The social media explosion of 2009 led to a violently contagious case of head scratching in the business community. Companies began researching exactly how the social media boom could help their business as a wellspring of experts, consultants and books successfully capitalized on the confusion.
A search for job postings online shows AT&T, Time Warner, Home Depot, and numerous other Atlanta area companies requesting the resumes of social media experts. A humorous side note is that many of these positions require more experience than the existence of the technology allows, some requesting 10 years experience! It might be that companies in 2010 do not understand what social media is; they just know they need it.
Web entrepreneur Aliza Sherman explains that the biggest myth of 2009 was that "social media is the new advertising platform!" She says, "Social media marketing requires paying attention and responding in ways that may seem too burdensome when one is used to pushing out press releases and making phone calls to the media, as opposed to truly interacting with consumers." This "burden" might explain the recent surge of companies seeking social media managers. The time it takes to set up profiles, maintain them, and communicate with others in the network far surpasses time spent managing a corporate website. The bottom line is that social media is more than just the use of a community website for self-marketing, it is the streaming voice of your company. Launching a successful marketing campaign through a selected group of social networks can actually prove to be more than one full-time position. It could prove wise to consider outsourcing the work to a group experienced in using social media with traditional marketing methods to capture results.
Last year, socialmediaexaminer.com reported that a direct relationship exists between how long businesses have used social media and the weekly time commitment they spend on social media sites. Companies just beginning with social media spent as little as two hours per week and found little to no success in attracting client views. As for the marketers that have been using social media for years, their median time was 20+ hours a week. Out of the 880 marketers who participated in the survey, the ones with the most experience reported the best results in gaining exposure, finding new partnerships, generating leads, and closing business. If you are still considering adding a position in social media marketing, look for someone who has experience in using social media in marketing for at least three years. If your company uses a firm for its marketing and public relations, then ask them about social media solutions. By defining your business goals and communicating them to a future hire or a third party, you can cut out the time you spend reading "Social Media For Dummies," and focus on what you do best!
Before creating a new position, ask these questions:
- Are you trying to reach people in 2010? Do you want to reach out to new customers and communicate with current clients more regularly? If you do a good job of this now, use resources to research sites and focus on your current business goals until you decide to take the plunge.
- Are your clients or potential clients using social media? If you do not know, find out!
- Does an open ear to customer complaints or a window into the wants and needs of your demographic fit into your 2010 business goals? Opening the portal of social media means lots of time and effort, but the benefits might be too big to ignore.
- Do you self-market and handle your own public relations? If not, you may want to see what third party social media solutions have become available in the last year. If so, ask how others use social media as a part of their marketing plans.
