bread & butter client and then they have no marketable skills to sustain themselves with.
Mike Rundle / 03.04.09
Like Paul said previously, to determine if someone is a great designer or not you simply have to look at their portfolio. See what kinds of work they’ve done and how cool it looks.
I think the issue with social media consulting is that because it’s so new, and because the ROI is difficult to put a pin on and measure, people use other, more concrete things to determine how “expert” someone as at social media consulting. One of those metrics I’ve seen used is the number of Twitter followers you have, or how many RSS subscribers your blog has.
The problem with those two metrics is that someone could have a ton of Twitter followers or RSS subscribers, but not be involved in social media at all. Because that’s the case, it’s just not a good metric, so therefore what should the metric be? How many dollars of revenue you generated for a client based on social media strategies you implemented? Can that even be nailed down?
Jackson Fox / 03.04.09
@Tyme “I am saying that when a niche can’t agree within itself what qualifies one to be a social media expert/strategist, evangelist, etc. (let’s be real, it’s just a spin on words) there is something VERY wrong and needs to be addressed.”
Out of curiosity, what do you call yourself?
@Paul “In the design world anyone can offer their services, but you can distinguish quality from one designer to the next. In the programming world the same thing applies.”
I might take issues with that statement. How do I judge the quality of design? Aesthetics? Business performance? Emotional impact?
More importantly, how do I judge programmers? By the “quality” of their code? KLOCs? System downtime?
I can pick the standards that I feel are important, but I don’t believe that there are universal measures of quality for design or code.
Mack Collier / 03.04.09
Tyme it’s funny you mention that, because when I take on a social media consulting project for a company, I *insist* that it includes a training element on the same tools I am helping them implement. My job is to put myself out of a job by making sure when the project ends, it is ending because the client now is self-sufficient in using the tools, and no longer needs to outsource the work. At the end, the company knows how to use social media as a way to better connect with their customers, and grow their business. They are hopefully happy with the services I have provided, and will tell others, which hopefully gets me more business.
Paul, how does one engine-rebuilder distinguish himself from the other? If you needed to get your car’s engine rebuilt today, how would you decide who would get the job?
Would you ask others for advice? I bet you would. Clients do the same thing. If they are satisfied with the work, they tell others. Likewise, if they think that Consultant A royally screwed them, they will tell others that as well.
Successful social media consultant can show companies/orgs/etc how to use social media as a way to grow their bottom line. Ones that aren’t so successful, usually can’t.
Lea / 03.04.09
I wouldn’t completely say they’re obsolete. At the end of the day, “social media experts” are just _marketers_ who use social media as part of their arsenal. Some are good marketers, others are not. How they use social media can affect whether their marketing campaign is good or not.
Also, something else we need to remember is that marketing isn’t necessarily about immediate ROI — it’s about building relationships and perceived value for the present and future. To build their brand. Sometimes there are intangible benefits that isn’t DIRECTLY related to revenue or even # views or follows. e.g. Maybe he won’t buy now, but b/c of the relationship built, he’ll buy later AND tell someone about it.
But want to reiterate: social media is an arsenal. The main directive is marketing.
Matthew Oliphant / 03.04.09
I have two answers:
ONE:
There’s a big difference between someone who calls themselves a Social Media Expert and people like Chris Brogan and Darren Rowse.
I don’t trust anyone I don’t know who calls themselves an Expert. Same with “Guru.” I’ll insta-block anyone who calls themselves a “Web Marketing Guru” on Twitter. Those kinds of titles are given to you by others, you can’t give them to yourself.
Chris and Darren have proven themselves to have “both feet in.” They deserve to be treated as the go-to guys because they’ve lived and worked their particular areas and it’s easy to point to them and say “expert.”
TWO:
Companies are now where they were when business blogging was, what, maybe a year old in popularity? “This blogging thing is new, we need to find a blogging expert to help us.”
Much like that expert designer you mention, a real expert in Social Media should have a portfolio. Chris and some of the people mentioned above had better have (and likely do) work they can point to and say, “I made that happen.”
