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8 Tips for Hiring a Social Media Expert

Because it is meant to look fun, putting together a social media campaign – or integrating one into a larger online initiative – can be surprisingly difficult. There are many challenges to capturing and engaging user interests online – starting with finding the right person to lead that effort, says Andrew Ballenthin, president of Sol Solutions.

That point was driven home last December when Ballenthin put together Blog-Off II, a 12-day, seven-judge contest to test participants’ qualitative and quantitative effectiveness in social media marketing fundamentals.

We all want it to go faster, but sometimes you need an expert to get your there.

From that marathon he concluded the following about what to look for when hiring a social media expert, which he shared with MarketingVOX in an exclusive interview.

According to Ballenthin, the person you should be looking for will have:

1. A significant business and communications background – preferably a minimum of 3 to 5 years in marketing, journalism or media. “This forms a foundation for understanding effective communication strategies and implementation.”

2. A history of success in their communications background. “You wouldn’t let a mechanic work from a text book or just on their own car before they safety your car.” Look for someone who has proven repeatedly he or she can deliver expectations for program results that have real business value.

3. A series of measureable accomplishments in social media that can be independently validated. “Having ten thousand followers on Twitter means you learned once how to create this achievement but an expert is someone who has achieve above average accomplishments several times.”

4. A true understanding of your customer’s relationship with social media before proposing a program. Your customers may not want anything to do with Twitter of Facebook or never have used LinkedIn, Ballenthin says. “An expert should build a vibrant profile of your customer’s online behavior and model a program that’s good for them versus the latest gadget and trendy sites to go with.”

5. Straight answers when you ask about measuring social media campaigns. ‘Social media is too new to be effectively measured’ is a common and erroneous claim, he says. “In marketing we understanding that we need a baseline on what we want to change in a business before implementing a new program. If you want to improve retention, cross selling, nurture marketing, prospect acquisition, brand loyalty and use social media marketing to try to achieve that, run the program and measure if there was a difference in these areas or not.

6. A focus on getting a return on investment. “This is where mainstream marketing backgrounds are important. An expert should be interested in validating a financial improvement not just giving you cost.”

7. Clear methodologies. Social media is not new anymore. There’ve been hundreds of articles and cases studies on what does and does not work and effective processes. An expert should have a clear set of methodologies they work with to get consistently replicable results otherwise you may have a one hit wonder, if that.

8. An emphasis on an integrated marketing. Social media success rarely happens on its own. “Great social media campaigns require databases, emailing, advertising, publicity, industry influencers and more. It’s exceptional that social media marketing can just happen because it’s a good idea in the right place, other media needs to support effective results.”

http://www.marketingvox.com/8-tips-for-hiring-a-social-media-expert-046003/?utm_campaign=rssfeed&utm_source=mv&utm_medium=textlink

For more Small Business Hints and Tips, check these articles:

10 Ways to Green Your Home Office

The Keys to Small Business Success

Small Business Email Marketing Software | Small Business Trends

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Mark Montoya has been working in personal branding for more than a decade for hundreds of online and offline companies, small businesses and individual service professionals. His focus has been toward improving the way jobseekers find employment on the Internet. He has synthesized his expertise by helping job seekers obtain their ideal choice of employment over the Internet on his sites MyOnlineCareerSpace.com and MyOnlineCareerCoach.com, and through his books 101 Tips Every Job Seeker Should Know and The Ultimate Online Job Search eBook. Learn more at MarkMontoya.com, on Twitter, Digg, or StumbleUpon.

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Building a Practice on Personality and Performance
Personal marketing and custom services—a powerful combination

The common model for building a practice is hardly individualized. Typical is the consultant using template brochures and business cards provided by an online service or company. Marketing efforts are often minimal, since there’s little incentive to build relationships with clients who see the advisor as identical to the rest of the pack. This route provides an income but little more.

However, a growing group of leaders are cultivating business from other professionals in similar and non-competitive industries.  Consultants who employ this business model do so because it offers unique benefits that go largely untapped by their competition:

• Greater differentiation from others in marketing
• Business built on relationships, which enhances marketing
• Flexible pricing as a client benefit
• The ability to build salable equity in the practice
• Client perceives relationship as inherently fair
• Allows the consultant to be seen as partner versus sales person

What is Personal Marketing?
Personal marketing defies the generic marketing model relied on by most commission-based advisors. Simply, it’s the marketing of an advisor’s personal strengths and a carefully-developed market image, rather than products or the financial firm.

