Is it everything you expected?
With over 250 million Facebook users, 2.9 billion tweets on Twitter, 258 million YouTube users, and 850 thousand Ning communities, the use of social media is well established. These, and other social media platforms, are designed so that even the newest member of Web 2.0 can complete the sign up process and begin to customize their profile a bit. The number of casual users far outweighs those of us who are professionals using these platforms as tools.
Are casual users proficient in the use of their profiles? Often, yes. Can they translate their casual proficiency to educating festivals, special events and businesses on how to build and manage a vibrant social community? I don’t believe so. I don’t believe that everyone who uses social media can do what I do.
Casual users log on to their profile once or twice a day to share something funny, to announce what they had for lunch or to post a snapshot of their nephew being adorable. I, on the other hand, am constantly connected to my own profiles and those of my clients; I recently took my son to Disneyland and worked, from the lines of several of our favorite attractions, through my Blackberry. I use alerts, trackbacks, aggregators, and several listening, monitoring and search tools to take care of the communities I build and the brands that are entrusted to me. Social Media Management takes hours of time, concentrated effort and a thorough understanding of each platform on which brand to follower engagement occurs.
Casual users rarely have an understanding of platform demographics, the type and number of posts that are permitted within a profile, or how a profile may be suspended (taking with it hours of posting, information, images and contacts). I know which platforms will hold the target audience my client wants, and what marketing mix will best communicate a message to that audience. I know how to build a community of self-sorted followers, and how to engage those followers so that they remain connected to and interested in my clients. I can quantify the ROI for my clients. I follow industry influencers and news sources to stay current on best practices, trends, widgets, the Terms of Service for existing platforms, and updates on emerging platforms. I live and breathe social media.
I have a cookbook with a recipe for cake. Will you leave your wedding cake in my hands?
Joe, down the hall, uses Facebook and Twitter to keep in touch with family and friends. Will you leave your brand in his hands?
image courtesy Alarming News
