Social Media Staffing : Part 1

Lately a number of companies have wholly embraced social media. That means building departments and hiring new people. So how do you decide who to hire? What makes someone understand social media?

The following are just my idea on who I think make good corporate web strategist. This is the first in a series about social media staffing.

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Qualities

The first quality I find to be important is someone that’s analytical. Social media is still growing and having someone that understands cause and effect, can help determine what worked during a campaign.

The candidate should also be a good writer, who writes from the heart unlike the business writers of the old. Business writing is like old English in the world of the web. This doesn’t mean that grammar isn’t important, it is. However, the old stuffy form is dead.

Lastly, creativity and a sense of experimentation are important qualities. Innovation in marketing requires minds that want to try new things, that are constantly asking “what if?”.

Experiences

I’ve found that the best social media marketers have some experience in the web industry. Whether they started as over-all internet marketers or seo’s matters little. Social media is as much an art as it is a science, having experience in the culture that is the web is important.

Although being a power user doesn’t make you a social media expert, not having an account on social sites should preclude you from being a social media expert. The candidate must have lived in social media before attempting to use it. Digg has a different culture than Facebook which is different than what bloggers expect. If you haven’t been in each of those shoes, how can you successful market on this medium?

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Personality

Finally the idea of a personality. Social media is all about letting your personality shine through. What do you like to do? Do people know that? Some of the best social media strategists wrote blogs about their passion, reach out to bloggers with their passion, and truly share their passion. To them, work isn’t work, it’s just a continuation of their blog.

The candidate should have a sense of humor, because the web culture will quickly shy away from anyone that takes themselves too seriously. Although the “i am better than you” ideal runs rampant in the SEO / Internet Marketing field, the average blogger and person online doesn’t care. The Internet is a place where people go to entertain themselves and get away from their day to day life. A good social media strategist will let their humor and personality shine through what they do online.

This is part 1 of a multi-part series on social media staffing. We’ll consider why you need a community manager, where the staff should exist in a business hierarchy, and what to look for in a corporate blogger. Don’t forget to check back soon or subscribe so you don’t miss any of the posts.

Think I forgot an important quality? Does your personality shine through your blog? Did it make you a better marketer? Let us know, and share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Part 1: Social Media Staffing
Part 2: Hiring a Community Manager
Part 3:Building Employee Brand Passion
Part 4: Hiring a Corporate Blogger

Tagged as: social media staffing

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