Social Media Experts: Revisited

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The review of what a “Social Media Expert” is and their relevance have resurfaced on the interwebs with a back and forth joust these last few weeks.

It started with Gary Vaynerchuk’s TechTV interview: “99.5 Percent Of Social Media Experts Are Clowns.”

He got a lot of heat for this post and responded to the heat with this vlog: “Social Media Experts as Clowns: Expanded.”

To sum up his argument, he basically said that to be “social” is one thing. To get the business acumen of how social fits in the larger business strategy is something completely different. I could not agree more! How does the “listening and engagement” fit in the larger business strategy? Is it top of the funnel of a sales cycle? Is it strategic customer service? Is it just public relations? How does a social foot print truly add value to a brand past the perception and voice? His point: that many in the social media space, as a consumer of social, does not translate into someone who should be considered an “expert” as to how social fits in the larger business model.

This was followed by Peter Shankman‘s post “I Will Never Hire a ‘Social Media Expert’ and Neither Should You.” He basically says that marketing and common sense has not changed. That conversation, how it fits into marketing, and basic rules of business thumb hasn’t evolved, so stop hiring “experts” to do what you really should be doing yourself.

Rand Fishkin responded with what I feel is the slam dunk of all responses “Everyone should hire a ‘social media expert.’“. He backs his arguments with tons of data and defends the notion of what a “social media expert” is in the larger picture, someone with knowledge of the data, the KPI, and at times the ROI.

I don’t want to get into the always debated “What is the ROI of your mom” conversation around social media but to take these back-and-forth’s between leaders in this space and reflect how awesome it is to have access to this spirited, honest, debate. And of course add my $0.02. After all, this is my blog ;)

The reality is… they are all right. As someone who hires social media talent, and build businesses around the use of social media, I see the duality of social media consumers that think they can cross the line into “strategic implementation of social media” and business guru’s that try to grasp the understanding of social media as part of a larger business plan.

A true “social media expert” is someone who understands the larger business model and the many different applications and best practices of social media. If you consider yourself a “social media expert,” I challenge you to define what expertise do you bring to the table?

Are you part of marketing within social media? If so, then how does conversations fit to the marketing funnel? How do you qualify your engagement strategy with true metrics? Are you focused on eyeballs and exposure or true leads? How do you qualify your leads?

Are you part of public relations within social media? Then how do you qualify earned media? How do you define brand equity in your engagement strategy?

Are you part of customer experience within social media? What quality assurance practices do you implement? What is the life cycle of a customer service issue? Do you actively use “tickets” to track experience?

Are you part of sales within social media? What does your sales funnel look like? Do you have a defined prospect/suspect plan? How do you research, engage, and warm your lead for a sales ready conversation?

I can go on and on. The point is, getting “social media” is a skill. It is NOT a job. Adapting that knowledge into a business pain point and providing a strategic, measurable solution is when you can begin championing an expertise.

Do you consider yourself a “social media expert?” If so, why?

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  • http://ourfounder.typepad.com Jim Benson

    Awesome man. You and I have had this conversation before. As long as social media is seen as a marketing tool, it’ll reflect that level of social development. Building a brand can be done one of two ways:  (1) by fooling people into buying your crap and (2) by having quality stuff to begin with. 

    What is far more interesting to business is … can social media make my company better? And marketing is not going to do that. For that, you need social media to be integrated throughout a company’s value stream. To achieve that level of integration, you have to understand how information is processed, how people interact, and how to get people in the company to understand the value of this new system.

    I agree with Gary, the vast majority of social media folk aren’t there.

  • http://kevinspidel.com kspidel

    Jim,

    Thanks. I too agree with Gary and am thankful he raised the issue. If this space is to evolve, people need to define their role in it in a way that betters the business models. Speaking of which, how is the book tour? Where can I pick up the book? I need to implement your ideas in our work place!

  • http://twitter.com/_kaled Kaled

    Loved this! I recommend the a look at this post as well: http://beirutspring.com/blog/2011/05/26/social-media-experts/

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