How to Hire a Social Media Marketing & PR Expert

Are you looking for someone to implement your new Social Media marketing strategy?  Here are some tips. First, I am not a social media expert. I am an advertising and public relations expert who specializes in event marketing with small budgets (under $250,000 annually).  That's my niche, and as such, I often have to learn, study, and implement new methods and media for my clients without the big budgets of hiring out.

There are top professionals in the business whose knowledge and expertise help Fortune 500 companies. If you have a large budget - hire one of these thought leaders and their company: Brian Solis, Dierdre Breakenridge, Lee Odden, David Meerman Scott, Kary Delaria, and Jennifer Kane. Why? because these are the people I read, follow, and whose seminars I attend. They are miles ahead of any one in your hometown unless these folks work in your town. They are ahead of any learning curve, and creating the next trend before it is ever reported. (I am currently reading "Engaged")

Most likely you wouldn't read this blog if you could afford them, so here is her second best step. Hire someone they recommend or that follows these thought leaders. It's easy to find out if your candidate knows anything about social media and in particular, the best strategies. Ask what they think of the thought leaders I've mentioned. Research the "expertise" of your prospective hire. Ask for their Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Linkedin and Slideshare identity. Ask about their blogs, white papers, and online press rooms.

Clues that your expert is just trying to cash-in on the social media hype:

• Twitter: Followers to Following ratio. Less than 66% a social media virgin ( following 1,000, followers 6), check out frequency and type of tweets. If all advertising for that "expert's" site, expert is a hack. Check out the experts I listed. Their ratios are closer more like 1000/1 followers. They've been doing it awhile and are followed for their "information." not ads.
• Facebook: Number of "likes" or fans, number of pages attributed to expert, fans, friends, likes of those. Again, check out posts for "shouting ads." Do they engage the reader or just shout like a marquee of unending specials
• YouTube: Videos and types of videos. (I'm a hack at this I admit. Gary Vaynerchuk and Steve Garfield those are the experts. For a good laugh and inspiration watch Web 2.0 from 2008.
• Slideshare: Does your expert have anything on slide share. Has this expert taught anyone else? If not, how will your company learn to manage their social media strategy?
• Website: None? Forget them. Simple, clean, easy to search, linked to social media. There's hope.
• Blog: Do they blog or ghost blog? Find examples of their work. See how they label or tag their blogs. Find out if anyone follows or comments to their blogs.

Do you currently have a marketing firm or consultant? Are they Social Media Literate? Are they willing to learn - they better be. Can they help you with the strategy and implementation in house? 

My clients and I work together. We don't have the big budgets - one client has a $80,000 annual budget to market an event that has to advertise to 3 major Southern California markets. One of those being the L.A./O.C. DMA where media buys are three times that of the regional market, and 5 to 10 times the local budget. To get results and 40,000 guests we have to leverage buys against sponsorships and promotions.

Our social media campaign last year doubled our website traffic and increased  Facebook Fans from 0 to 3600 in 5 months, 900 to 3600 in six weeks. We worked on it together - their staff and mine. And, we learned while doing. Another client has events 20 weekends a year and an advertising budget under $40,000. Without social media, e-blasts, and buy extensions these events would fail.  Yet there is no money to hire an expert. We again, learn by doing and do on the cheap. See Twitter.com/SocalWineCntry.

If your PR/Marketing  firm can do this for you, keep 'em. If they continue to use tired traditional campaigns, consider social media implementation is nothing more than creating a Facebook page and a regular e-blast. Dump 'em. Proper engagement of Social Media is a marketing strategy. While appearance on social networks is free - maintaining and engaging with the audience is not.

A quick course on PR/Marketing 2.0: (The following books I have read, tagged, highlighted, and devoured along with a plethora of Vocus/PRWeb Webinars - which by the way are mostly free).
"Engage! The Complete Guide for Brands & Business to Build,Cultivate and Measure Success in the New Web" by Brian Solis

"PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences" by Dierdre Breakenridge

"The New Rules of Marketing & PR" by David Meerman Scott

"Social Media Marketing an Hour a Day" by Dave Evans

"Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time" by Joel Comm

"Barack 2.0 Lessons for BusinessBarack Obama's Social Media " by Brent Leary and David Bullock (like him or not - it's what got the man elected.)

"Putting the Public Back in Public Relations, How Social Media is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR" by Brian Solis and Dierdre Breakenridge

"Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business" by Steve Garfield and David Meerman Scott