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 Certification - Yes or No

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Social Media Tools – The Channel Top Ten

Social Media is confusing. What is it anyway? There are dozens of different definitions (check the blogosphere) and even more perspectives on how it can be used to improve channel performance. Unfortunately, there are still partner managers that are struggling to accept social media as a transformational technology. They cannot yet see the future, even as it begins to overwhelm them.

So in response to all the questions about what it is and how social media might be used to help channel partners be successful, here is a list of the top ten social media applications. The sites are used primarily for marketing, although sales results are definitely being impacted, especially by business networking sites like LinkedIn. (The use of social media to solve technical problems is already well documented.)

This ranking is mostly based on our on-going Channels of the Future research, with some fine-tuning from client projects. Every site mentioned has a least one worthy competitor vying for attention. This is the briefest of summaries, which only hints at the impact of these gathering places.

1. On-Line Communities: There are already thousands of partner-centric on-line communities in Google Groups and Yahoo, plus hundreds of branded and closed communities managed by the largest vendors (IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, Cisco, etc, etc. etc.) The amount of information exchanged is staggering – and the number of deals influenced is beyond counting.

2. LinkedIn: There are hundreds of thousands of reseller salespeople visible on LinkedIn, plus reseller groups, events, jobs and more. Salespeople who are not already using business networking for prospecting and customer communications are probably already on performance plans.

3. Blogs: Resellers rely on vendor and industry blogs for information. They have replaced newsletters and magazines as the primary reference point for new technologies and product releases. (Which means marketing managers also have to understand sites like Digg and Delicious.)

4. Facebook: Business has invaded this once personal/private site and vendors, resellers, and customers are scrambling to change their photos and update their profiles to make them more professional.

5. MySpace: There are more reseller groups and channel job postings than Facebook, maybe because MySpace is older and more basic in its approach.

6. YouTube: Resellers can view instructional videos on everything from changing printer cartridges to keeping products under warranty. Among others, Cisco uses it as a training platform, creating playlists that group videos by product or specialty.

7. Yahoo Video: Channel partners can check out the latest vendor pronouncements (IBM is very visible, among many others) on products, programs, and customers.

8. Twitter: There is already a whole micro blog ecosystem to communicate with resellers about special pricing, new products and programs, big deals, and company gossip – all in 140 characters or less.

9. Flickr: Perfect for posting pictures of products and schematics that help resellers maintain hardware products. Vendor-provided photos can also be used in marketing materials, websites and communities.

10. Tactical Sites (SlideShare, Issuu, Podcast, etc.): There are hundreds of free sites where channel managers (sometimes without “official” sanction) can post presentations, white papers, documentation, and podcasts so they can be easily linked to on-line communities or emails.

Vendors that do not understand and take advantage of these social media gathering places are already well behind their channel competitors. If you work in a partner organization that is not active on most of these social media sites, perhaps you should be updating your resume. (If you do not personally use most of these tools, then probably you should be thinking of retirement.)

Michael Dubrall is the Managing Director of Gilwell Group, a research and consulting company that researches “Channels of the Future.” He is a regular contributor to Channel Champion and other industry blogs on the subject of next generation partnerships. Join the Channels of the Future group on LinkedIn.

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Social Media Tools – The Channel Top Ten

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Top Ten Observations from the Channels of the Future Research

Over the past six months, Gilwell Group and Integrated Mar.com have worked together on a research project to gather data about reseller use of social media tools. The results have been made available to qualified Trusted Business Advisors and channel marketing managers through a series of webinars and postings on the LinkedIn Channels of the Future group. Here are the top ten findings.

1. Resellers expect their major vendors to provide training and leadership on new ways to market their products over the Internet. Consequently, successful vendors must help their resellers develop a richer on-line presence by providing them with on-line product demonstrations, multi-media email communications, video testimonials, and social networking guidelines to help generate leads and improve close rates.

2. Most resellers understand that on-line communities, business and social networking, blogs, on-line storefronts, and social media sites like Twitter are increasingly important ways to communicate with customers. However, partners don’t have the skills, time, or compelling customer interest to prioritize and adopt these new communication tools quickly.

3. Resellers that report revenue growth are significantly more active with social media than resellers that report revenue declines or no growth. (This is a consistent finding over the past six months.) Growing resellers are already doing the following with social media: Finding New Customers, Improving Proposal Close Rates and Shortening Sales Cycles, Training Employees and Customers, Recruiting New Employees, Improving Customer Satisfaction (Staying in touch), Building Partnerships with other Resellers, Advertising, Public Relations, building brands, disseminating information, filling webinars, and more.

4. Resellers do not consider their web sites to be effective marketing tools and most resellers have not incorporated social media capabilities into their sites. (Reseller on-line presence is an impediment to growth)

5. More than 30% of resellers are implementing on-line communities to improve communications and drive down support costs. However, most partners are building (or plan to build) their own proprietary communities, sometimes using tools provided by vendors. This is likely to result in many unfinished projects, rudimentary functionality within the community, and general dissatisfaction among community members.

6. Reseller employees (especially at growing resellers) regularly visit business networking sites like LinkedIn and often read blogs that pertain to their business or customers. These sites are used to find prospects (suspects), network with vendors and other resellers, and find useful sales information (often posted by vendors). Resellers have much less experience with YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter as business tools, although all employees have familiarity with these sites and visit them occasionally, even in the context of conducting BtoB activities.

7. Traditional co-op (incentive) programs remain popular, however resellers are looking to use their funds to build out their on-line presence. Resellers expect that vendor marketing and communications programs will be server-based (SaaS) and available 24/7, especially product training, business planning, and deal registration.

8. Vendors are taking advantage of new social media tools to build marketing relationships directly with end users, sometimes at the expense of their channel. Since most resellers (73%) have ad hoc marketing programs or no marketing at all, this could eventually weaken relationships between resellers and their customers. Resellers are increasingly worried about this possibility.

9. Communication with customers is increasingly on-line. Email dominates, although on-line communities and social media sites are gaining in popularity. Over 40% of reseller sales people are using mobile communication devices like Blackberry and iPhones to access the internet while doing business.

10. Reseller executives are aging, yet they are actively experimenting with some social media tools for business and pleasure. It’s is a myth that social media business users are young. (77% of this sample is more than 40 years old.)

For access to the entire report, and additional information on resellers and social media, go to SlideShare.com and search on Gilwell.

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