A carefully crafted “brand identity,” emphasis on relationships and high quality production are all hallmarks of personal marketing in financial services. It’s a philosophy that is gaining in popularity as fiscal prosperity creates an ever-greater demand for services such as portfolio management and asset allocation.

Advisors engaged in personal marketing replace template corporate brochures and business cards with high-quality personal brochures, websites, custom logos and other tools designed to sell prospects on their unique strengths and create a person-to-person—instead of an service provider-to-client—rapport.

1. Targeting the Advertising Dollar
Niche marketing—which systematically excludes some market segments—seems crazy. Too bad it’s so effective.

“Because of my specialization in this business I have immersed myself in their world and I know their potential financial pitfalls better than they do,” says Stephen Wolff, an advisor who has built a thriving practice by focusing on providing services to families who own automotive dealerships. He currently has 35 such clients and grosses over $1 million per year in fees.

Wolff has built a powerful marketing strategy based on his unique niche. His tactics include:

• Renting exhibit space at the National Automotive Dealers Association trade show
• Advertisements in the industry magazine “Automotive News” offering a 12-minute audiocassette of dealer-specific information
• Articles written about him in those publications
• Speeches to various automotive trade organizations
• Networking to 60 CPA firms specializing in auto dealers, as well as law firms with the same profile
• Attendance at auto manufacturer sponsored events

“In three years, I expect to have 150 auto dealership clients, based on my current marketing plan,” says Wolff, who limits his services to these clients to succession planning and estate tax planning.

2. Competing on Price
Competing on price is nothing new, but if it is done with personal branding flair, it can add an additional layer and dimension to your practice and business.

• Personal marketing example: A small business advisor creates a direct mail card campaign which targets business owners, people who tend to be self-directed. His message is simple: providing planning based on performance based fees means you only pay when you make money. His six-month campaign drives the message home with repeated mailings and nets more than 25 qualified prospects.

3. Relationships Instead of Orders
A relationship-based practice is more interactive and open-ended, requiring professionals to maintain an ongoing relationship based on consistent returns, quality advice and mutual respect. For businesses using personal marketing methods, a position as a provider of highly personalized service is an irresistible differentiator.

• Personal marketing example: An advisor decides to launch a series of free community round tables. Each month, he mails invitations to a target audience of prospects in a different area, then rents a hall and holds an evening question and answer session for the respondents. At each event he distributes high-quality personal brochures, and over a period of months, builds a reputation as an advisor who listens, spends time and cares about client relationships.

Fact: People do business with people they like, and consumers like professionals who give them more than the latest advise chosen from a brochure.

Visibility Over Ability
Embracing personal marketing demands that you be willing to put your practice, and your personal beliefs into the marketplace to be tested. It requires a paradigm shift from reliance on a corporate image and the strength of products to reliance on a professional marketing strategy and personal “brand.”

Visibility is more important than ability, because even the most gifted professional will never communicate his abilities to prospects in a boilerplate corporate brochure. Marketing your fee-based practice demands individuality, candor, and a willingness to change the way you approach business development. For example:

• Hiring a professional writer, designer and photographer to create a high-quality personal brochure and matching website. This is the foundation of any rep’s personal marketing campaign, the must-have.
• Using public relations professionals to develop a full-scale PR campaign centered around ghostwritten articles, public appearances and press coverage.
• Developing a personal slogan that captures “mind share.”
• Changing networking tactics from Rotary clubs and Chambers of Commerce to other professionals—CPAs, trust and estate attorneys, etc.—who offer access to your prospects.

Personal Marketing Demands Rethinking
Some business owners find this approach a difficult leap. It’s more costly than corporate marketing, demands more time and commits you to a higher level of service.

If personal marketing of your practice sounds appealing, answer these questions:

• Are you willing to hire professionals to help you strategize and create quality marketing materials?
• Are you comfortable focusing your marketing efforts on your personal and professional background, and on committing yourself to a certain level of client service in writing?
• Do you have the time or the staff to implement a regular, repetitive marketing program using direct mail, social medias, email or other methods to attract prospects?
• Are you prepared to back up claims of customized service with action?

For more Small Business Hints and Tips, check these articles:

10 Ways to Green Your Home Office

The Keys to Small Business Success

Small Business Email Marketing Software | Small Business Trends

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Mark Montoya has been working in personal branding for more than a decade for hundreds of online and offline companies, small businesses and individual service professionals. His focus has been toward improving the way jobseekers find employment on the Internet. He has synthesized his expertise by helping job seekers obtain their ideal choice of employment over the Internet on his sites MyOnlineCareerSpace.com and MyOnlineCareerCoach.com, and through his books 101 Tips Every Job Seeker Should Know and The Ultimate Online Job Search eBook. Learn more at MarkMontoya.com, on Twitter, Digg, or StumbleUpon.

