I’ve seen quite a few things recently written about “social media experts”.\u00a0 It’s my turn to chime in. \u00a0Since social media itself is pretty new, the way it is being used is even newer and constantly changing.<\/p>\n
In the traditional world, to become an expert you would go to school, earn a degree and have defined proof that you were able to master many of the nuances of a topic or field.\u00a0 With the lightening-speed arrival of the Internet and web 2.0, most people didn’t wait for a degree or for the curriculum to be built, they became experts by doing. \u00a0This same concept applies to social media.<\/p>\n
Since there are few standard to gage by, the rules are being made up as we go along.\u00a0 That has caused a few “self described” experts to take it upon themselves to create their own definitions.\u00a0 I find this a somewhat narrow point of view.\u00a0 Kind of like creating a club and then only inviting the people you want to it.<\/p>\n
I was talking recently to a client. \u00a0He said that he was approached by a social media company to help them manage their social media brand.\u00a0 He asked them what their company page was on Facebook.\u00a0 They replied that they had individual pages and client pages but not a company page.\u00a0 He dismissed them as “not experienced enough”.<\/p>\n
Ok, so I understand that there are some different nuances to managing a corporate page on Facebook than a personal one.\u00a0 Some of the options do work differently.\u00a0 But why penalize a company for how they market themselves?\u00a0 Shouldn’t it be about what they do for their clients?<\/p>\n
I guess it did hit a nerve with me.\u00a0 Does nxtConcepts have a Facebook page?\u00a0 Yup.\u00a0 Do we do much with it?\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 I think because we frankly run out of steam when we get done updating all the other networks we are on such as: Twitter, Plaxo, Friendfeed, mySpace, Technorati, SecondLife, TripIt, TalkBizNow, Digg, Kiva, LinkedIn, Yahoo, YouTube, Zazzle,\u00a0 eBay, Reddit, Blogger, Twitpic, Flickr, Squidoo and others.\u00a0 Not to mention the work we do for clients in these and other spaces.\u00a0 The other point is that Facebook may be critical to many of the ski resorts and other clients we work with in a business to consumer relationship but frankly in a business to business situation it sucks.\u00a0 So, why devote considerable time there, when other social networks are more in-line with our corporate marketing strategy?\u00a0 Just to say we can?<\/p>\n
I digress.<\/p>\n
Another writer says there are styles of social media experts including:
\nthe “Power User” (someone that has built an established following over a long period of time),
\nthe “Content Creator” (create and launch content tailored to the social world\u2019s desires),
\nthe “Salesman” (tout ways to make money or blatantly try to sell you something) and
\nthe “Famous” (comfortable with the brand, the person or know of their accomplishments).<\/p>\n
So that’s it?\u00a0 Is social media just a popularity contest?\u00a0 Is this why businesses have a hard time justifying a portion of their marketing budget to it?\u00a0 I believe it can be so much more.\u00a0 The goal for business is to engage with the people that are interested in what you do.\u00a0 Not to spend extraordinary amounts of time to interact with a world of uninterested people.\u00a0 That to me is what defines a social media expert — the person or team that can pinpoint who you need to engage, on what networks, and with what content. \u00a0And, it is our job to keep expanding the definition and finding ways to make it work for our us and our clients.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’ve seen quite a few things recently written about “social media experts”.\u00a0 It’s my turn to chime in. \u00a0Since social media itself is pretty new, the way it is being used is even newer and constantly changing. In the traditional world, to become an expert you would go to school, earn a degree and have … Continue reading What is a social media expert?<\/span>