Have Social Media Analysts Gone Crazy?

Sometimes I think if I hear the word “engage” one more time I’m going to scream. Please understand. I’m in a unique position where I interact with social media “experts” selling their services daily. I’ve seen their bios and I’ve read their tweets. There’s a lot of excitement over “engagement” and sentiment analysis and there’s a “wild west” sort of mentality where self proclaimed experts are rushing in to fill the void.

In some ways we’re all guilty of it, we social media professionals. We use words like “engage” and “connect” and “brand relationship.”  There are legitimate firms out there taking good money for building Facebook pages and developing Twitter strategies and then reporting back to their clients on sentiment, number of followers and “engagement.”

There is some truth to these numbers so I don’t want to completely minimize their importance. These tools allow us to measure our fans’ and followers’ interaction or *wince* engagement with our brand. We can see, in granular detail, what people click on, what they comment on, when they visit, what they “like.”  Social media firms put together glossy reports on this stuff and tailor their strategies to it and it looks and feels like important information and in some ways it is. In a lot of ways though, it isn’t.

Image courtesy of rankmagic.com

It’s snake oil.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Numbers of followers and sentiment can’t measure the success of your social media strategy. Clear through the hysteria and hype and remember that there is a person at the other end of that tweet or Facebook post. That person represents a potential or current customer or in a B2B environment, a representative for a business prospect. What do they care about? What can we do to help them? Of course, the most important question is, are they going to buy from you and then tell their friends about it? How do we get them to do that?

Businesses need social media analysts with a deep understanding of social media tools and how to use them to foster these relationships. They need people with a business background and an understanding of marketing principals, search engine optimization skills, good grammar and spelling (yes that matters) and a genuine passion for people and their profession. They need specialists that can measure how all this can and will translate into more business.

There are lots of talented social media professionals out there that can offer this to their clients. Whether it is training on the tools or a session on strategy, these professionals can help businesses succeed in this “wild west” environment. If you do decide to take the plunge, make sure you’re working with one of them. Make sure they’re offering you real bottom line value.

I’d love to hear your stories. What, as a business owner, are you looking for in a consultant? Comment here, or send me a tweet @suereynolds or leave me a post on my Facebook page.