Is social media the answer?

It’s always interesting to see how many advertised, social media jobs describe their ideal candidate as someone who will carry out the latest, trendiest, list of tactics but completely forego mentioning the reason they want someone to fill the position in the first place.

If social media is the answer, what is the question?

Without clearly displayed goals, those businesses in need are likely to attract applicants with a wide and disparate variety of skills: customer service, public relations, marketing, mavens, gurus and ninjas. Thoroughly confused, the hiring decision comes down to personality, not skill or the job remains unfilled for months. Let’s be blunt. 

Don’t waste my time if you don’t know why you want me to work for you.

Please businesses, (small, large and non-profit), don’t hire a social media strategist until you know why you need one. There are many reasons businesses successfully use social media online. Learning what you want to accomplish is the beginning of defining a social media strategy. Choose as many as you like, then let’s get going.

Customer Relationships

• I want to get to know my customers individually
• I want to thank them and reward them for choosing my business
• I want to learn what they think about my business
• I want to teach them how to best use my products or services
• I want to help them with any problems they are having with my products or services