COMMENTS
Being a business owner and a blogger I feel that the person doing the writing should be the subject matter expert in the business. Blogging, writing articles, and commenting is stuff that is rich with content. I remember when I worked on Wall Street as a Business Analyst in the 90's. There were a lot of consultants that were hired, some were effective but most were not. It seems like there were a sea of people saying the same thing over and over. You would tell them something and they would spit it back. Also reminds me when I went to college. Most of the professors wanted to hear themselves talk and when the test came all you had to do was spit the information back at them. My point is that if you want your business to have good content and content distribution on the web, you need to put your subject matter experts on it. Just like I'm taking a few minutes to respond to this article. I like to respond with value. Your blog is really the FAQ's of your company as well as feedback or your products and services. When you read stuff you want to get information. When you read stuff that is just regular information, that is the stuff that you hear all the time. Add value and use your social media triggers. It's more than just getting a link.
Your point about not outsourcing to the so-called social media experts is well founded. There are a lot of so-called experts who are out there, but then again, there are a lot of real experts too. Expertise stems from real-world practice, research and experimentation. You can usually tell by the blogs they write on the subject. There are many important do's and don'ts when it comes to corporate social media practice, and real experts should be consulted whether you are going to take this in-house or outsource. You can read books and blogs on the subject, but no case is exactly like your company's. You must do your due diligence on selecting a bona-fide expert, but the benefits can be large if you can avoid many of the mis-steps that are common in social media for business.
@dude -- While many subject matter experts can make excellent bloggers, there is danger. Some are just not good storytellers. They drift into gobbledygook laden jargon. And they only speak as insiders which means it is tough for people to penetrate. So that's something to watch out for.
John - good point. An expert can help set up guidelines and procedures and help with technology. But I am still convinced that the best people to actually create the content are journalists.
John you make a great point that no case is exactly like your company's, yet companies fall into this trap because they try to fit a model to their situation.
Another issue with outsourcing is that you lose some control over your social media distribution and have to hope that the firm or person you outsourced it to is aligned with you. That being said, many advertising and/or creative agencies might not be the best source, especially if they are more focused on traditional means of marketing.
In an ideal world, every expert would have the time to blog, and be a fantastic writer. The truth is, most small businesses don't have the time or the writing skill to craft a nice post. They may not also be too deep into their subject matter, and not understand what's esoteric and what's not. I think you can outsource blogging, but the expert source has to be heavily involved in the content written. I do this for clients, and we produce good content. It's time consuming, but it should be if you want to achieve something good. For leaving comments, tweeting, networking via LinkedIn, I think the client should handle those type of interactions.
Interesting points, however, your suggestion to outsource to journalists for the small business owner is not a cost-effective answer. What you refer to as the "social media experts" are those who know how to reach potential business or consumers to find the small business industry.
Social Media is not only blogging, tweeting, linked in, it's also getting the inside conversation with the consumer. A one-sided conversation, as many companies who use facebook and twitter, turns consumers away. Hiring a "social media expert" or someone who is in the know in how to have the conversation is a must.
In addition to your recommendation to read others blogs, I also suggest to business owners to ask to be a guest blogger on a particular site.
Social Media is just a tactic in the marketing world, having a strategy, plan and road map are key, then identifying the right way to execute is secondary.
The question is an interesting one but I'm not sure its addressed in the answer. For me the question is whether you can outsource to someone who understands your message and has empathy with your product or service. Both are essential.
I strongly dislike the word "outsource" in this context. A business can't outsource social media (other than maybe very small businesses). I prefer words like "coach" or "advise" or the dreaded "C" word, "consult."
Qualified agencies can be a valuable resource to companies that need help with their social media strategy and tactics.
It starts with a
content strategy anchored in a blog, before even discussing how to use Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
Expert outside resources can be very valuable. But, the notion of totally outsourcing social media is somewhat akin to outsourcing customer service to people who claim to be good at customer service but know nothing about your business.
