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 for Small Business

Social Media Certification for Consultants is important, but …

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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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Social Media for Small Business

Social Media Tools Week

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The 5 Stages of Social Media Grief

Written by Scott Monte and posted on Social Media Today. So True.

The 5 Stages of Social Media Grief
(With apologies to Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.)

1. Denial - first stage of social media grief in which the marketer refuses to acknowledge the existence of social media. This was the case early on in the industry's development. Luckily, I don't think there are many companies left that think like this. Common phrases: "It's just a kid's thing," or "It's just a fad." Common behaviors: avoiding the Internet, putting hands over ears and singing "I can't heeeeeaaaarr yoooouuuuu. La la laaaaa."

2. Anger - In the second stage, jealousy and rage are misplaced and rage ensues.
Common phrases: "This is stupid," "I've got better things to do with my time." Common behaviors: full-fledged slave to work email; increase in print or television media buy to show effectiveness and superiority.

3. Bargaining -Anger gives way to hope that incremental adoption of social media will be enough to make a difference. Common phrases: "If we have a Facebook page, we should be covered," "Let's just create a blog," or "Let the agency figure it out." Common behaviors: the use of social media only in time-limited campaigns; half-hearted efforts on a limited number of social sites.

4. Depression -The fourth stage manifests itself in an understanding that the inevitable cannot be delayed and the marketer becomes doleful. Common phrases: "Twitter/Google/Facebook is taking over the world," or "We're overwhelmed with choices." Common behaviors: moping; pacing; complaining to friends on Facebook.

5. Acceptance -With the final stage, the marketer finally realizes that social media is here to stay and begins to determine ways to integrate activities and craft strategies that are truly integrated. Common phrases: "Let's craft a comprehensive social media strategy," or "Let's spend some time listening to what consumers are saying about us." Common behaviors: integration of marketing and communications functions, determination of measurement goals, online and offline alignment from the beginning of projects.

As we know in dealing with emotional grief, you can't skip steps - you have to go through them. Some folks may be stubborn and may take a while, while others may be ahead of the curve and breeze through them quickly. [Aside: in 2004, when I heard Elisabeth Kubler-Ross died, my grieving went as follows: "No that can't be true. Curse you, Lord, no just God would take her from us. I wish she was back. Geez, life stinks. Oh, well, that's the circle of life."].

Now, in order to address those fears and to get on with the acceptance, why not start by aligning your social media activities with your business plan and your overall marketing and communications objectives? A second step would be to listen, listen and listen - get a sense as to what's being said about your brand and how people engage on these social platforms.

And then if you'd like to make a more engaging site for customers, consider integrating or aggregating content from third party social sites or services right there on your own web page. Give people a chance to find contextually relevant material from other sources on your site. We've done it on the Fiesta Movement site and we continue to do it in a variety of ways on The Ford Story.

The thinking there is that people will go out and search for other peoples' opinions on your products anyway. Why not give them something contextually relevant while they're on your site and provide value? It's an acknowledgment - dare I say acceptance? - that the world around us is changing.

The full article is here.
Fear and Loathing in Social Media

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