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Hi My Name is Melodie & I’m a “Social Media Expert”

January 14, 2009 12

Lately, I’ve been hearing more and more “Social Media Experts” complain that too many people are calling themselves “Social Media Experts”. So how does one garner the elite, self proclaimed title?  It’s not like there’s a Social Media test we take and as soon as we pass we’re certified Social Media Experts. This is not law school or med school and we all know there isn’t really a job called “Social Media Expert”.

Based on the way the title is used I compare it to someone who plays an instrument but may be a beginner yet still calls themselves a musician or someone who takes photos as a hobby and calls themselves a photographer. It seems that people who calls them selves a Social Media Expert have many things in common:

  • They are really passionate about Social Media.
  • They are very active on Social Media
  • They constantly engage and interacts with others on Social Media
  • They demonstrate knowledge to their Social Media Network
  • They truly believes they have good content to contribute.Social Media Collage

Is  there anything wrong with anything on my list? Not really. In fact everything seems positive to me.  So why do we roll our eyes every time we hear the term “Social Media Expert?” The more “experts” out there, the more knowledge is available.

Instead of rolling your eyes next time you come across someone who calls them self a social media expert here are some mutually beneficial alternatives:

  1. Follow the Social Media Expert on Twitter: This is a quick and easy way learn something from their tweets and see if they’re producing useful content. Remember you can always unfollow.
  2. Read the Social Media Expert’s Blog: Again you may learn something. Comment on their blog with a question that requires a thoughtful answer. See how they respond. If you like their response move on to #3
  3. Invite the Social Media Export to guest blog on your website: What a great way to get a perspective on Social Media from someone other than yourself!
  4. Review the Social Media Expert’s LinkedIn contact list: What other industry leaders are they connected to? Have the provided any answers that you may find useful? They may have a connection you’ve been trying to reach.
  5. Review the Social Media Expert’s Bio and pay close attention to their overall career journey. What corporate jobs have they had? What types of clients they work? Perhaps you’ll find they’ve had experienced in a field you’ve always wanted to learn about.

I’m confident you’ll learn at least one piece of new information by doing something on this list. After all if you’re a Social Media Expert you should be doing this stuff anyway! If you really don’t find value in any of their content then at least you’re justified to roll your eyes.

Basically this post is my attempt to turn a negative clique of the Social Media Expert into something positive that actually adds value to Social Media.  Social media is an infinite space. Your network grows exponentially with every connection you make. Why waste your time swiping someone’s credibility when your time can be better spent collaborating, learning, adding value and understanding other Social Media Experts?

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12 comments Leave a comment

  1. JP says...

    I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being a “social media expert”. I think the reaction is due to the fact that anyone can be a social media expert if they so choose to be, so it’s not like something worth really being proud about. Unlike an accomplished musician or award winning photographer, being a social media expert takes little to no skill that needs to be attained, and very little true additional respect is garnished from it. Honestly anyone with high EQ (and there are many of us out there) can be a self proclaimed social media expert if we took the time (which is a very insignificant amount of time) to do so. There is no self sacrifice to be a social media expert, however not everyone can be a newsanchor, journalist, lawyer, doctor, engineer, even social worker successfully without sacrifice.

    Social media people are basically middlemen. They connect people together, which while being important, is unnecessary. There is a plateau as to how much more efficiency one can bring to processes by being a middle connection. Whereas in the beginning it brings much in saving time and effort, there is only so much before it becomes a redundant state. Marketing oneself as “a people person” is as laughable as the character on Office Space who claims his value in the company is just that, being a “people person”. Not a big deal nor compliment.

  2. As far as I’m concerned, a real-true life Social Media Expert is someone that can leverage existing platforms as a PR tool, as well as create resources for an target market target market.

    Both of these skills would need to be accompanied by metrics, proving the ROI of the projects taken up by the expert. It would also be of interest to throw in cost per acquisition metrics, if you’re pushing a product, or ID a value for the attention being gained.

  3. “if you’re a Social Media Expert (you) should be doing this stuff anyway”

    Well said — this discussion came up on twitter a few nights ago, I can’t remember when — but we were talking about the comical use of it being on tons of pages. Some were talking about the use of “expert, maven, guru” and what it really meant. Whether it meant they really liked SM or if they were passionate about it or if they have worked in it, etc.

  4. I agree that there are a lot of people that consider themselves “social media experts” and it really does not upset me too much because honestly, it’s a free country. I will say there there is a difference between an expert and a strategist. A strategist looks a business and formulates a time sensitive strategy for social media engagement with measurable results. I see a lot “experts” navigating and teaching and not digging in and understanding the goals of the company. I think that “experts” add to the value and information in the world and until we all can quantify SMM better, the more the merrier.

    Cheers

  5. JP, Thanks for being first to comment. I do believe there is some self sacrifice to be a social media expert or any type of “expert”. There are so many “experts” out there who get asked questions from business owners, students and anyone seeking advice in your area of expertise. When I respond to such inquiries I am essentially giving “free” advice which is an incredibly valuable resource especially when consulting fees range from $50-$150/hr and so on. I don’t mind sharing some of my insight and I’m sure many others don’t mind either. It’s a way to demonstrate your credibility and serve as a resource but it always requires some sacrifice of your valuable time and information.

  6. Enrique, It will be interesting once there are more established methods to measure ROI on Social Media. I’ve seen a few tools in the works but it will take a while before they become established. If you have any recommendations on what you’re personally doing to measure the success of social media optimization, would love to hear your thoughts.

  7. Melodie ~ “I am essentially giving “free” advice which is an incredibly valuable resource especially when consulting fees range from $50-$150/hr and so on.”

    Be more than glad to show you some ROI measurement methods; tools won’t cover it, you have to get into the guts of the client’s business. 😉

  8. Pingback: Marketing Melodie » Blog Archive » Building Customer Relationships Through Twitter

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