Posting a Video Does Not a Social Media Expert Make
The latest edition of the Socialnomics 3 video, an even longer 4:00+ version, has been making the rounds on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. If you are not familiar with the video, it is the world's most watched social media series by Erik Qualman. Based on #1 Best Seller Socialnomics.
Here is the video
Any time this video is updated, it is played, re-played or posted on anyone and everyone's page/profile that likes to call themselves a social media consultant. Is there anything wrong with this? No, not at all. I believe the problem is that too many people see others talking about social media and they convey onto that person the level of expert or they think that person has expertise in social media. Many times this happens because the social media consultant refers to themselves as an expert.
If you are looking for a social media consultant or partner; run like Forest Gump away from anyone, and I do mean anyone that uses the term expert, guru, or cheerleader to describe themselves! No one is a social media expert, plain and simple. Social media is still in it's infancy and we are all students. From the biggest names in the medium to someone that just signed up for Facebook, we are all now and will always be students.
If you are looking to hire a consultant or a firm to work with on social media, consider these tips:
*Check out their Facebook Business Page and Facebook personal account. How often do they post and what kind of engagement do they have with friends or fans?
*Check out their Twitter account. Do they post good information? Do they just RT information? How consistently do they engage with others on Twitter?
*Numbers are not the only thing; but how large of a network have they built? That can be a good barometer of how they can help your business engage and build a network.
*Are they early adopters and do they work to learn new technologies and platforms such as Google+?
*Ask for references of current clients; if they are at liberty to disclose those.
*Ask for references of past clients.
*Ask for information on campaigns they have successfully developed in the past.
*Do they have a blog and/or website that is updated regularly?
This is not a complete or exhaustive list, but it's a start. What are your thoughts?
For the record, I am a social media student, consultant and practitioner.
