our blog

August 10, 2009

Get a Social Media ‘Expert’ on Staff… and Fast!

Over the past few months, I’ve had several conversations with clients who are being pressured to get a social media “expert” on staff… and fast! The pressure seems to come from senior-level executives who have a vague sense of the potential of social media but not a clear picture of how to apply it to their organizations.

Before you head down that path, you should know that there are no “white knights” out there. We’ve done a lot of research on this and what we’ve found is that many of the companies that were early adopters of social media had an internal ‘enthusiast’ who pushed his or her company into the conversation and was then allowed to let it grow organically. In other words, he didn’t come from the outside; he was passionate about both social media and his organization and carved out a mutually beneficial niche for himself.

Does that leave you high and dry? No. Social media is not as scary or foreign as it may feel. In fact, most of the ‘common sense’ rules that apply to marketing, public relations and personal interaction apply to social media as well. My suggestion is that you start by tapping into the marketing talent you already have – both internally and via external partners – to get started. And if you need some professional help, buy it a´ la carte.

This approach will reduce the chance of your social media becoming a siloed activity. Over time, you may well determine that you need to hire some dedicated social media personnel. But by then you’ll have a clear picture of how a social media platform can support your business and marketing objectives, which – in the end – is the only reason for “going social” in the first place.