Maybe I am a bit old school, but I think content creation should always be in house. However, I do agree that not all people can blog and comment in an informative and entertaining manner. For me, social media outsourcing should be focused on helping with strategy and tactics and even some management support. The content for the various channels should remain "in-house." I recently read somewhere that marketing organizations should consider hiring "folks" with journalism or writing backgrounds to support social media programs. I could not agree more!
While some journalists today DO blog, not all of them have experience using WordPress or any other platform. Hiring a journalist with no blogging experience will entail a possibly substantial learning curve for them.
If what you need is someone to blog for your business, I would recommend outsourcing to someone who knows your niche, has research skills, and most importantly, already knows how to blog.
There is more to it than just words on the page. They need to know keyword research, how to use the targeted keyword in the content - and also very important - how to PROMOTE that content on social media.
And that doesn't even touch on who designs the blog? What plugins should you use? What is your commenting policy going to be? Who is going to keep WordPress, your theme and your plugins up to date?
Having recently had a public discussion with a business blogger on the appropriateness of a particular word and type of story appearing in his blog, the first thing I would definitely discuss is where you are going to draw the line between what is now apparently acceptable in many circles and what I personally believe should have NO PLACE on a business site.
Many bloggers could be willing to manage a business blog related to their own niche. It never hurts to ask the bloggers whose content you read if they'd be interested. If they aren't, they may know someone else who would be.
There's more to social media than blogging and tweeting so this discussion needs to broaden its horizons if it is to be meaningful.
Blogging and tweeting is only one element of social media.
Other elements to consider include listening, engaging, reporting and interpreting. Ultimately it's these elements that drive the marketing message yet no one is considering these elements part of social media?
Outsourcing isn't about handing over the crown jewels, it should be a strategic move. If done right it gives visibility of cost and activity and outsourcing social media could give your business significant competitive advantage.
Would you like to know what people think of your company and what they think of your competitors?
Where they are in the world?
Male or female?
Etc.
With the right KPI's in place and the right elements of social media outsourced this information could be available to you regularly and presented to you in a manner that feeds natuarally into your strategic marketing decisions.
It's not right for all businesses so it might not be right for yours but if it is, what value would you put on it?
I have to smile a bit after reading this - I sat in a class taught by an esteemed marketing executive and asked this very same question. Three years ago. He was appalled at my naivete', and asked me how I thought such a thing could happen? After dismissing my answers (much of what has been stated here) out of hand as nonsense, he and his contemporaries set about blackballing me from class activities and discussions thereafter. Wish I could find him and eMail him this link.<br /><br />
Thank you all!
@Email List Dude,
Many thanks, and you are correct re: agree to disagree.
Still, as a wise person once stated, living well isn't the best revenge... being right is. ;-)
Paul
What are a "KPI's"? And what do they have to do with social media?
I do not understand this business-school jargon. Please, do tell.
Thanks, David
David,
I have a procurement background and I've spent an awful lot of time outsourcing activities, repairing bad contracts and bringing stuff back in house if necessary.
KPI = key performance indicator
Any outsourced contract must have the appropriate KPI's so that both the supplier knows what he or she is being measured against and the customer can get the results they want & quickly understand whether they are getting value for money or not.
This, together with a commercial agreement that focuses both businesses in the same direction largely contributes to outsourcing success.
What has it to do with social media? Nothing directly. My point is that if the activity is not core to your business and you want to consider outsourcing, there's no reason why you shouldn't do it successfully if you get the commercials and KPI's correct (and then manage accordingly).
In summary the process I would follow is:-
1. Decide what I want to outsource
2. Prepare my KPI's in line with the results I want
3. Propose a commercial framework that rewards financial success
Having done that, I'd then start to look for suppliers and frankly whether the final choice was a journalist or a social media marketing business I wouldn't care provided the job was done well.
Infact you may find that the social media marketer employs a journo to work on my contract - it's a bit like sourcing a company to deliver your goods and expecting them to own the trucks.