Am I being cynical with that title? Probably, but I do have a good reason. Like many I get a ton of emails about webinars or events about “Social Media Marketing Experts” giving you, the business owner, the tools necessary to be successful with promoting your business online. Social Media to me is a channel that constantly evolves and is always giving you something new to learn.
So how can you be an expert with something that changes all the time? I think anyone can answer that question by just attending a webinar or event on social media. Out of all the seminars I usually attend only a tiny percentage (5%) of the speakers speaking have something really good to say. The rest usually over generalize the topic, ultimately not providing any info on certain techniques that can help a business accomplish something useful online.
“Social Media has revolutionized the way we communicate online”, is usually the statement that kicks things off. Later we dive into growth statistics about Facebook, which is great, but nothing about how to use Facebook to help promote a brand. The end result are a ton of questions after the show and most feeling clueless about how to apply what they just listened to.
I used to think the term “Expert” was assigned to those who paved the way that others followed or someone who could come up with a unique theory/concept on their own or really accomplished something significant using social media. It feels like these days anyone with a Facebook or twitter account is now considered an expert.
To me that’s not an expert. That’s just someone telling you what other people have been saying over and over again. Successful marketing campaigns have always paved the way for other to follow because they did something different, not the same as everyone else.
What’s my point? In my opinion, no one is a true expert in social media. The ones that are good at social media marketing are the ones that constantly innovate or test or try or ask a ton of questions or just implement/do. These are the individuals/companies that you as a business owner should look for if you need the help. They are out there and are doing amazing things online.