Social Media Certification for Consultants is important, but …

Like everything else associated with social media, the issue of consultant certification is complex. So far, 67 people have voted (including the poll on LinkedIn) and the results are definitely trending towards a qualified dismissal of social media certification as a key criteria in awarding consulting projects. The general consensus seems to be that certification is OK, but that experience, references, and professional background are more important for consultants hired to help a client to achieve their business objectives. No surprise there.

However, several important issues about social media certification emerged in the discussion and I have attempted to summarize them below. (There were 24 excellent posts in the various spaces where this question was asked).

• “Social Media” is complex and changing. It would be impossible for any certification to be up-to-date on the latest hot site or technology.
  
• The characterization of a certification is not always clear.? Does it mean you have mastered Twitter and Blogger? Or that you can name the top analytic tools? Or that you can set up a good Facebook page for a client?
  
• Some certifications are more rigorous (and valuable) than others. Certification is more meaningful if students are tested on their skills and go on to apply the lessons learned in real-life business situations.
  
• The real value of a social media consultant is their ability to apply their understanding of how social media works to the bigger question of how to use social media to meet the strategic communication and marketing goals of clients.
  
• Certification is mostly for professionals that will be leaders of the “social media” discipline, not consultants using a tool casually or tactically. In other words, training is essentially worthless without application and no one needs to be certified to set up a Twitter account.

While few professionals describe social media as an art form, most would agree that there is a fluidity and lack of predictably that relegates social media education to a tactical realm. (Like learning how to use HTML to create a web site but not how to use the web site to attract customers.) It’s another way of saying that the industry is still a long way from having the social media methodologies, measurements, and established best practices that make certification meaningful for a large and disparate group of practitioners.

So get your certifications if you must. Use them in your marketing if you can. It won’t hurt. Just don’t expect that your next major project will happen if you are certified, but not experienced.

http://xeesm.com/mikedubrall

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Social Media Facts

Social Media Certification for Consultants is important, but …

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Social Media Certification - Yes or No

Is it possible to really be an expert in Social Media Marketing? It’s very difficult to be an authority on something that is changing and growing so rapidly; and which, as a result, is embroiling the business world in a series of gut-wrenching adjustments that make a mockery of the term “status quo?” So when someone, especially a consultant, tells you they are a “certified” social media expert, it’s best to be skeptical.

What is the definition of a social media “expert?” Do they have a document that certifies their training and experience makes them a better advisor than someone who is not certified? Does this certification prove their competence? Is certification an early indicator of a successful engagement? These are important questions for executives to be asking.

Social Media certification is open anyone willing to pay a few thousand dollars and complete an on-line course. You can get certified from a variety of educational intuitions, training centers, and even from a few product vendors. Some certifications require that you actually show proficiency in using social media tools, others do not. After completing the coursework, “graduates” get to claim certification in their email signature line, on their blog, and everywhere else they want. Just look for the logo.

Understandably, there is a lot of discussion about social media certification in the blogosphere. Many very smart bloggers say that social media certification is rubbish. They argue that the only people who want to be certified are those who came to social media late and are trying to substitute a short training class for real experience. These bloggers say that real social media experts got started even before certification was available.

The truth is that there are a lot of people calling themselves Social Media Consultants. Some of them are very good and some of them are not. Most are in the middle someplace. And certification is one way to differentiate them when you don’t have a lot of information about their past work.

Does social media training matter? How do corporate decision-makers view certifications? Are they important or just interesting? In other words, given the choice between hiring a consultant that is social media certified (to have actually received some training) and hiring someone that only has experience and references, which one gets the project?

If you work for a company that hires consultants, answer the question (upper left column). If you are a consultant, share your thoughts on certification below.

http://xeesm.com/mikedubrall

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Social Media Facts

Social Media Certification - Yes or No

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Social Media Tools Week

Most people don’t know how to use Social Media effectively. They spend a few minutes on Twitter or LinkedIn and then decide that it’s all a waste of time because they haven’t seen immediate benefits. The problem is that many resellers and partner managers don’t really understand how these tools work – even down to the basics like how to create an effective profile or how to get the right followers on Twitter. The truth is that Social Media can be downright confusing to newbies.

Next month, there will be an excellent opportunity to begin solving this problem. Partner managers can learn how various social media tools work and how they can be used effectively in a B2B context. They just have to attend Social Media Tools Week and pay attention.
Spread over five days, from November 16 to 21, the Social Media Tools Week will feature a program of keynote presentations and “career development sessions” by industry experts, including a session on distribution channels.

There is a detailed agenda on the event site, but the emphasis is on explaining the most popular tools and how they might be useful to business people. Participants also get a free social media tool that is useful for keeping track of important people like prospects, customers, and reseller executives (where they post and what they say).

Early registration is free until Nov 10. After that its $35. Every Channel Manager should attend with their best partners because it’s an impressive group of speakers and you will learn a lot about Social Media and how it can be used effectively.

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