Is your company looking for creative ways to reach your customers?
Do you just find out that your competitors’ last Press Release is about a Social Media campaign?
Is a Social Media Consultant telling you that he/she can establish your company’s presence on specific social networks for a mere $150-$500/h?
In a post by Jennifer Leggio in ZDNet, Social media consultants: snake oil or value add?, Jennifer explained why you should not believe everything that a Social Media Consultant is telling you. This is some parts of her post:
“Social media consultancy, for the most part, has gone the way of the snake oil salesman. While there are many qualified business consultants who can help a company leverage social networking as part of its overall strategy, there are far too many who are selling their services based on the ability to help establish a company’s presence on specific social networks. Many of these consultants have been successful building their own personal brand, however, prowess for personal brand building does not prove an understanding of enterprise business needs.
Companies need to stop believing the hype that social media is an “everything drug.” It’s not. It’s a strategy that needs to be considered and tailored to fit specific business needs.”
That’s right on!
At rSitez, we have worked with Consultants that understand the value of Social Networking as part of the overall strategy of a brand and this realtionships were great. Unfortunately, we also have worked with Consultans that completely mislead their customers in what a Social Network can do for them.
In order to help, let copy some questions from Jennfier before you hire a Social Media Consultant,
Ask yourself:
- What is the profile of your ideal customer / sales prospect?
- Where are these ideal customers / prospects spending their time online? (Note: It might be worth purchasing a market research study on your customer demographic and Web presence before hiring a consultant)
- What are other companies in your space doing? Can you get your hands on success metrics?
- How educated is your management team when it comes to Web presence and Internet branding? If you push them hard to sell the concept, what measures must you take to prove value?
- Can you do any of this for free? Are there people on your team or other teams who are social media savvy who would love the visibility of a cutting edge project?
- Can you really measure the ROI of what is being recommended? If it’s not clear, how else will you measure success?
You need to realize how Social Networking fit in your overall startegy and be willing to give part of your marketing control. Are your ready? Any anecdote with Social Media Consultants?
Social Media Blog 