Turns out there's not that many real Social Media experts on Social Media Marketing (according to Wikipedia: "…Social Media Marketing (SMM) combines the goals of internet marketing with social media sites such as Digg, Flickr, MySpace, YouTube and many others.[1] The SMM goals will be different for every business or organization, however most will involve some form of viral marketing to build idea or brand awareness, increase visibility, and possibly sell a product or service. SMM may also include online reputation management.), according to B.L. Ochman, and in a post with an alluring picture of 3 almost nude figures balancing off one another, she posts her own name, Hugh McLeod and and Crispin Porter as the three Social Media Consultants she recommends (I guess each would, in some way, represent on of the 3 figures in the image below).
Well, I've met B.L. Ochman and Hugh McLeod (and will probably see him at LeWeb3 next week) and none of them looking any thing like the picture below (I don't think that's the point - I'm just mentioning it, anyway).
If B.L. is using the image above to imply Social Media Marketing is a balancing act and she and the two others are doing it (but no one else can..maybe) …. it is; according to her, those who are really qualified to run a Social Media Marketing campaign are:
- "…Who’s qualified to create social media strategy:
People with clients who actually pay them to create social media campaigns.- People whose ROI-driven campaigns actually produce traffic and sales
- People who create campaigns that are more than a clueless ad agency’s flash in the pan, gimmick, soon forgotten stunt or just plain dim.
I think she's right, having said that, Social Media Optimization, Social Media Marketing, whatever, is probably something that one learns hands on, and my guess is that some have a nack for it over others. I think a lot is being expected of Social Media, yet it's often hard to produce results deliberately- to do it "On Demand".
A few sites like SocialMedia.com claim to help you
"…Our network of applications engage millions of people across the leading social networks.
We serve advertisers and developers of social media applications with advertising, monetization and analytical tools on newly emerging social platforms from leading social networks, such as Facebook and MySpace."
Well, that sounds interesting if you already have a campaign - which, I suppose, is what you have B.L. Ochman for.
