So I realize I may be just a bit hypocritical regarding my social media consultant posts. After all, I have called even myself a “social media expert” from time to time. But if you notice I have taken that title off of the web page, and even threw away those old business cards. The title never seemed “right.” (That is the topic for another blog post!)
I want to tackle one of the questions that Dallas J. Moore asked in the comment to a previous post on the topic. Not really a question but something he said that needs to be addressed.
In his comment, Dallas said that he himself had decided to be a “Social Media Consultant” after leaving a recent job (for whatever reason.) Now, the point I definitely want to make is this: I have NO problem with people changing career directions to follow their passion. None, zero zilch.
What I DO take offense to (not to Dallas, talking in pure generalities here) is the complete near-instantaneous decision for some people to enter a profession on a whim and carry with the “expert” title.
Take the following scenario:
A group of trained marketing and branding experts who have Masters and perhaps PhDs in Marketing are talking at one of the tables at a meetup. This group of individuals has gone to college to get degrees in marketing and branding, and have used the “new media” techniques to further their toolsets and expand the offerings to their clients, incorporating Social Media aspects into tried and true marketing practices they have learned both in college and at their respective agencies.
Now in comes “skippy” – a respected member of his own field, in this case an auto mechanic. He goes to the table sits down and proudly explains to all those gathered, “Yep, I quit my job yesterday, think I’ll be a professional social media consultant like you guys!”
Now what do you think that does to all of the “trained” brand and marketing experts with actual certification(degrees) and training?
I can tell you >I< would be annoyed someone without training suddenly tried to enter my niche/profession with little or not real training and proclaimed to be an expert.
So that’s what I’m getting at. It’s not that I don’t appreciate a career change, its just … insulting to think any johnny-on-the-spot can walk in and say they are an expert. I want to be a Doctor, but I can’t change professions in a day and say I’m a doctor.
In fact over a year ago several of us were laughing because the same has been happening to web developers in general. “I lost my job as a _________, guess I’ll become a web site developer!” and they go buy a “HTML in 24 hours” book, sign up for a reseller account at Hostgator and poof! They are a “professional” web developer.
Again, this post and others like it are generalities, and describe only the far spectrum of those entering social media without “cutting their teeth” in traditional marketing. I realize there is a lot of room to move inbetween the extremes.
But in the end, I would rather recommend a traditional marketing / branding consultant (or agency) with social media experience, than a pure social media consultancy business.
Every time. 100%.
Again, this post is in generalities, kind of talking about “Democrats and Republicans” and I realize there are differing degrees of the “social media consultant” scale. I am focusing on one end of the spectrum, and I realize that. I can’t think of one person or firm in the Des Moines area who is a “scam” or taking advantage of their clients.
I do, however, sometimes question if the client actually NEEDS the consultant, obviously.
Hey Troy
I may be late to this party – it’s tagged as being posted a week ago but just came through my reader today for some reason.
Your premise seems to be predicated on social media belonging in the realm of marketing/branding. Your implication is that an education or experience in marketing and branding equates to credentials for success in social media especially as related to no marketing/branding experience.
Social media is not a function of marketing/branding; it’s a function of human interaction. I would posit that marketing/branding experience can actually be seen as a barrier to success in social media. I’ve met many folks with the type of background you extoll who just can’t drop their broadcast mentality. They come into social media and talk about controlling the message and impressions and campaigns and all that broadcast-y behavior that has turned other forms of media into a big stinking corpse.
I would further argue that anyone with extensive experience connecting with other human beings using social media is better prepared to teach/coach about social media than someone with no social media experience but having 10 years of marketing experience and a big fat student loan payment to pay off. Skippy, the auto repair technician you mock, is just as likely to be a social media whiz as the VP of marketing.
In the end, I would recommend an auto mechanic with social media experience over a marketing/branding consultant or agency (with or without social media experience). Every time. 100%.
That auto mechanic doen’t have to unlearn 15 years of shouting at customers with a bullhorn.
I don’t normally allow anonymous comments (I thought Social Media was about transparency…) but you bring up some good points.
Mainly this one, which Dallas and Ben questioned:
Should social media consultants a) be grouped with marketing/branding and b) be considered a “skilled” occupation.
Being Christmas and all, I will formulate a response and post it back here. Obviously my gut reaction to both is “uh, yeah!” I know as a business owner, I would much rather hand over my money to someone with credentials that can be measured, rather than someone who talks a good talk.
I wonder if any of the social media consultants in the Des Moines area would reveal candidly how they measure success and ROI for any client’s social media initiatives.
Here’s how we measure success and ROI for our client social media initiatives – we set goals and objectives at the beginning of every project, and then we assess at mid-way and at the end. Were goals and objectives met? Yes or no? If yes, great. Sometimes the goal is furthering education and understanding on a specific platform or community. Other times it is increasing the client’s digital footprint, or gaining more interaction with customers. (All very easy stuff to measure.) If objectives weren’t met, then we tweak, re-tool and re-assess.
Thanks for the insight, Nathan. Again, I have nothing against you, or the other social media consultants out there, Im just torn between two different worlds:
One says social media is unregulated and should remain so.
One says social media should be an “educated” profession and have standards.
Perhaps my frustration lies not only in the battle between whether social media consultants should be “qualified” but something else not so apparent. It could lie in my own Journalism/Marketing background that I had to go through school for, or it could be as simple as my psyche being “jealous” I’m not doing it myself.
Thank you to everyone for exploring it with me.