A simple question and one that some may be able to answer, but for me I struggle with the “Social Media expert” tag. What exactly is a “Social Media expert” there seems to be hundreds popping up all over the place professing to be able to solve your Social media problems. I am not quite sure what my social media problems are! maybe because I dont have thousands of Facebook “friends” or thousands of Twitter followers, that is the problem and they are going to radically solve it for me? How?
I have seen massive growth in these experts and I really would like to understand what makes them the experts that they profess to be. I am not knocking them, I am sure they are very good at what they do, whatever that maybe.
I have met a number of people recently who have employed the services of Social Media experts and I have been left wondering what are they getting for their money and more importantly how is the success measured? People paying for profiles to be added to linkedin for instance – surely the individual knows themselves better than anyone else and it should be fairly straightforward to write about what they have done? Maybe not!
Anyway to cut my ramblings and confusion – if anyone can help me better understand what exactly a Social media expert is then please do leave a comment
I believe a “Social Media Expert” is one that is heavily involved in using and the usage of many many forms of Social Media and therefore has the ability to evaluate where you as an individual or as a business should be represented.
Apart from that ability, it is only natural that this expert should be able to create profiles for potential customers but it doesn’t end there. To create a decent profile that is going to do something for the client, the “expert” should be asking questions of the client that will give a detailed outline of what should be highlighted on the profile. Although one would describe self better than anyone else, the “expert” will be able to put it into good marketing terms – one that attracts attention from the right places.
It is definitely and art being able to extract the right information in the least time so that the client feels at ease of the time and effort he/she has had to give the “expert”. Further, the “expert” should also be aware of the groups and communities the clients profile should be active in. So increasing contacts/connections and joining groups can indeed be carried out by the “expert” providing the “expert” knows enough about how to get the client noticed in the industry and market in which the client operates and wishes to be known.
It comes down to knowledge and the ability to extract relevant information in the quickest time possible with tasks that may mean creation of a profile only – to operating the clients existence, in conjunction with the client.
Thanks Naheed,
Some very interesting points raised.
Thanks for reading the post and for taking the time to leave a comment
Good question. For me in summary it’s all about having a great understanding of them main sites, how they work, integrate and function.
Having lots of followers or friends doesn’t do it for me, that’s a bit like saying I’m a food expert as I eat copious amounts of food, but actually I don’t even know how to cook an omelette.
Needless to say, in this world people claim to be “experts” just to make some cash – and people like me fall for it and end up spending lots of cash!
Thanks for the blogs – please keep them coming…
Hi Paul,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I guess we all occasionally fall for the odd “expert” tag, I seem to fall for it at an alarming rate.
I agree with the point on integration not necessarily the volume of friends or followers.
Thanks for the feedback
Simon
Pro-expert: they help you understand the environment and how you’re coming across to those who’ve been there a while. They help flag and avoid potential mistakes. They can help demystify jargon and perceived barriers to entry. They help you get started by sharing your content and introducing followers.
Anti-expert: they teach you what you would figure out before long anyway. They impart skills that are basically no different to real life socialising. In a way, you’re paying to boost their ego.
It’s not that different to hiring someone to help you with sales, public speaking or even designing your kitchen. You’re either happy doing it yourself or you want third party input, and the third party you choose could either be good (i.e. merit the term “expert”) or as waste of time… buyer beware!
Thanks for your comments Mark, some interesting points and well presented.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and for commenting, it is appreciated
Simon