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Posts Tagged ‘hiring’

Six Tips to Hiring a Social Media Consultant

With social media emerging as more of a mainstream corporate activity, there is not surprisingly plenty of demand for social media consultants to provide strategic and tactical insight and counsel.

In a recent blog post, Chris Kleff outlined nine different criteria to evaluate a social media “expert”. While the list offers some good ideas, there is too much focus on numbers as opposed to critical thinking.

For example, Kleff suggests a social media experts need more than 1,000 Facebook friends, a Klout score of more than 30, more than 500 connections on LinkedIn, and more than 2,010 Twitter followers.

To me, these metrics are secondary considerations when evaluating a social media consultant. All they do is confirm someone is walking the walk as well as talking the talk. Simply because someone has a large social media presence doesn’t mean they offer good strategic and tactical advice; it just means they’re active and engaged.

So if numbers don’t provide a good way to judge a social media consultant, how should companies do it? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Ask for real-world examples of how the consultant has provided social media services to clients, and the results of this work. It could be the size of a company’s social media footprint, the traffic it attracted, or the number of leads or sales. Look for tangible metrics to put the spotlight on their success. It also helps to ask for references.

2. Ask for insight into their approach and methodology to social media assignments or projects. Are they just providing tactical services, or does the consultant also focus on strategic and big-picture issues? How do they manage their assignments and projects? What are the deliverables?

If it’s only tactical services, it may be enough to get a company’s social media efforts jump-started if there is already a plan in place. If a company is starting from scratch, it is important to hire a consultant who can offer strategic and tactical services.

3. Look for someone who can deliver perspective about other areas such as communications, marketing or sales. Given social media doesn’t operate in a silo, it is important to work with someone who understands how different parts of a company’s operations can be aligned with social media from a strategic and tactical basis.

4. Look for someone who has knowledge of the world beyond YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and a blog. Try to get more insight into the social media services are emerging, and how they could be part of a long-term roadmap, as well as any niche services that a company could exploit. Challenge a consultant on why only the largest social media services should be embraced.

5. Get a handle on how a consultant’s connections and network. This will provide insight into how they could attract other kinds of services beyond social media. What often happens during a social media project is other needs emerge. It could be the need for a refreshed Web site, better messaging or blogger/media outreach. A good social media consultant will recognize these needs, and offer people or organizations who can help.

6. Finally, review a consultant’s social media presence but do so by looking beyond the numbers. On Twitter, for example, look at the kind of tweets they do. Are they informative and valuable, or inane and silly. If a consultant has a blog, what kind of insight and intelligence do they offer? Check out whether the consultant has a Facebook Page or a Facebook profile, as well as what kind of updates they provide. On LinkedIn, who are their connections, and what are the common connections that you share with the consultant.

These considerations should provide solid information about whether a social media consultant can provide good and valuable service. By just looking at the numbers of followers, connections or Likes, you’re really just getting a picture of how well and/or how frequently someone uses social media services.

(Disclosure: In addition to being Sysomos’ director of communications, I’m also a social media consultant.)

By Mark Evans - November 22nd, 2010 - 1 Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Posted in Technology

How to Hire the Right Social Media Employees

In our last post, we talked about the five mistakes that many companies make when they hire people to manage and operate their social media programs. Today, we shift the focus to what should be front and centre when looking for the right people.

To start, companies need a strategic plan or roadmap about where they want to go with social media – even if their initial foray is relatively modest. This will provide insight into the person who should be hired first, as well as those who could be hired later.

For the first hire, the focus should be on someone who has a variety of skills, including, of course, experience with social media.

This person needs to have strong communication and writing skills, as well as a good grasp on marketing and business development. Having someone who can also provide strategic insight would be valuable.

This is important because a company’s initial efforts will play a major role in whether social media will succeed or fail. As a result, it makes no sense to hire someone who lacks enough experience or the right skills.

In other words, don’t hire a junior employee simply because they are inexpensive and enthusiastic about social media.

With a solid person in place to establish a social media program, companies can then look for social media evangelists and tacticians to help support day-to-day operations.

These are people who are going to be on the front lines, talking to people online or in person at conferences, meet-ups and other events.

Again, you want people with strong communication skill, and enough confidence and experience to know what they can handle, and when they need to circle back for support.

These positions can be high-pressure given the flow of information come at them so it is important to have people who can stay cool when things get hot.

If there is enough social media activity to justify the investment, it makes sense to hire people to monitor social media activity. While this is a tactical position, it requires people with enough knowledge and experience to recognize situations that require attention and action.

At the same time, these people also need to quickly determine whether specific social media activity should be routed to particular departments so they can take the appropriate action.

The hiring process depends on how a company wants to approach and embrace social media. Regardless of whether it’s a small operation or a significant part of the business, it is crucial to hire people with the right skills and experience.

This is particularly important for the first person hired because they can make or break your social media efforts.

By Mark Evans - July 5th, 2010 - 4 Comments »
Tags: , , ,
Posted in Social Media

Five Social Media Hiring Mistakes

While social media is becoming a priority for a growing number of companies, it’s still surprising to see many companies make mistakes when hiring people to run their social media programs.

1. Hiring people based on enthusiasm rather than experience. Many senior executives don’t understand or, for that matter, use social media so anyone who just has a modest amount of insight about social media comes across as knowledgable. The problem is enthusiasm doesn’t mean someone can use them effectively to meet a company’s strategic goals.

2. Hiring someone with a limited skill-set. People doing social media are “corporate soldiers” fighting on the front lines every day. As a result, they see a variety of inquiries from customers, potential customers, partners, investors and suppliers. This means they need to handle multiple roles – customer service, marketing, business development, sales, etc. If someone doesn’t have the experience or knowledge, they will have a difficult time doing the job without a lot of supervision.

3. Hiring cheap. Given social media is a new corporate activity with uncertainty about ROI, many companies are hedging their bets by hiring cheap. It works because there are lots of people excited about having a social media job. The reality, however, is you usually get what you pay for. Instead, companies need to look at offering more money to attract better candidates with deeper skill-sets and experience.

4. Under-staffing. Another cost-saving measure when it comes to social media is taking a conservative approach to hiring. Most companies start with an individual as opposed to a small team, even if their strategic plan is ambitious and multi-pronged. This is despite the fact the tactics and content creation to support social media programs can be labour-intensive. It explains why many companies’ social media efforts fail due to a lack of execution.

5. The lack of investments in tools to make social media activities more efficient and productive. Even though many social media services are free, the tools to support their use can cost money. Whether it’s monitoring services, publishing tools or ways to automate content distribution, an investment in a solid social media toolbox can make the difference between success and failure.

Do you agree? Are there other hiring mistakes that should be avoided?

By Mark Evans - July 2nd, 2010 - 7 Comments »
Tags: , ,
Posted in Social Media

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