I think that, much like web designers who can “whip up a web site for you for only $500,” there are a lot of people touting themselves as Social Media Experts because they know how to use Twitter and have a Facebook account.
Lack of expertise won’t keep this from happening. Have you seen the web lately? There’s still a lot of $500 web sites out there.
Companies haven’t changed. The CEO has a nephew who’s on Twitter and can figure it out. Someone in Corporate Communications can Google “social media expert” and find someone who can get them up and running “for $500.”
The problem still is there’s no one in charge setting a goal for the company. Focus on “what” you are trying to accomplish and the “how” usually presents itself. But many companies aren’t interested or are afraid to figure that out and then do the grunt work of getting involved in a community be it online or real life.
In the end, companies need to have a well-vetted Communication Strategy which encompasses all channels they might possibly take part in.
A lot of the time, they’ll have to outsource to get guidance on what they should be doing for, in this case, Social Media. I just hope they are doing their homework and finding the right people.
Matthew Oliphant / 03.04.09
Okay, I took waaay too long to write that comment. 9 new comments went up between when I started and finished!
Jackson Fox / 03.04.09
@Mike Now this is a fantastic question:
“The problem with those two metrics is that someone could have a ton of Twitter followers or RSS subscribers, but not be involved in social media at all. Because that’s the case, it’s just not a good metric, so therefore what should the metric be? How many dollars of revenue you generated for a client based on social media strategies you implemented? Can that even be nailed down?”
Revenue generation is always a tricky thing to nail down, but that rarely stops people from trying. Dell seems to think it’s made them money. I guess you could argue that good press helps, Zappos has at least gotten that out of their efforts.
Again, I’m UX guy, so I like to look at example like @comcastcares. How many more users have had their problems solved today because we engaged them through Twitter?
The other metric I would really care about is how many more people came to the event I planned because they heard about on Twitter? How many more people can I reach out to through Twitter than through an email list?
Tyme White / 03.04.09
@Jackson Fox: I’m a Business Consultant because I have extensive business experience along with a Master’s Degree. The clients I deal with are requiring a much deeper service than “how can I better connect with my users?”.
And in truth, if that is “really” a problem for a company there are usually greater underlying problems that social media will only fix temporarily.
Tyme White / 03.04.09
@Mack – You are describing what most professions go through. When you’re ill you go to the doctor, eventually get well and stop going. You go to the club to have a good time then you go home. You need an attorney and when the legal problems are over, the job is done. You aren’t understanding my point:
What I said was talking yourself out of a job before getting the job. There is a big difference.
@Mike – There are people getting 10K followers a DAY on Twitter that aren’t in social media at all. The number of followers is meaningless now.
But then “experts” know the number of followers doesn’t really mean anything in the first place.
Jackson Fox / 03.04.09
@Tyme So I would turn the question back to you, how do you define “Business Consultant,” what would qualify someone as a “Business Consultant”?
I admit, I’ve struggled with the question myself. The people I consider my professional peers have struggled with this question. Are you a US Designer if you went to design school? Got a CS or HCI degree? Have a PhD, or an MS?
Mack Collier / 03.04.09
“@Jackson Fox: I’m a Business Consultant because I have extensive business experience along with a Master’s Degree.”
I had to chuckle, by that rationale, I guess I am the perfect social media consultant, since I have extensive social media experience along with a Master’s Degree.
Thanks for the validation ;)
And no Tyme, I think I understand the point you are trying to make here completely. Didn’t catch it at first, but the tone of your most recent comments make it obvious.
Carry on.
Ann Daramola / 03.04.09
I work with grassroots non profits who have no idea how to work the Internet. I’m talking putting the url to yahoo in a google search box cluelessness. It turns out these organizations would benefit extremely from the social media space, if they knew how to navigate it. Often we take our ability to adapt to new technologies for granted. And while others remain flailing in our dust, trying to keep up, the gap between those who know and those who don’t grows wider.
Anyone who knows even a bit more can easily fill this gap and profit. Like Bill Cammack said, it’s a hustle. *We* may feel like people are getting played by these self-proclaimed social media experts, but from my experience many people still need someone to teach them.
