How are you an expert on something that is brand new?

I find myself amused when I see in job postings, mostly agency but sometimes corporate, that they seek a social media expert to run their Twitter, Facebook and usually Blog portals. Now what makes me laugh is that, more often than not, I see they are looking for expertise in these fields. I find that not only funny but a tad ironic because it really does fly in the face of what is generally considered expertise.

Think of other areas in our society where we want expertise. For our doctors they have to go to 4 years of college, 4 years of medical school and then serve various residency and attending programs that often go for another 4 to 6 years. At that point they are considered a doctor but are still the low man, or woman, on the totem pole. I remember reading about Japanese fugu chefs who have to study for 7 years in how to prepare what is considered one of the world's great delicacies. Of course fugu comes from the liver of a puffer fish and, if prepared incorrectly, can quite literally kill you. Even a restaurant sommelier needs to demonstrate extensive knowledge of wines before being certified.

What all of these groups also share is that they need to keep their skills current to maintain their status. In PR and Marketing sadly, the opposite is the case. We seek people out based on a perception of skill and not a proven ability to deliver the goods. This differs from the development of the Internet when you could show demonstrable programming, and/or design skills. We tend to put people into slots (tech, media relations etc.) and keep them there for the balance of their careers.

Of greater concern, a lot of organizations are treating Web 2.0/social media areas as a separate field of marketing. I am of the mind set that this is wrong headed and will pose problems for the organization down the road. For one thing, the organization, in order to be effective, needs to speak with one voice. You can not have the social media guru, I do love that term , sending out messages that either will contradict or disrupt the corporate messaging strategy. Most importantly, you need to have someone who appreciates the role of corporate communications and public relations and bases their decisions less on something being cool and more on how it will impact the organization positively or not.

The simple fact is that this technology is too new too hire someone off the street as an expert. What is more important, and in my opinion likely to be more successful, is to have an experienced PR or Corp Comm person assume oversight and manage the program conservatively to start, and then with more increasing amounts of risk taking as familiarity and experience grow. To do otherwise risks the disruption of the corporate message and worst case scenario, damage to the corporate brand.

The risk of social media

Social media is currently all the rage in marketing and PR circles. Everybody wants to be on Twitter or Facebook or be running a blog. While these are admirable intentions and, I am very happy to see marketing engaged as a positive force, I do want to express caution as I foresee several areas of concern which are being neglected in a full force rush into embracing social media.

First of all, I believe we may be recreating the same problems that went into developing web sites when the Internet became popular in the late 1990's. Everyone was so keen then on having a web site that sites were designed based on what looked cool and what the latest technology could offer, that very little attention was paid to what was expected of a web site and how the web site would help further the overall marketing and sales goals of the organization.

Similar things are taking place with social media. Organizations are now so keen about being on Twitter or having a Facebook page that very little attention is being paid to how these vehicles can best be utilized to further the marketing efforts of the organization. I know of one company that is up on Twitter and has a number of followers, but what they do is so useless that they receive no benefit. No one is interested in what they have to say because the only reason they set up Tweets is for a customer to chat with a sales person about upcoming product revisions or minor technical issues.

Both Tweeter and Facebook, along with Blogs, have the potential to be tremendous resources for developing thought leadership and establishing clear and solid bonds with their future and potential customers. There are tremendous benefits to social media but they must structured within the larger marketing plan. While you and I may go on these sites for our own amusement, another area to be wary of, for organizations and specifically corporations social media sites are an area that must be managed wisely.

No organization would ever consider allowing an employee to develop and place an ad, or to send out proprietary information to a competitor. Yet with a poorly developed and managed social media policy, you may be doing exactly this same thing. However with appropriate controls, social media can be an explosive tool in bringing the appropriate message to not only a target audience, but one that shares your interest in cutting edge solutions.

What in the heck do we do about social media?

As I look around the PR landscape today, many executives are looking at social media like a young girl in love with the high school's star quarterback. All they see is a positive and in typical fashion decide that they need to be on board that band wagon and need to do it yesterday. Often, they do not take the time to figure out how to best use the technology to meet current and long term needs or even how it fits into current and future marketing and branding strategies.

Social Media can also be compared to an all you can eat buffet. Someone sees a sign in Las Vegas that says $9.95 all you can eat buffet and thinks, "wow that is great, I need to do that." So they plunk down $10 and head to the table and of course load up on tons of stuff and usually end up feeling bloated, not very satisfied and usually seeing that the plate is still have full. Then to top it all off, they are usually hungry again in a few hours. Social Media is certainly an interesting phenomena but like anything else in business, it needs to be approached with purpose and with a clear goal regarding how it will be used to achieve corporate goals. Social Media does not exist to serve its own ends.

Social Media also presents risks regarding the potential for information leaks. While you need always be on guard for intellectual espionage, Social Media presents another concern where you may have employees who are proud of their accomplishments and take to the blogsphere or Facebook to brag about what they do. Pride is a human weakness and as well all know, pride preceds the fall. Employees should be instructed to treat any communication with outside parties the same regardless of whether they are meeting with friends for drinks or writing on a blog.

For my own two cents, I believe an approved blog is the best Social Media vehicle today. It allows for a disciplined and measured interaction with the world at large. It also allows the most secure and disciplined means of reaching a target audience and offers the benefits of the two way channel of communication we want with Social Media. Twitter is a close second when done properly but Facebook to me, still needs to prove its value as a business tool for social media.

More good news from the Sox yesterday. Nick Green hit a great walk off home run on Father's Day and ended what was a really fascinating and gut-wrenching day for both teams. I felt sorry to Tim Wakefield as the bullpen really did him no favors, but then again that's nothing new. But Green's homer was just a shot and only left a question of fair vs. foul. Oh and once again, Julio Lugo on the bench = Red Sox don't lose!

Well still no sign of summer or warm weather. The weather forecaster's say later this year and all I can say is that we shall see! Funny Foxborough has already put its water restrictions in place for the summer. I hope they are right!