Social media expert or wannabe?
… or how to spot a fake social media expert.
Let me start this piece by saying that I am not a social media “expert”. I use social media for marketing and promoting my business, but It is not a service that I routinely do for people. What frustrates me is people that claim to be experts in helping businesses in social media, but are blatantly not.
The more you look around, the more people there are that proport to be “experts” in this area.
Why are there so many experts?
Simple – there are lots of experts, because it is seen as “new”, low or no cost, and many are talking about social media as though it is the latest religion.
Does social media work?
Well that depends – if you use it to “sell” in the conventional way, then no. But if you use it in the way the very best and biggest brands use TV, not to create a sale, but to build brand awareness and trust – then yes. Sales will follow when trust is built.
How can you spot a “fraud” expert?
Ironically in social media, this is easier than many other industries, but it does take a little bit of detective work, but the good news is that many firms should put the evidence in front of you.
Evidence of being an expert
The simplest to look at is twitter. If someone claims to be a “twitter expert” then look at the following:
Look at their twitter page – how many followers? And how many are they following? – real experts have less people that they follow than the number that follow them (0think about it – if they tweet good stuff, people will follow!)
Look at their bio – does it say what they do – can you trust this?
Look at the numbers of followers, is this congruent with their sales messages? For example if they claim they can get you 1000s of followers, how many do they have? If they claim to help use twitter to engage, look at their twitter stream, is it full of @ messages with supporting words?
Look at their Avi (photo) is it the company logo, or their face? If a face – is it a well taken and apparently recent photo?
Blogs
If the company is proposing that blogging is a good thing – check out their blog. Do they have one? How often do they publish? If its less than once a week, then they cannot walk their talk. Look at the content – are they giving useful tips to existing and potential customers about subjects relevant to their business, how to blog, tweet etc?
Are they pointing readers to OTHER BLOGS of competitors to highlight useful content they have found? Or are the “us..us..us”?
Do they just have a profile – or do they have a company page? Is the company page active? Are they getting “likes” for their content?
LinkedIn
Do they have profiles you can find by searching for the company? Do they have a company page?
Do their profiles list more than their current job? (assuming this is not their first job). Do the profiles look like adverts for the company, or an honest “CV”?
Are the members of groups if so what groups – just ones directly related to their industry, or more diverse ones as well (this is better)? If on their profile they were ever a “life coach” – walk away… “fad surfer” alert!
SEO
Search engine optimisation – or getting seen on the web. Do a google search for their company name – is their site 1,2 or 3 on the natural results page?
Where are they for a more general search – for example if they claim to do SEO, look for SEO and the region of the country you are based – i.e. “seo Bristol”. For many firms operate locally, if they are not top, or at least second for this – why use them, they cannot deliver on their own company.
Klout (K or K+)
Klout is an independant measure of activity and success on social media. The Klout Score claims to measure influence based on a users ability to drive action. Every time a person creates content or engages to influence others. The Klout Score uses data from social networks in order to measure what they call:
- True Reach: How many people you influence
- Amplification: How much you influence them
- Network Impact: The influence of your network
For reference I found the following online from the CEO of klout:
Joe Fernandez
April 13th, 2011 at 10:57 pm
Hi, I am the ceo and one of the founders of Klout. This was a fun article, thanks for taking the time to look at our data.
Having a little bit of insight into our algorithm there are a few notes I can add:
– You are right, we don’t care how many followers you have. We have found that this isn’t a good indication of influence as it’s too easily gamed.
– The number of people you follow does not play into the algorithm at all. Not sure why that is showing up as being highly correlated.
– We believe that influence is the ability to drive action. The reason you see total tweets as being correlated to Klout scores is that a person needs to consistently engage with their audience in order to build influence. If your audience isn’t responding to the tweets you put out though your score will actually drop. To be clear here, just tweeting will never raise your Klout score. If people interact with your content your score will rise.
It is said that a score of less than K50 is not influential – although this is debatable – I would expect a person using social media to be K40+
PeerIndex (PI)
Is another similar scoring system to Klout but looks at what they describe as:
- PeerIndex score – a relative measure of your online authority, it is made up of a number of sub factors:
- Authority score – this is about trust
- Topic resonance score – what happens based on your actions
- Audience score – your reach
Some commentators say that a score of PI60 is good. What can be noted is the lower the score the less effective they are.
Why is this all important?
Unlike many other areas of business, social media is a moving landscape. Whjat worked last yesr may not work this year. Therefore the only way to learn is to do it. Trial and error if you like, or at least to try the things you research. For example I have recently added facebook to my klout score, and immediately saw a score drop. Now on facebook i have a small group of private contacts, and it seems that the numbers of connections is a negative! – So I disconnected it and my score went back up! This you can only discover by trial & error.
If your provider is not investing time in knowing what works and what doe not – then why bother?
