“Social Media Experts” What Does That Mean?
Lately we often hear the term "Social Media Expert"… what is that exactly and what constitutes calling somebody a "Social Media Expert" ? Do we also use that term too loosely now a days?
The reason I write about this today is about 2 weeks ago an article hit the Internet and went viral titled "100 Social Media Experts To Follow On Twitter". Now the day this hit the Internet I was at home and I received several emails from people I know in the Internet Marketing/Home Business industry informing me I was on this list. I had no earthly idea what they were talking about so of course I simply Googled "100 social media experts" and found the article. Much to my surprise I was indeed on this list ranked at #53. Now as cool as that is, I have never proclaimed myself to be a "social media expert". Other notables on this list were MC Hammer (no explanation needed), Molly Wood (host at CNET.TV), Gina Trapani (founding editor of LifeHacker.com), Scott Monty (head of social media Ford Motor Co.), Alison Sweeney (host of the hit tv show "The Biggest Loser"), Tim Ferris (Best Selling Author – "The 4 hr Work Wk"), Guy Kawasaki (founder of AllTop.com), Kevin Rose (founder of Digg.com), #2 Chris Brogan (NY Times Best Selling Author – "Trust Agents"), and #1 Gary Vaynerchuk (Host of Wine Library TV and a huge video blogger).
There are obviously several other great people on this list who are very wealthy, very famous and very successful. In most of the short bio's of each person the list stated approximately how many followers and tweets each person has on Twitter. This list has also stirred up some controversy as many people state having a lot of followers on Twitter does not make you a Social Media Expert…and I 100% agree. Now to get to my first couple questions here in this post…
To me (and this is my opinion), when I think of a "Social Media Expert" I think of not just Twitter or not just Facebook, but a good grasp and presence on many social networking sites. I am talking about the main ones we all know of…Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace (I think MySpace is loosing more and more activity), your personal Blog site, etc. So my point is…if someone is just on YouTube and has no presence on Facebook and Twitter or LinkedIn, etc…. I would call them a YouTube expert. I wouldn't really call them a "Social Media Expert" because to me they have only one piece of the puzzle. One of the best examples of who I looked up to as a Social Media Expert was Perry Belcher who has now vanished off the scene due to personal reasons but Perry was the man in my eyes. He had it all flowing as he could lead people from place to place at ease. What I mean by that is Perry would take his followers/subscribers/fans, etc. from Twitter —> His Blog —-> YouTube —-> Facebook —-> His Offer, etc. Maybe not in that order but he pretty much could do anything he wanted with the following he had. That in my eyes is someone who truly knows Social Media and I would call Perry Belcher a Social Media Expert.
I also think in todays Internet Marketing world…the term Social Media Expert is probably used too loosely. Again, I have never proclaimed myself to be one…however being placed on this list was an honor and to be mentioned with the other 99 people on this list is great. I will take it…LOL!!
The thing that is great about "Social Media" in general is that it's everyone's favorite 4 letter word… F*R*E*E*. So in my field which is the Home Business/Internet Marketing Industry it is such a great way to get yourself out there, build a following, interact with people who can potentially become future buyers or future business partners, etc. Some of my largest months in this Industry have come from social media marketing such as YouTube videos. I have had several 5 figure months from people who were searching my current primary business of LifePath Unlimited and found some of my videos on YouTube. People have joined me without ever seeing my websites…just from connecting with me from videos. So Social Media Marketing is very powerful because it lets people truly get to know who you are and let them see if they resonate with you.
So to sum it up…
Do we use the term too loosely? Probably
What constitutes a Social Media Expert? Again, my own opinion is someone who has a presence on more than one social media network and actually utilizes several (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc.) and not only is using them but using them to build or grow their business or personal brand! That is key.
You can view the article above by clicking on the link at the beginning of this post!
I would love your opinion and feedback on what you think, leave a comment below and share if you like.
I wish you Massive Success!!
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I have to admit that the first thing springing to my mind was "good thing I call myself a Social Media Maven" but that's mostly because I have an odd little sense of humor.
The main hypothesis seems to be that there is no such thing because no one can be that good in that many places. I would argue, however, that this is a misunderstanding of what it is to be an expert. Being expert doesn't always mean that you have lots of people hanging on your every word, sometimes it relates to dexterity. Afterall, not everyone needs youTube. Not every company can sustain Twitter.
Being an expert is more about knowing which option will best help the client and knowing how to create the proper kind of buzz using those options.
It has more to do with Velocity (quick generation of interest), Drive (constant stream of interest), or Engagement (quality information, traffic as an afterthought). This all depends, of course, on who you are.
It depends on what you need.
Learn how each social tool works and soon you have an arsenal of social media marketing tools that you can use to create honest and targeted traffic for your clients.
Social Media Exper would be to me someone who not only is an avid user of those sites, but is capable of assessing the potential options to utilise that media to achieve whatever objective, and/or has significantly researched the social dynamics on social media in order to be able to comment on the subject with a level of authority.
I saw that list too – and if I were you, I'd not be happy about being listed alongside serial SN spammers and others who are applying traditional advertising and email techniques to the SN world. Hardly experts.
I agree KC, definitely an “expert” is someone who has it all and can utilize the social sites to achieve great success and has a ton of knowledge of all the social networking sites. Thanks for your comments
You make some great points in this post Dean. Namely, that Youtube experts are Youtube experts, twitter experts are twitter experts and social media experts are social media EXPERTS. I'm a little sick of every 5th twitter user proclaiming themselves a "social media jedi" or whatever.. Just make it stop!
Thanks for keeping it real.
Garrett
Garrett Miller´s last blog ..Network Marketing vs Internet Marketing vs Attraction Marketing: Rumble in the Home-Based Business Jungle
Thanks for your input Garrett. I agree 100% with you! Thanks for stopping by my blog! Much success to you