What to consider before hiring for social media (part 1)
Recently I wrote a short piece about hiring for social media for the SMCSLC, and with 85% of US companies looking to increase their spend on social media this year you can see why it’s such a hot topic right now. Many companies are currently figuring out how to find quality people because the right person will make or break your social media implementation and usage.
You need the right person with the right knowledge, the right skill set, and very important, the right personality. Since social media is all about the interaction and connections having someone with a personality that fits your company and will shine in their interactions is now incredibly important.
When you’re getting ready to hire someone to handle your social media you need to ask yourself a question. Do you want to hire someone to just simply manage content & hope for some kind of results or do you want to hire a dynamic and knowledgeable person who is going to work on your company’s social media both inside and outside of the company? The first one has “Intern job” written all over it and has a low chance of seeing much success. The second option has “professional” written on it and has a greater chance of having real success.
At first it might seem like a daunting task because you may not know exactly what to look for, especially when it seems like everyone with a Twitter account and Facebook page is a “social media expert”. I’m here to tell you that unless they have the “experience” part of the expert down they aren’t. There is a lot of noise online and unfortunately it’s always going to be like that. Especially in the fields of emerging technology there always has been and always will be a little bit of trouble sifting through the noise. However, with a few guidelines you’ll be able to pull the wheat from the chaff with a fair amount of ease.
First is that there is no governing force out there that is certifying people in social media, so don’t fall for it. If you see that they are a “certified” social media expert, strategist, consultant, communicator, etc. don’t take that as being anything special. It’s not. Just because someone paid some unaccredited group a hefty sum to give them a certificate doesn’t mean they know anything at all.
When certifications will start to matter is when they get involved with major academic or professional institutions, like what the University of San Francisco or Full Sail University (which is affiliated with USF) are doing with the internet marketing certifications. If the certification comes from some random group that seems to have just “sprung up” then it’s no different than someone just making it up.
Second, just because they have profiles online doesn’t mean they know how to use them properly or for business. Look at their entire presence online and see what they do and say. If you take a good look you can see what they are all about and what they really know.
I’ve worked with Fortune 500 companies, single owner businesses, non-profits, and everything in between. I’ve helped manage social and internet marketing campaigns that dealt with hiring agencies and people to work on various aspects, I’m a published author on the subject of social media (TwittFaced) and I’m here to help. It’s not just what I do, but it’s what I love to do.
I’ve put together a list of 10 things to look for and 10 things to avoid to get you started, and on each I would love your feedback and to have you add to the lists. This space is changing all the time and we are all discovering together, and this is one of those instances where we can all learn more together.
The next 2 posts will serve as a guideline to help steer you in the right direction so be sure to bookmark the main site, or even better subscribe to the blog via RSS or email (top left) to ensure you get these and future posts.
Thank you for reading,
Josh “Shua” Peters
Josh “Shua” Peters is the co-author of TwittFaced, a freelance internet marketer and trainer (with a heavy focus on social media) who has worked with companies of all sizes from Fortune 500 to non profits, single owner businesses, and everything in between. He blogs at Shuaism and can be regularly found on Twitter, FaceBook, and LinkedIn.
March 8th, 2010 at 11:31 am
[...] first post is What to consider before hiring for social media (part 1) and contains 2 very important things to remember when hiring for social media. It’s also got [...]
March 9th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
The biggest frustration I have when people are looking for “social media” employees or contractors is that they fail to look at experience beyond just ’social media.” A good hire is going to have a solid business background that understands how new media tools, techniques and trends can be a part of a larger strategy, not just be a stand-alone set of tactics.