Social Media offers many benefits to many different businesses. It can help you build your reputation, attract potential customers, and communicate with your clients. Smart businesspeople everywhere are piling onto networks like Facebook and Twitter, trying to get their piece of the pie, and realize these benefits; in an increasingly-crowded and noisy market, there are a lot of people trying to find their way. Guiding them to do it — the art of social media consulting — is fast becoming a growth market.
Like any growth market though, social media consulting is attracting its share of idiots. They’re easy to spot, if you look at the title. Many are self-proclaimed experts, gurus, or mavens. However, in their ignorance, by self-proclaiming such a title, these “consultants” are giving themselves away. The fact is that proper social media marketing, if you can call it that, hinges on interaction. The biggest benefit businesses will get is from participating in two-way conversations with their customers. It’s the gradual back-and-forth that will grow your brand over time, as well as improve its visibility. Andrew Hyde wrote a decent post about this the other day.
This being the case, any expert or guru title is oxymoronic. It’s like talking about how great you are at listening. It’s like going to a party, climbing up on the couch, and announcing that you’re the best qualified person in the room to have a conversation. And also that everyone else is inferior at the act, because they don’t hold the right credentials or skills. Pretty ridiculous. But more times than even I expect, this very approach is used.
Consultants using this approach may have short term success, but their lack of focus on interaction will stunt any real benefits from their efforts. Over time, their clients will become wise to the trickery, and seek out someone taking a more sustainable approach. Consultants who get it, and who avoid the social media guru complex, will enjoy better long-term success, better serve their clients, and better contribute to the growing social media landscape many of us treasure.
If you’re looking to get into social media consulting, please avoid the guru complex. If you’re looking for someone to help with social media, do your due diligence, ask around, and select someone who does it right. It’s worth it.
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I have had it up to here *motions to furrowed brow* with mavens and gurus. I don’t know if they’ve infected other sites like they’ve infected Twitter, but they’re an unwelcome nuisance.
“Expert” credentials are nebulous with regard to social media. As you pointed out, it’s absurd to tell others you’re a better listener than they are. Yes, there are monitoring tools that you can use to increase the relevance of incoming chatter (thereby making your listening more productive), but the spammy, unpleasant nature of so many gurus makes that moot.
EF: Agreed on all points, man. Thanks for stopping by.
In writing the post, I certainly wasn’t proclaiming that no one can achieve mastery or expertise in social media. The tools you referenced are certainly indication that someone knows what they’re doing, and is putting proper effort in. I’m just sick of self-proclaimed experts, is all. Sounds like we’re together on that one.
I don’t see social media puffery as being inherently different than any other field. There are fake SEO wizards, bogus copywriting gurus, half-baked designers, bad PR guys and incompetent management and HR people who say they’re the best on their resume. One could argue that social media is “new,” but it’s over 20 years old, but the market for services is relatively new.
I think people who do good work and can show evidence of it - good enough that other people recommend and talk about them - will always do well. The people who engage in deception and puffery will perish.
BRETT: Sure, I don’t think social media has an exclusive on idiocy by any means — we all know there are plenty in my industry — they just seem more invasive (given Twitter), and more topical at this point.
I agree that the puffy will perish, and that the good one will naturally rise to the top. For professionals reading, that’s a good a take-away message as anything!
EVERYONE: Brett, by the way, operates as the “social media rockstar,” which is an infinitely better presentation to communicate his expertise (which is wide). His blog, http://socialmediarockstar.com, is a must-read.
Thanks for the plug…I don’t operate as a ’social media rockstar’ myself… the point of my blog name was because I originally planned on doing interviews high-profile people (”rockstrars”) in social media… feature their unique personalities and insights and get them to share good content informally (example: http://socialmediarockstar.com/category/interviews ) . And it was just kind of a fantasy brand name… like “Playboy” or “Soldier of Fortune”
I haven’t done an interview in over two months and want to as soon as my voice comes back.
BRETT: Ha. I love the fantasy name. I might have to rebrand myself as “Soldier of Fortune (and Copywriting).” hahaha
Given, I’m by no means a rockstar. But I’d be happy to sit down with you at some point, and talk social media/copywriting for a bit. It would bolster that interview section!