This morning I was running through some of my LinkedIn connections and was rattled by what I saw…person after person claiming to be a Social Media Expert. Roles like: Event Planner / Social Media Consultant, Real Estate Agent / Social Media Coach lay littered throughout my contacts pile along with ‘new’ one-man-shop companies magically replacing their previously listed as unemployed counterparts.

It’s a proverbial gold mine out there. Lots of promises of future riches.

For the same reason that social media has democratized business and news – it’s free / low cost, anyone can do it, all you need is a computer, you don’t need a degree, it allows you to experiment at minimal risk – it has also democratized education and expertise. Add to this a large number of companies feeling pressured to deploy social media + a lack of understanding about what social media is and how to use it + fear + an overflowing pool of ‘experts’ and you have the perfect chemistry for potential disaster.

For those looking for a social media expert

• The fact that someone is a friend, because they use social media all the time, because they’ve done a good job promoting their own brand, because they have social media in their title or because they know more about social media than you is not a good enough reason to pay them to help your business.
• There are a tremendous amount of great, free resources available to businesses looking to better understand what social media is and how to use it. Here’s a great place to start. Spend some time getting familiar with the space before you engage someone in a dialogue about how it can help your business. You don’t need to be an expert yourself, but you do need to know how to speak the language.
• Before you consider hiring someone, know why your business is considering social media, know what you’re looking to achieve and know how you’ll measure success. This will help you determine what kind of expertise you need.
• When you interview potential consultants, ask the right questions (for a good list of starters: 10 Questions to ask a Social Media Expert, 8 Questions to ask your Social Media Expert or Questions to ask a Social Media Expert before you give them money).
• Recognize that social media is not an isolated communications activity…in fact, it’s not even just a marketing activity. Social media touches every aspect of your business from sales to operations to HR. All of these departments should in different degrees involved in the process.
• Take a good look at your corporate culture. Culture clash is one of the #1 reasons for social media upstart failure. You can hire the best consultant in the world, but you have to keep the social media engine running. If your culture is closed, hierarchical, non-transparent, siloed, etc you will have a much harder job of making it work successfully in your organization. Understand what it takes to make social media successful and ensure these values are echoed within your organization.

What would you recommend to others who are looking to implement social media into their business activities?

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