In a guest post for MarketingProfs Daily Fix, Paul Dunay of Buzz Marketing for Technology asks How Long Does it Take to Become a Social Media Expert. Like anything else in life, the number of hours invested don’t necessarily make anyone an expert. Someone who truly understands will learn must faster than someone who does much which accomplishes little.
Before someone gets concerned about whether they can invest enough time to become an expert- or hires one – they might want to set some goals and define how they’ll measure results. You can spend thousands of hours on Social Networking and generate very few results to show for it. Ask yourself first what precisely you hope to accomplish BEFORE you get started.
Adam Singer of The Future Buzz commented on Social Networking Experts in that post about one instrument not being enough – it requires an entire orchestra. Understanding Social Networking is similar to understanding ecommerce Web design or the difference between a free blog and a highly customized effective blog. The differences are worlds apart.
There ARE real experts whose expertise can be measured like ecommerce Marketing Optimization Expert Bryan Eisenberg of FutureNowInc. Any business that has the resources and is truly serious about improving online marketing profits should immediately hire them to increase conversions.
Businesses with fewer resources should read their GrokDotCom blog and their books Call to Action and Waiting for Your Cat to Bark. [Reviewing those two books is on our very long to-do list.] We’ll also be researching other consultants who can understand and apply those books to recommend to small businesses. If you are or know of any do please let us know.
The effectiveness of Social Media is as challenging to measure as the effectiveness of branding. Neither happens overnight and neither may necessarily generate income although done well they will EVENTUALLY.
Social Networking can be used successfully for:
1) Driving Traffic
2) Developing Relationships
3) Finding highly qualified collaborators
4) Easy, fast connections with others who MAY be interested in working with you
5) Getting immediate answers (sometimes, if you know precisely who to ask AND they are available).
6) Learning from other experts
7) Listening to what others are saying about you, your blog, or your company
Being proactive in managing issues that go public
I’ve published over twenty posts on Social Media if anyone is interested in more detail. The others can be found by looking on any visit by finding Social Networking in the right sidebar under Blog Topics. As always, we invite you to add your insights and favorite related links in the comments of this post. The more we collaborate the more we all learn!
MORE SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERTS:
- The Viral Garden: Will The Real Social Media Expert Please Stand Up
- MarketingProfs: How Long Does It Take to Become a Social Media Expert?
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: @adamsinger
Anyone who calls themself a social media expert is lying. People that good wouldn’t refer to themselves in that fashion, they know better.
Twitter: @GrowMap
@Adam You’re probably correct. People usually only think they’re experts when they know just enough about something to be dangerous. The post title did get you to drop in and comment though, didn’t it.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..REVIEW: Mastering Google Analytics – Easy to Understand FREE eCourse
In most fields it take 10+ years of experience to become an expert, only online because of how simple it is to make the claim and people’s desire to find a gold rush do people accept these claims at face value.
Thanks for the kind words.
Bryan Eisenberg’s last blog post..The Value of Cheap
I always though the experts are special geeks employed as admins somewhere in a basement doing nothing but browsing the internet. Am I wrong?
yes Social media is hot topic of SEO industry right now . its created a new channel to get traffic and promote your product
When I see the title Social Media Expert I think of a salesman not someone who’s genuinely interested in conversing with me.
Christopher Ming Ryan’s last blog post..Am I The Only One Who Still Loves A Newspaper?
Twitter: @GrowMap
@Bryan Thank you for taking the time to visit and comment. As some may have already realized the title of this post is intended to make a point about how easy it is to make that claim and how difficult it is to quantify.
I added recommendations for your work in this post hoping that some will take the time to read your blog and possibly even your books. Doing that will help them realize how very complicated getting results is and RESULTS are what really matter!
I only wish all small businesses could afford your services, were wise enough to realize it and your business could scale that large. If any large businesses are reading this I can only ask why haven’t you hired a specialist with a proven track record and over ten years of experience yet? You get what you pay for.
@Anna I’m not sure whether to laugh or you’re serious. Some experts are self-proclaimed and know just enough to THINK they are experts. Others have a passion for learning a particular skill set. Some are employees somewhere; the most brilliant usually are not because most businesses discourage free thinking.
