Why You Should Hire Real Social Media Experts

You don't have to have been involved for long in the social media movement to have heard the single most important piece of advice anyone in the know can give you: BE TRANSPARENT(pointing to JD Lasica for this since he knows of what he speaks - but I could point to any true expert saying the same thing). 

And yet, newbie agencies that are advising corporations on their social media campaigns are still ignoring this very important rule. 

The latest in the series is New York Agency drillTeam's horrific advice to members of Target's word of mouth fanclub, Rounders.  Fans were asked to promote Target on Facebook but "keep it like a secret" that they were part of a group that was compensated for their efforts.  (Since this issue is what basically killed WOMMA's credibility, they're fighting it tooth and nail now, and recently included it in their newsletter).

Why is this BE TRANSPARENT rule so important in social media?  For two reasons.

• Because the truth will come out when people talk about you -- that's how social media works. Unlike traditional media, individuals are not dependent on your goodwill to make their living, so they're not afraid to out you. 
• Because, thanks to insincerity, traditional marketing has lost so much credibility that you're now turning to social marketing for help.  So don't ruin social marketing too - then what will you do to get the word out?

I've said this before: When you hire your social media consultants, make sure you are hiring people who have actually been working with online communities and user-generated content for awhile, and not people new to the "social" scene, whose real experience base lies in corporate messaging, "interactive", or online publishing.  You may think that a company like drillTeam, with clients like Toyota, Nestle and Nike, can't steer you wrong.  You may be instinctively afraid of hiring someone with a background at a bunch of user-driven startups with no blue chip clients.  But this is a new frontier -- the experienced pioneers will be better at showing you the route.

Here's a piece of free advice for Target: Add "Always disclose that you're part of this group when you recommend us" to your "code of conduct".  Oh yeah - and fire drillTeam.

Comments

[Esme Vos]

Users of Ladiesroom.fr, a user-generated content site in France, went on strike after one of the members found out that the popular group blog/news site was actually owned by a marketing agency named Heaven. People complained that this fact had been hidden from them. An example of how marketing people still don't get it.