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I spend a lot of time talking to small business owners and startups. I speak with them through my SEO consulting company, during phone calls about social media projects and even just while I’m on my way to and from conferences and taking the train. It’s something I enjoy doing because I like hearing their stories, their successes and the struggles that they’re facing. Often it’s nice to know you’re not the only one going through something and to have a chance to commiserate. I work out of my apartment. I’m not exactly overflowing with social interaction these days.

Through talking with people, I’ve found there are often common factors in the startups and businesses t hat do well compared to those that struggle. Here are some things I think small business owners should strive to do or remember when working in their business.

Think Niche

Don’t set out trying to solve every problem that your industry has ever experienced. Instead, focus on one problem, the smallest problem, that you can solve in order to be helpful to someone. Once you’ve conquered that one, work out until you’re able to solve more and more problems without straining yourself or your resources. If the Web has taught us anything, it’s that niche sells. All different sorts of little microcosms have been revealed. You just have to find the one you best serve. And remember, it’s not the biggest ideas that do well, it’s the most simple.

Serve Your Needs First

If the idea is to serve one need really well, how do you know what need to focus on first? It’s easy. Focus on yours. What do you wish existed to help make your life easier? What tool could be invented to change the way you do things? What process could be made simpler or broken down? Whatever would help make YOU more productive/happier/content in your day, that’s where you should begin. Because fixing that one area will problem help someone else, as well. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention.

Stand Out

Call it a point of difference, call it an angle or call it creating experiences. Whatever term resonates with you the most, the point is you have to find a way to stand out in your market. Regardless of what you do, there are going to plenty of similar-minded companies trying to do the same. That’s just the nature of the beast. In order to do well and to be successful you need to have something about you that makes you different, and it’s probably not going to be price. It could be your story, a character you create, a social media presence, a core value, etc. Whatever it is, identify it and then market it. Embody it.

Craft a Story

New research tells us what we already knew – people like sharing articles that inspired awe. We are affected by stories and we seek out companies and peoples with compelling ones. Craft a story that represents your brand. Something that is real and authentic and sharable. The more personal you get with your audience, the more connected they’ll feel to you and the more invested they’ll be in your brand. Being cold and mysterious may have worked a few years ago (or in high school), but it doesn’t any more. These days, customers want real transparency. As was mentioned yesterday, customers now value an honest and transparent company more than the services the company actually provides.

Don’t Fear Technology

Everyone SMB owner is going to have a different comfort level when it comes to technology. Some will struggle with the idea of creating a Web site, others will fear entering the waters of social media, and some will have a hard time selling without seeing someone face-to-face. Whatever obstacles you face, find ways to incorporate technology into your business and everyday life. Refusing to evolve and insisting on doing things ‘the way they’ve always been done’ can often hold your business back and prevent you from reaching the next level. Technology can be scary at first, but it can also open up brand new channels you never had before. Don’t fear it; embrace it.

Delegate

You cannot do everything by yourself. I know. The idea of delegating tasks to employees, virtual assistants or even partners often sounds like a horrifying concept. However, it’s important. It’s simply impractical to think that you have enough time in your day to become an expert in everything. Luckily, we have the Internet to better connect us with folks who we may be able to delegate tasks to. If you can’t build a Web site, delegate it to someone who can. If you’re not good with numbers, delegate your accounting. If you can’t blog, hire someone to do it. You trick is to delegate tasks so that you can run your business. If you try to do everything you’re going to burn out on frustrating and limit business growth.

Learn Everything You Can

Never. Stop. Learning.

Soak up everything you can about your industry and what it takes to run a business. Regardless of your field, chances are at least part of it is constantly influx. There are always new and improved ways of doing something, areas where technology has changed, and new books or conferences that will inspire new ideas. Read everything you can get your hands on to help your business continue to grow and evolve.

Be a Work In Progress

Or perhaps just realize that you are a work in progress and that you need to be agile. Early assumptions and beginning business plans are never perfect. Things will come up that you never could have expected and the market will change to expose new holes for you to dip into and take advantage of. Be fluid enough to take advantage of natural opportunities that will arise. Creating an initial business plan is a good first step…but your success will be in your ability to abandon that plan when it makes sense and do what needs to be done. Successful companies are exceptionally good at this.