Beware the seminar sharks
As potential users of social media we are often hungry to learn more – after all you are reading this blog – and it’s a long one – well done on getting this far). And seminars that purport to teach it to you in one session are to avoid. They will be a poor attempt to show you how complicated it is and you need the presenter to “do this stuff for you” – and hence it’s just a poorly wrapped sales pitch.
Social media is not hard – it just takes awareness (which you can get from blogs like this) and practice and most importantly– YOUR time (unless you want to outsource – which is fine too – just make sure the people you outsource to can walk their talk).
How to spot a fake social media expert
It’s all about the business. Ts all very well talking lots of jargon 0- blog, twitter, klout etc… but can they help you understand HOW to turn this into solid business leads, and sales? After all we are in business to do business.
The test – send them a message via as many social network channels as you find them on – if they don’t reply to ALL – they are fake! (but do allow a little lime…!
No overnight success
Let me say at this point, while social media is “here and now” it can take many months to get into the position of being able to generate activity. It’s a long term game – and one that only works when you are consistent.
Kenny Bloxham says
30/01/2012 at 20:29“@Assistly: Social media expert or wannabe? – #smallbiz #scrm” #honest #truthful
Assistly, Inc. says
30/01/2012 at 20:07Social media expert or wannabe? – #smallbiz #scrm
Tim McShane says
28/01/2012 at 09:24Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/YTzxzIRr – how to spot the real knowledge
Mike Morrison says
28/01/2012 at 09:09Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/YTzxzIRr – how to spot the real knowledge
Ernst Michalek says
26/01/2012 at 12:22Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/0kOdakkt via @robertpelikan
Robert-P. Pelikan says
26/01/2012 at 10:22#SocialMedia #expert or wannabe? http://t.co/I81hQrt8
Gloria Edwards says
26/01/2012 at 06:04Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Social media expert or wannabe? social-media-montage … or how to spot… http://t.co/7ZAXTaSi
Alaina Partlow says
26/01/2012 at 06:04Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Social media expert or wannabe? social-media-montage … or how to spot… http://t.co/jp4rkX3l
Erwin Bucheli says
25/01/2012 at 17:20Absolut lesenswert: Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/994qsewU via @rapidbi
mamo.ch photography says
25/01/2012 at 17:10sollten sich die ganzen "Social media experten" mal durchlesen! ;-) Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/EFMzWy71
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earle says
25/01/2012 at 02:18Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Simple – there are lots of experts, because it is seen as “new”, low … http://t.co/MHzBBqPR
earle says
25/01/2012 at 02:18Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Simple – there are lots of experts, because it is seen as “new”, low … http://t.co/MHzBBqPR
IMCassoc says
25/01/2012 at 02:18Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Simple – there are lots of experts, because it is seen as “new”, low … http://t.co/8bZ4s8Pl
earle drayton says
25/01/2012 at 02:18Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Simple – there are lots of experts, because it is seen as “new”, low … http://t.co/8yRykt9o
earle says
25/01/2012 at 02:18Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Simple – there are lots of experts, because it is seen as “new”, low … http://t.co/MHzBBqPR
earle says
25/01/2012 at 02:18Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Simple – there are lots of experts, because it is seen as “new”, low … http://t.co/MHzBBqPR
earle says
25/01/2012 at 02:18Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Simple – there are lots of experts, because it is seen as “new”, low … http://t.co/MHzBBqPR
earle drayton says
25/01/2012 at 02:18Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Simple – there are lots of experts, because it is seen as “new”, low … http://t.co/8yRykt9o
IMCassoc says
25/01/2012 at 02:18Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Simple – there are lots of experts, because it is seen as “new”, low … http://t.co/rBfaL8CI
maybe the hawk says
25/01/2012 at 01:29Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Simple – there are lots of experts, because it i… http://t.co/0PLgf5Lt
maybe the hawk says
25/01/2012 at 01:29Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Simple – there are lots of experts, because it i… http://t.co/0PLgf5Lt
maybe the hawk says
25/01/2012 at 01:29Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Simple – there are lots of experts, because it i… http://t.co/0PLgf5Lt
maybe the hawk says
25/01/2012 at 01:29Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Simple – there are lots of experts, because it i… http://t.co/0PLgf5Lt
maybe the hawk says
25/01/2012 at 01:29Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Simple – there are lots of experts, because it i… http://t.co/0PLgf5Lt
maybe the hawk says
25/01/2012 at 01:29Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI: Simple – there are lots of experts, because it i… http://t.co/0PLgf5Lt
Paige Cox says
24/01/2012 at 12:39Can you tell the difference between a social media expert & wannabe? http://t.co/OVelBXwJ via @rapidbi #sm #biztips