The challenge then should not only call out social media experts and ask for more measurable means to prove themselves, but also to find more transparent and less shady ways to educate the people they claim to serve. Maybe even change the term to Social Media Educator. That already sounds less egotistic and puts the people you serve first, rather than yourself.
Paul Scrivens / 03.04.09
@Jackson: Actually you help to prove my point. Sure not everyone measures quality design or code the same way, but the fact that they can measure it means something. How am I measuring what a Social Media consultant did for me?
As for being a Blog Expert back in the days I had the difference from back then to what I am seeing now is that I could distinguish myself from the rest. If a company said why should I use you over them I could explain what made me the best. I’m trying to understand how the Social Media guys do it.
@Lea: Indeed that is a part of it. The other aspect of social media I am seeing is customer service. You use it to connect with your audience and to hopefully offer them a better experience with your company.
@Bill: I probably couldn’t break it down any clearer than that. The problem is the people with the most followers are the ones that will garner the most trust in the end. I’m not even at 500 followers, but don’t tell me these guys can offer better advice than me.
@Mack: Again you are using an example where I can measure something again. With the engine rebuilder I can find out if the engine they rebuilt for someone lasted. I can ask the speed of their service. I can ask the price. With consultants as yourself what do I do? What questions do I ask? How do I shop around?
Maybe if you provided me with a specific example from your own work that will help me out greatly along with everyone else here.
Tyme White / 03.04.09
@Mack – I don’t have a tone. I have a stance which will perhaps be more clear in a moment.
@Jackson – It’s a valid question and to be honest I detest giving myself a title because I really don’t like being defined but Business Consultant is a close approximate to what I do.
To answer your question about experience and skill that is a slippery slope. Some of the best designers I know never went to school for it. They are talented artists. In my field most people can’t critically think/project/understand financial statements etc. without training and even if they can companies STILL feel the need to have someone they feel is qualified (certified).
Clients don’t come to me enhance themselves online. To boost their bottom line? Yes. To analyze their financial? Yes. For business advice/consulting? Yes.
What I do encounter more often are clients who said they hired a Social Media expert and did not receive the long-term results they expected. Wayne can tell you that I had this discussion with him over a year ago. More and more I’m fixing what Social Media experts were supposed to do. I said this a year ago and it is getting worse. The amount of failing businesses (online and traditional) backs up everything I’m saying.
Bad business decisions are being made and that needs to change. If getting some business experience (critical thinking training, ability to accurately analyze trends, etc.) is offense there is something wrong.
A lot of companies are going out of business unnecessarily. I’m not blaming it completely on SM experts. In truth you’re probably not given all the information needed to make an informed decision in the first place.
Paul Scrivens / 03.04.09
@Ann: I do agree that there are thousands/millions of companies and organizations that need help to better utilize the tools that are around us. As Tyme mentioned though, I think it sucks that they might go looking for someone without knowing exactly what they are looking for and simply get conned into paying for a person that tells them how to register on Twitter.
Mack Collier / 03.04.09
“In truth you’re probably not given all the information needed to make an informed decision in the first place.”
Exactly. The smart consultants are the ones that will FIND that information and THEN make an informed decision.
And you’re right, there are definitely social media ‘experts’ out there that are hacks that are costing companies money. Course there are website designers, SEO ‘experts’, online marketing ‘experts’, and even business consultants that are costing companies far more by offering equally crappy work. There’s also no shortage of marketing firms/agencies that have no idea how to use any social media tools, that are offering social media services, because they know that’s the ‘hot’ area right now that companies will pay money for.
I’ve said pretty much all I can on this and am now hogging the comments, so I’ll leave you with this, Tyme. Go back and re-read the very first comment you left to this post. Now re-read the first comment I left. I think you’ll find that we said almost the exact same thing, didn’t we?
Paul Scrivens / 03.04.09
@Mack: You are doing a good job of “defending your turf” so to speak and I can respect the fact you have stayed in the conversation this long. Much respect to you for that. You lasted longer than Wayne.
