Entrepreneurial Imperative 2010 Marketing Conference.

Just under two weeks ago I spoke on a panel at the Entrepreneurial Imperative 2010 about social media and social media consultants. I thought you might be interested in the question and my answer.

Question:

We all know back in the early days (aka 2007 – present) that there were a fair number of “social media gurus” charging extremely high monthly rates to set up and manage social media accounts.

Discussion:  What are the “red flags” that entrepreneurs and small business owners should keep an eye out for when looking to hire help?  How is the value being delivered quantifiable?

I replied with:

Ok, first I want to run through the red flags:

• Billboard/infomercial type websites.
• Any one calling themselves an expert or guru.
• Tag lines like “Make easy money”.
• Exorbitant fees.
• Someone who has a set answer to what your needs are.
• Or “SEO Experts” that tell you they can get you to #1 on Google tomorrow.

That being said, how do we get past all the junk and get down to finding a social media consultant worth their salt?

I think that there are a few quick things to look for in finding a consultant that really knows social media.

1. Are they active on social networking sites? It’s an easy check to see if they have a presence on, at the very least, Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin.
2. Do they maintain an active blog? Social Media people love to talk about social media. Blogs are where the experts put their ideas out for other experts to vet. You don’t need to see multiple posts per day. A couple times a week are enough.
3. They can explain their projects. Simple right? You’d think so but if they can’t describe their latest project to you or give you an example of how they used social media to draw attention to their client, you should probably look elsewhere.

Now that you’ve decided on your consultant what should they be helping you do?

1. First, they should help you define realistic goals. Not doing this at the outset means potential doom for your foray into social media.
2. They should either be managing or teaching you how to set up your chosen social media platforms, monitoring those platforms, and correctly doing your ROI for you.

ROI for social media is really very simple once you’ve set those goals. What do you want from social media? Do you want sales? Run and track specials on your product that can only be found by those following you. Do you want to increase brand awareness? Then you should be looking at things like inbound links, subscribers to content, and running brand specific searches.

Remember, without doing your ROI, you won’t be able to see how far you’ve come.

And there you have it, my small contribution. What I failed to mention, though,  is the fact that you must make sure that the person you choose “feels” right. If he or she passes all of what I have outlined above but doesn’t mesh well with you, don’t hire them.

What do you all think? Any points I missed? Leave a comment, we’ll talk.