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Posts Tagged ‘mistakes’

Five Social Media Marketing Mistakes

A few days ago, Mashable had a good post about the five marketing mistakes made on Facebook, which inspired me to create a list on the five social media mistakes overall.

1. Unrealistic expectations. Even though there may be less hype about social media, many companies still believe it is a silver bullet or magical solution that will generate fantastic results in a short period of time – be it more sales, better customer service, more Web site traffic or more buzz. It often means companies are disappointed when they don’t get instant gratification from their social media efforts. As a result, they lose their enthusiasm for social media or abandon it altogether.

2. Not recognizing there is a lot of grunt work involved. Social media just doesn’t happen. It requires an awful lot of work on a day in, day out basis. After the strategic plan has been created, the real work starts to happen when the tactical plan is executed. It requires someone to invest the hours to create content, engage with consumers, build a community and establish a vibrant presence.

3. Adopting a shot gun approach in which multiple social media services are launched at the same time based on the idea more is better. What usually happens is companies spread themselves too thin and, as a result, their efforts are, at best, mediocre. Instead, they should focus on doing less but doing it as well as possible. Only after establishing some traction should additional social media services be considered.

4. Not listening. In the scheme of things, listening is one of the most important things a company can do on social media. As much as creating content and engagement are crucial, listening is a key element because it offers companies insight, information and intelligence to effectively target their social media efforts. Too many companies are so intent on talking that they forget about listening, or make it a secondary consideration.

5. Creating social media as a standalone or silo-ed activity. Social media can do a lot of wonderful things but it can’t succeed or even establish a solid foothold without support from other parts of the organization. Many companies, however, think social media is so magical it doesn’t need any support to thrive. Some of the common mistakes include not highlighting their social media services prominently on the Web site, or not mentioning social media within sales or marketing collateral. In an ideal world, social media supports a company’s other activities, AND a company’s other activities support social media.

Any other common mistakes that companies make? Leave a comment to let us know.

By Mark Evans - April 4th, 2011 - 14 Comments »
Tags: , ,
Posted in Social Media

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 »
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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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