You may wish to either add descriptions to the links on the page you’re sending visitors to from this comment OR send them to a blog page instead. Most comments that link to what appear to be pages of ads end up getting deleted and most visitors to pages like that immediately leave – at least those who know what they are. While yours is not it looks like an ad page and since it is not in English it appears to have no real content. Many will take one look, think it is a page full of ads (not knowing the language) and delete your valid comments and links.
@Miami Web design Yes, Social Media CAN be beneficial when done well and potentially negative when companies try to use it as though it were a direct mail campaign. To be most effective it must be interactive. They must first LISTEN and then answer – not simply preach the party line.
@Christopher Ming Ah, you have connected the title with PR agencies. There is no clear definition and those who claim that title will have a wide range of abilities. Very few are likely to be able to produce results.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..REVIEW: Mastering Google Analytics – Easy to Understand FREE eCourse
HA HA! I wrote a post the exact same day about this exact same thing. I am not trying to spam my link here, but this was my take on all the Self-Proclaimed Social Media Experts on the rise on Twitter: http://juicysnake.com/2009/03/what-makes-you-expert.html
I guess great minds think alike.
Jay’s last blog post..What makes you the "Expert"?
I disagree with the above comments that state that Social Media Experts are ‘lying’ by calling themselves experts. Those of us that study the features, how to leverage the platforms, how to measure results, and how to consult with our clients on effective use of social media are, indeed, experts. We speak on the topic, we consult on the topic, and we make our livelihood on the topic.
I’m not sure “IS” or “How long” are adequate questions. As with any so-called ‘expert’, the question is about results. The ability to walk through successful strategies with a number of clients who have received measurable results based on your ‘expertise’ is key.
There are plenty of ‘experts’ that get things wrong, too. In the last year, we’ve seen many investment ‘experts’ bite the dust. It doesn’t mean they’re not ‘experts’… it just means that they were wrong. Choose your ‘experts’ carefully.
Douglas Karr’s last blog post..Interactions’ Hybrid Calling System = Amazing
Developing relationships should have been higher than the driving traffic.
Twitter: @GrowMap
@Jay Great minds DO think alike. We welcome related links so always feel free to add them. Your comments did end up captured by Akismet because of the link but we rescued them.
@Douglas I hope you didn’t take offense. You know there are many who, having acquired a certain amount of knowledge truly believe they are experts. As you point out, it is all about results and ensuring you select someone who can deliver them.
@Moksh Yes, developing relationships is very important. I’ve found that one way to do that is to share quality content so sometimes driving traffic (although not necessarily to your own content) comes first and better relationships follow.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..REVIEW: Mastering Google Analytics – Easy to Understand FREE eCourse
Twitter: @MikeTek
The word “expert” is pretty tough to pin down, especially online.
Social media is just the latest area where people are diving in because of a low barrier of entry and calling themselves “experts,” “specialists” and “gurus.”
The simplest way to sort out the people who are worth their salt and those who aren’t is by track record.
Spending all day on social media doesn’t make you an expert, it makes you a user.
I regularly hang out at the local “Yelp Talk” forum, because it drives business to my company! I’m active in reviewing restaurants and other businesses, which further increases my credibility at the Yelp site.
I’m not really participating in Facebook or Twitter, even thought I’ve set up profile pages and will “Accept” friends whenever someone whom I know personally will add me.
Its important to have a 2-way approach to Social Media, you have to GIVE in order to RECEIVE.
Twitter: @GrowMap
@MikeTek Great sound bite: “Spending all day on social media doesn’t make you an expert; it makes you a user.”
@Matt I’m going to have to check into Yelp more. I do believe that it is more effective to focus on a very limited number of sites instead of spreading yourself too thinly across them all.
It is better to develop relationships that you can regularly participate in and maintain.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..Social Media: Valuable Investment or a Waste of Your Valuable Time? Your Thoughts?
I believe this is a very important information. Many people are asking about the real meaning of Social Media Expert and this post gives the actual meaning of it. Anyway, i like how you explain and gave sample about the topic. great post!
Connecticut Mortgage’s last blog post..AIG’s CT Ties
i heard huge of people claiming that they are a Social Media Expert maybe to get other people attention but now thanks for this info to gave the real meaning of Social Media Expert
disregard the word huge !lol i mean alot of people not huge of people..lol
Hi,
I think this is really this is a nice thing because i have seen so many people who are using the social media as a powerful tool. Many people do not know the power of the social media so that they are not utilizing the services of the sites. So i think those people will called the social media experts.
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