Frog Solutions says
23/01/2012 at 17:19Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/ds8RmWOO #socialmedia
European Agency says
23/01/2012 at 16:36Social media expert or wannabe? | RapidBI http://t.co/MVsRpBJf
Torchlight Digital says
23/01/2012 at 15:35How to spot the social media experts from the fakes – http://t.co/LIyY73BR (via @rapidbi)
Humeedify says
23/01/2012 at 15:33Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/ds8RmWOO #socialmedia
Leslie Errington says
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Kemya Scott says
23/01/2012 at 15:00The term "expert" always raises a few eyebrows, learn what to look for >>RT @rapidbi: Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/s7yBMOQ7
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22/01/2012 at 22:24Social media expert or wannabe? – http://t.co/s4CY69H5 #socialmedia #marketing #socialbusiness
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22/01/2012 at 21:32RT @dannydevriendt: Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/32haPSss
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Rick Barron says
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Sean Clark says
22/01/2012 at 18:10Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/nDoxM1Ih
Mohamed Abdel Samad says
22/01/2012 at 17:05Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/zjBS6N5n via @zite
Laura says
22/01/2012 at 14:59RT @shirleyayres: Social media expert or wannabe? @rapidbi http://t.co/tv6dbmiQ < simple checklist & beware sharks via @Ermintrude2 -thanks
Vedat Karabulut says
22/01/2012 at 10:51Tam bize göre :)) http://t.co/yJaBpTRj
Duncan Hodgson says
22/01/2012 at 10:37Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/L0n4Dwlv via @rapidbi
Sjoerd Comello says
22/01/2012 at 10:25Beware the seminar sharks – "Social media expert or wannabe?" http://t.co/Cfe2h4wN
Shirley Ayres says
22/01/2012 at 10:16Social media expert or wannabe? @rapidbi http://t.co/NfHqrB9R < simple checklist & beware the seminar sharks via @Ermintrude2
LouLouK says
22/01/2012 at 10:15“@Ermintrude2: Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/UBLyiuXb via @rapidbi”
Ermintrude says
22/01/2012 at 10:02Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/L0n4Dwlv via @rapidbi
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22/01/2012 at 09:36Beware the seminar sharks – "Social media expert or wannabe?" http://t.co/Cfe2h4wN
Jorg Roodbeen says
22/01/2012 at 09:18Beware the seminar sharks – "Social media expert or wannabe?" http://t.co/Cfe2h4wN
Ed Nissink says
22/01/2012 at 08:12+1 RT @indigonl: Herken wanneer media "experts" door de mand vallen >> Social media expert or wannabe? via @roosvanvugt http://t.co/FmV5iNjd
✰ R I C H @ R D ✰ says
22/01/2012 at 08:01Herken wanneer media "experts" door de mand vallen >> Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/MvgQ0EvM (via @roosvanvugt)
Petra Blankwaard says
22/01/2012 at 07:57Herken wanneer media "experts" door de mand vallen >> Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/MvgQ0EvM (via @roosvanvugt)
Rollan Budi says
22/01/2012 at 05:15RT @DennisPang: Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/0PfdCixM
Karl Yeh says
22/01/2012 at 03:11Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/hMdU8EXC too many wannabe's out there #socialmediaexperts
Jamie Lynn Morgan says
22/01/2012 at 01:49Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/HeCO5XdC via @zite
ange says
22/01/2012 at 00:55RT @DennisPang: Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/zZAejQay
Kyonne Leyser says
22/01/2012 at 00:49So true: Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/ugBoB5hh
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22/01/2012 at 00:27Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/7KP0ptBQ
Dennis Pang says
22/01/2012 at 00:10Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/7KP0ptBQ
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21/01/2012 at 23:31Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/fHW3GPYp via @zite
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Robert Bradley says
21/01/2012 at 16:03RT: @rapidbi Social media expert or wannabe?: Social media expert or wannabe? – or how to spot a fake social med… http://t.co/IftOUiU9
Heather Townsend says
21/01/2012 at 15:49RT: @rapidbi Social media expert or wannabe?: Social media expert or wannabe? – or how to spot a fake social med… http://t.co/IftOUiU9
Marco Houthuijzen says
21/01/2012 at 15:43RT @rapidbi: #socialmedia expert or wannabe? http://t.co/u3iKxrDp
Sharon Gaskin says
21/01/2012 at 13:34RT@rapidbi Social media expert or wannabe?: Social media expert or wannabe? – or how to spot a fake social media… http://t.co/ixOoiZpJ
reyzka alya arjodi says
21/01/2012 at 13:15RT @RapidBI New Blog post: Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/BWyYLtYs
v yonkers says
21/01/2012 at 13:12New Blog post: Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/k1A4FQO3
Cathy Anderson says
21/01/2012 at 13:04RT @rapidbi: New Blog post: Social media expert or wannabe? http://t.co/KP1ZlweO
Find Inspired Talent says
21/01/2012 at 13:01RT@RapidBI: Social media expert or wannabe? – http://t.co/7mW1OBEb #socialmedia #marketing #socialbusiness
Miguel Neves says
21/01/2012 at 12:58Social media expert or wannabe? – http://t.co/YTzxzIRr #socialmedia #marketing #socialbusiness
Precision Plus says
21/01/2012 at 12:57Social media expert or wannabe? – http://t.co/YTzxzIRr #socialmedia #marketing #socialbusiness