Speaking at a social media club event a few weeks ago, Social media Explorer, Jason Falls was very direct in his criticism of social media “experts”. He referred to social media as an echo chamber where we simply talk to each other. He told us, he didn’t care what Chris Brogan thought about him, but only what his clients thought, since they were paying him, their opinion counted.
While harsh, his point was clear – if you are a social media professional, you goal must to be deliver your client’s message to the marketplace, everything else is a distraction. While I agree delivering your message is your primary objective developing relationships with other social media pros is a means to that end. If you impress them, you may well increase the chances of your message being amplified.
His second controversial point : If Social media expert is your job title, then your career path may include Blogging for Food.
Will Blog for Food
He was not saying there is no career path in social media, but if you want one, you need to bring more to the table then a working knowledge of Facebook. To serve your clients you must be a marketing professional who understands how social media expands, supports, leverages, and compliments each of the following:
- Blogging
- Community Marketing
- Public Relations
- Email Marketing
- SEO
- Web Development
- Mobile
- Monitoring/Measurement/Analytics
- CRM
- Data Base Management
- Direct Mail
- Advertising
- Online Media Marketing
It seems like a long list, but that is often the case on the path to success.
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