Don’t put the children in charge of your social media

Not too long ago it was common to hear things like:

I asked my son to build my company’s web site because he understands this Internet thingy.

We seemed to have moved on now to:

I don’t understand social media so I hired an intern because he is on Facebook all the time.

Can you hear me screaming?

Here is the problem in a nutshell. What we are talking about is Social Media Marketing. When bosses see that term they seem to see:

SOCIAL MEDIA marketing

Of course, what they should be seeing is:

Social media MARKETING

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is marketing we are talking about, mixed in with a healthy dose of customer service.

This is marketing because it touches the customer. Every tweet, Facebook update, and Instagram picture adds, or doesn’t, a little delta value to your customer.

So, when you decide to put someone who has never had a job outside of a fast food joint in charge of your social media, please remember you just put them in charge of a very large chunk of your marketing activity, and they have a direct line to your customers.

Would you hire an entirely wrinkle-free individual to manage your marketing, absorb your values, follow your ethics, talk to customers, or represent your brand personality? No? But you just did!

I’m not saying don’t hire them. In fact, a little fresh-faced enthusiasm is a wonderful thing. And if you hire well you might get someone who is keen to learn. But they need someone in charge who actually understands what they are doing; someone who can set them all those delightful menial tasks, such as creating and managing social media accounts, competitive research, and listening to the ether.

What I am saying is this: The person in charge of your social media adventure needs to be a marketer. They need to know what on earth the Ps are, what the word value means in marketing parlance, and of course they need to have experience in integrating social media into the larger strategic marketing efforts.

You would not put a graduate in charge of anything else. So, please, don’t put one in charge of the most dynamic set of touch points that you have with your customers.

(photo credit: Rosaura Ochoa via photopin cc)