So You’re A Social Media Expert?

With the dawn of any new technology, there comes the inevitable after-birth of the expert. Those early adapters who have jumped on the bandwagon of a new way of doing business before the masses have a chance to really figure out what the heck the new thing is or how it works. With the evolution of web 2.0 marketing came the next logical thing: the social media expert.

I'm not denying the existence of a real social media expert. There are some great minds in the realm of Web 2.0 that really know their stuff. They aren't just the Chris Brogans or Guy Kawasakis of the world. Individuals whose names you may have not even heard of that could be great strategists and know how to get the most out of digital marketing. These are people that know digital marketing involves more than just opening a Facebook Fan Page or Twitter account and putting a brand name on it.

Are you one of these experts? If so, you really wouldn't have to tell me would you?

If you were really one of the social media "chosen few" your results would speak for themselves. I would have ran across one of your blogs by now. You wouldn't have a 9 follower to 10,000 following ratio. Your Twitter feed would be more than just links to your own stuff with the same repetitive content. Your conversation would include more than just throwing out words like Twitter and Facebook so much that they eventually lose their meaning.

Really an expert? The automatic DMs tell me otherwise. The spam messages that clutter my inbox offering consulting services  also tell me a different story. Your answers on LinkedIn seem to contradict. The contribution you offer to the person asking a question on LinkedIn's platform about social media marketing isn't genuine. It's merely a way to pitch your brand. No relationship built. Just a quick way to a sales pitch and a link to your website. How has that helped the person asking the question at all? If you were really an expert, you would know that the direct sales pitch is one of the biggest "don'ts" in the unwritten social media code of conduct.

There is a great need for great marketing minds. With companies struggling making sales projections in a struggling economy, that need is almost greater now than before. Social media minds aren't always great marketing minds. Will the social media expert just set up an account for a brand and run it for $300/hour? Or are they going to contribute to the brand's overall marketing efforts? If someone can't handle their own personal brand effectively, how is someone going to trust a brand in their hands.

But you have your own website too in addition to a Twitter account? That's great! So does my 70 year old grandfather.

As social media loses it's sleekness and becomes more practical, the public will become more savvy themselves on who is legit and who isn't. The smoke screens will eventually be lifted and the BS will be read through.

So are you a social media expert? Or are you just trying to make an easy buck?

Related articles

• The 9 Worst Ways to Use LinkedIn for Business (hubspot.com)
• Social Media: Marketing Morass? (wheretheclientis.com)
• The Future of Human Resources and Social Media (mashable.com)