Above are some of the qualities I’ve noticed in social companies. What do you think is necessary for startups to become successful?

From Small Business Trends

For more Small Business Hints and Tips, check these articles:

10 Ways to Green Your Home Office

The Keys to Small Business Success

Small Business Email Marketing Software | Small Business Trends

–
Mark Montoya has been working in personal branding for more than a decade for hundreds of online and offline companies, small businesses and individual service professionals. His focus has been toward improving the way jobseekers find employment on the Internet. He has synthesized his expertise by helping job seekers obtain their ideal choice of employment over the Internet on his sites MyOnlineCareerSpace.com and MyOnlineCareerCoach.com, and through his books 101 Tips Every Job Seeker Should Know and The Ultimate Online Job Search eBook. Learn more at MarkMontoya.com, on Twitter, Digg, or StumbleUpon.

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Market, Market, Market
The most visible brand wins – so market all-out

Chocolat was a fine film: a highly lauded comedy-drama with a great cast, the story of a nonconformist in 1960s France who opens a chocolate shop before Lent. After watching Chocolat, I remember being astounded that I hadn’t heard more about it. It has great cinematography, brilliant characters, and a well-crafted, substantive story. It should have been the #1 movie in America – but for lack of marketing clout.

Good marketing clears a way for people to find you.

And the Winner Isn’t …
Chocolat grossed very, very well – especially in light of its perception as a “foreign” or “art house” film. It was nominated for five Oscars®, including Best Picture, and lauded by critics. Yet, when all was said and done, the film took in $34 million at the box office – and it opened behind the 8-ball, making an anemic $157,000 on a holiday weekend. That 8-ball was Dude, Where’s My Car? That film made $13.8 million on the same weekend, even though it would eventually spend considerably fewer weeks in theaters than Chocolat.

A Disturbing Scene
Now, I don’t remember seeing a trailer for Chocolat. I can’t recall a billboard or any real Hollywood buzz. However, I can’t purge from my memory the trailer showing those potheads from Dude arguing over their “dude” and “sweet” tattoos. Dude, Where’s My Car? was not targeted at people over 30. And while I didn’t see the film, I have to laud the way it was effectively marketed to a specific audience.

A Lesson Learned
Professionals can learn a lesson here. While you might be obsessed with refining your sales skills and continuing your education, all the sales training and certifications in the world won’t matter if you’re not attracting new business to your office. Without a steady flow of prospects, it’s impossible to build a steady flow of new clients.

Market Your Brand
Independent professionals need an edge to stand out. It’s not enough to understand and be good at your business – you have to have a killer Personal Brand. By defining your domain (target audience) and marketing your Personal Brand around its needs and wants, you can become a box office smash. So brand yourself and market that brand through a variety of different channels – on a consistent basis. There are eight basic channels you can use to attract prospects: advertising, direct mail, public relations, referrals, seminars, networking, Internet, and warm calling. These conduits, in combination, should promote your Personal Brand.

Good marketing can attract people like... ummm... whatever this is...

Case Study
An insurance agent mails a weekly Personal Postcard to 600 regional small business owners (a defined domain). She also uses direct mail and e-mail blasting to speak to her prospects’ needs, and this brings in around 140 new prospects for free consultations. She uses the Personal Postcard to advertise a seminar, special report, and free initial group benefits consultation for the small business owner. Once the prospects met her, she was able to convert more than half of them into clients. With more than 75 new clients, her income grew significantly, and she discovered that “next level” she wanted so badly to achieve – a level she hadn’t reached despite years of sales training and continuing education credits.

Market, Market, Market
In the long run, concentrating on sales is an avenue to stagnation. Use the power of multiple marketing channels to put your Personal Brand in people’s minds, and use your substance as a professional to keep the audience of your dreams!

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Trends in Business Credit Cards for 2010
Make Referral Marketing Your Priority
What Will Be New About Your New Year?
The Shaft: How Some Companies Prey on the Poor

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Mark Montoya has been working in personal branding for more than a decade for hundreds of online and offline companies, small businesses and individual service professionals. His focus has been toward improving the way jobseekers find employment on the Internet. He has synthesized his expertise by helping job seekers obtain their ideal choice of employment over the Internet on his sites MyOnlineCareerSpace.com and MyOnlineCareerCoach.com, and through his books 101 Tips Every Job Seeker Should Know and The Ultimate Online Job Search eBook. Learn more at MarkMontoya.com, on Twitter, Digg, or StumbleUpon.