Hopefully, either now or down the road we can bring in some other experts/consultants/advisors to get a better idea of what people should expect from this profession.
Mark Fusco / 03.05.09
The issue I have with social media experts, and social media sites in general, is here is no context of role. For example, my wife has ~400 “friends” on Facebook who all have the same level of access to whatever she posts there. Now in reality, all these so called friends have different levels of access to the goings on in our family. Close family knows more than extended family, who knows more than close friends do, who know more than associates who know more than folks we haven’t seen in 20 years…and on down the line. The further you are from the core, the less you know and or need to know. However, on social media sites, everyone in the network knows the same stuff – not good in my opinion, especially if you are a bit naïve about the stuff you post.
The same thought, in my opinion, goes for the experts. Most SMEs are consultants whose primary function is to build their personal brand – which is wonderful. Personal brands are – personal, and should be made up of all the roles that make a person individual.
Trouble is though; most SMEs use their personal brand site to discuss nothing more than their business side, or to hype their book or some new tool which will help with “success” for others.
If I were to come to your office, then yes, in the role you assume there, I want to hear your expertise about a given subject. If I were to come to your home, I would expect the conversation to be more rounded and personal. The problem on Twitter is I don’t know where I am – especially if your profile there is your name.
If you want to hype the book or the new app or API, then get yourself a profile with the name of your Twitter Success book. If you want to build your personal brand, then give us a lot more personal and a lot less Twitter hype. Either way, as a potential follower, I’ll know immediately whether I’m in your office or your home – and giving me that luxury off the bat shows that you have some inkling of respect for my time. Show me you care about my time, and I’m more willing to share it with you. Attempt to take it, and you’ll never see it again.
Bill Cammack / 03.06.09
Good points, Mark.
The context of role for SMEs is “I know more than you do”. Period. Someone is a SME compared to someone else. It’s relative, not absolute.
In a few cases, it’s absolute. That’s when someone demonstrates extraordinary proficiency in something. Other than that, it’s a question of “Do you need to find out something that I already know about to move your business forward?” If so, then *to you*, I’m a SME.
I met this gal tonight, and I was explaining tagging to her. When I told her what it was about, she said she wasn’t sure whether her web designers were tagging her pages or not. She then went on to say she had different articles on her page. I explained to her that what she perceives as a page is actually a string of posts, each with their own permalinks, each which need to be individually tagged based on their particular content…. *To HER*, I’m a SME.
As far as SMEs using their “personal brand site” to discuss “nothing more than their business side”, I think it’s a chicken and egg conversation. Without their “business side”, would those particular SMEs have anything relevant to say that anyone would want to hear, evAr?
I say that the “business side” is what MAKES the SME in most cases. There’s normally only one dimension. If you take that person out of that particular element, they’re finished. Done. This is why you almost never see SMEs cross over into other areas. It’s basically “Find a niche and milk it”.
So, while what you’re saying makes absolute sense for someone that is a brand on their own, which is made up of the many separate elements of their personality or abilities… To me, it makes perfect sense that whomever.com would be specifically geared towards a niche looking for one particular thing.. Say, “Movable Type” tips. If they started talking about anything else, their fan base would dissipate, because they were interested in the tips and not the person who was posting the tips.
Mark Fusco / 03.06.09
Right, Bill.
You make my point, in a way. I’ve run across more than several SMEs on Twitter, and the problem I see is that they don’t stay in that niche. They’re all over the place for a while, and then it’s weeks on end about their book and Twitter this and twitter that. The message is convoluted, and like Scrivs, I just don’t see the value their selling. I mean surely any business person can do that much, right?
I’m not an SME by any means, but I know enough to setup a Twitter account for the music studio I’m building, which will only discuss things related to the business and the industry, and to keep that separate from my personal account, where I only talk about “me”.
I guess what I’m getting at is that it’s frustrating to see someone call themselves an SME when it’s clear their not. It’s like someone calling themselves a designer only because they own a copy of Photoshop.