| In the light of the soaring popularity of Facebook and | | | | tell you. And to a large degree this holds water. A |
| Twitter with consumers, most businesses know they | | | | strong social media presence means credible and |
| had better get involved. In fact, we have moved past | | | | diverse in bound links, which is great for search |
| the early days of questions challenging the validity of | | | | rankings. That being said, I do find that some SEO |
| SM as a marketing medium -- it's for real folks. Now | | | | companies view social media with the same analytical |
| the question on everyone's mind is "Who." | | | | eye they use in writing title tags and miss the human |
| As in, "Who should manage our social media | | | | aspect. I would argue that social media is about human |
| marketing?" | | | | relations and has a secondary benefit with search |
| And almost before they have finished the question, | | | | engines, not the other way around. |
| 10-20 "social media experts" will chime in with the | | | | 3. A Specialized Consultant Should - |
| answer (while possibly raising their hands): | | | | In Columbus, Ohio there is a guy named Bob. He |
| "Ooohhh, ooohhh, pick me! Let me do it!" | | | | works for a used car salesman. Recently, Bob was |
| In fact that is just the kind of thing giving SM consulting | | | | laid off from the car lot, heard a story on NPR about |
| a bad name right now. Just as there were a lot of | | | | Facebook and is now a social media consultant? |
| hacks in Web site design 10 years ago and a lot of | | | | Beware of Bob. |
| overnight SEO experts 5 years ago, today there | | | | With a careful eye and some background research, |
| seems to be a proliferation of "Social Media | | | | you'll find there are some great consultants focusing on |
| Consultants." A recent USA Today poll revealed that | | | | social media who have proven their worth. In |
| there are more Social Media Consultants in the United | | | | Columbus, Ohio there is a guy named Lewis Howes |
| States than there are Republicans. And last weekend I | | | | who is the man when it comes to LinkedIn. You would |
| was driving through rural Ohio and saw an interesting | | | | have no trouble finding a whole lot of people who |
| image. A small bait shop operating out of a trailer and | | | | would endorse his work. I asked Lewis why his clients |
| offering "storm doors, live bait and social media | | | | like him so much, he explained: |
| consulting." | | | | "The reason individuals should work with a specialized |
| In an effort to help wade through the many options of | | | | consultant with regards to using LinkedIn is because |
| SM consulting, I spoke with some respected social | | | | the opportunity cost for learning how to effectively use |
| media folks and got their take on the question: "Who | | | | the networking tool to achieve your professional goals |
| Should Manage Your Social Media?" Are you hoping | | | | is much greater when one spends hours watching |
| for a simple answer? Sorry, there are 4 firmly | | | | video tutorials, reading blogs, and going through the |
| entrenched camps on this one. | | | | etiquette mistakes of not knowing how to contact |
| 1. Your Public Relations Firm Should - | | | | others, or become actively involved. Using a |
| I have a bit of a bias here. In the 90s, I left Bowling | | | | specialized consultant will be more beneficial because |
| Green with my newly minted Public Relations degree | | | | they can work with you on a personal level and |
| and started working at a dot com startup in the | | | | provide specific instructions on how to achieve your |
| energy industry. I thought it would be a good idea to | | | | goals. An individual also usually charges less than a |
| pitch people on Geocities who wrote about energy | | | | larger firm, and is usually more personal." |
| topics to get them to cover what we were doing at | | | | My advice in working with an individual consultant? |
| No one called it social media marketing then, it was just | | | | Check references and look at their past employment |
| applying public relations and media relations skills to the | | | | history. Having 1,000 followers on Twitter doesn't mean |
| Internet. I have had both Internet marketing gurus and | | | | a person can help your company build a social media |
| public relations experts tell me that your PR firm should | | | | communications plan. |
| not be in social media and that the two tactics are | | | | 4. You Should - |
| fundamentally different. | | | | A growing number of people in the Internet marketing |
| I disagree. | | | | world are stressing the idea that the best person to |
| In both media relations and social media | | | | manage the SM interaction and marketing efforts for |
| communications, your PR firm is working to influence | | | | your company and brand is YOU. |
| an influencer to say good things to an audience. I | | | | Grassroots social media efforts work well for brands |
| asked a highly regarded social media influencer and | | | | with limited budgets, those who may have complex |
| PR pro about this. Here is what they told me: | | | | business models, or those with rules and regulations |
| "Working with an established agency for SM strategy | | | | that prevent them from implementing and executing |
| makes sense because of the talent, expertise and | | | | large scale strategies and tactics. It boils down to |
| resources we can bring to the table. For example, we | | | | having the right people within your organization who |
| have tools and relationships with vendors that a solo | | | | are passionate about building relationships and |
| practitioner or smaller agency simply wouldn't have | | | | educated about doing so in the online space. After all, |
| access to. We also surround each client with the best | | | | your customers are doing business with your people |
| minds for the job, bringing together a good mix of | | | | first and foremost, not your logo. |
| senior and junior staffers for ongoing brainstorms. An | | | | These employees are going to intimately know your |
| agency with a strong reputation for great ideas, client | | | | business inside and out as well as who your |
| service and results-driven, award-winning campaigns is | | | | customers are and what they expect from you. |
| also in the best position to attract, recruit and retain the | | | | Consider the ramp up time and monetary resources it |
| very best talent from around the country. Ultimately, | | | | would take to bring a large PR agency or independent |
| whether you're talking about traditional PR or social | | | | consultant on board to learn about your business and |
| media and PR2.0, it's all about the people." | | | | your customers. To put it into perspective, think about |
| 2. Your SEO Firm Should - | | | | what it takes to do this with a brand new employee. |
| After all, it all is about online traffic and search engine | | | | It's a very similar process. |
| rankings, right? At least, that is what a lot of SEOs will | | | | |