The most productive way

Very often we’re told by businesses that they would like to hire a social median to assist them as a company to learn social media, and how they should implement it in their business.  All too often, the company will hire a pro to do just that and it can be truly effective in giving the entire team a fast track lesson in engagement from various departments- and what’s wrong with that?  Nothing, if your goal is to tackle social media by accident. What I mean by that is there is no point in everyone hammering the exact same nail at the same time, now is there?  What would be more productive?  Everyone hammering their own nails into separate shingles in the same roof- in other words, it’s more productive to take into account the master plan, the goal, the idea, the ultimate structure of the vision.

Don’t tear your hair out

We typically take a different approach and felt it necessary to share some tips on how to visualize your new median to better understand how to utilize this person within your company. But first, I would like for you to step back and remember the last temp you hired to fill a gap in the office.  Essentially, if they had never worked in your industry before, but had basic fundamental clerical skills, they could manage a few tasks for you ultimately leaving you both to feel that that was the height of their abilities- of course this is just wrong. The bottom line is that you’re not sure the depth of their skill set, nor are they aware of the real depth of your needs- neither understands how to communicate with the other, leaving the temp to twiddle their thumbs while you pull your hair out.

Our recommendation:

Our recommendation instead is to hire a social median that understands business strategy.  This person does not necessarily need experience in your industry, but they must be able to learn quickly everything about the “widget” you sell- and it should be from the ground up.  Cross training is mission critical when it comes to an effective social median.  They should be able to see and understand the passion that goes into producing and selling your “widget,” as well as understand how your departments work together.

Why this is so crucial to their ultimate success is because essentially they are communicators.  Your new media pro can isolate opportunities within your organization to work in tandem and can isolate how to do so. They can assist you in the structuring of the position itself and how the position can grow to be a useful arm of all of your mission critical units within your business or organization.

Educate your new median

I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’ll need to actually know how to build the widget from scratch, but they will need to understand how it comes to be.  They’ll need a bird’s eye overview of how your marketing and sales departments operate, your price structures, human resources, and ultimately they will need to understand your customer care operation and how it functions as well as what tools they are using (and are allowed to use) in communication in order for them to make educated recommendations on your long term social media strategy.

So, rather than allow your new median to twiddle their thumbs while all your employees hammer the same nail at the same time- give your new median a crash course in your company from top to bottom.  Once you’ve done this, your new median can come in and make recommendations on how they can seamlessly integrate themselves and a strategy into day-to-day operations.

Auto Responders

Microblogging site Twitter is the most rapidly growing social network in the world and hundreds of services are now offered to supplement your Twitter experience from applications that put Twitter on your phone and website, automate responses or help you find a restaurant. Many say that the social network is being dumbed down and abused by people to have timed or auto responses while others say its smart business and its up to the user culture to determine such.

On top of auto responses, Twit4Hire.com has launched which is a service businesses or individuals can pay for and have someone Twitter for them. From their site:

“At twit4hire.com our business is to frequently microblog for clients who are already too busy to add yet another daily task to their burgeoning agendas, but who still want to proactively reach out to their customer base. Through our flexible microblogging service we inform our clients’ customers & partners of news, services, products, and offers on a daily, or even an hourly basis, while our clients remain free to focus on more urgent tasks and priorities.“

Big Whoop?

There is uproar in the community with people indicating that having someone unaffiliated with your business Twitter for you. Some call it lazy, others unauthentic, but what if it works for your business? Is it any different than outsourcing your company’s customer service call center, public relations, outbound marketing or sales staff? From a simple Twitter search, it seems that the culture of Twitter has mixed feelings, but the most vocal users don’t support outsourcing your branded voice:

“I am strongly averse to this: http://www.twit4hire.com/ Fu**ing 1.0 companies completely missing the point.” -@mikevillar

“Mixed thoughts on Twit4hire. http://www.twit4hire.com/ Anyone else?” -@abarcelos

“@VictorEGalvan R/T Ghost-twits, ghost-tweeters…like ghost-bloggers. Knew it had to happen sometime…http://www.twit4hire.com/” -@zanesafrit

“New Twitter service www.twit4hire.com. I suggest companies not to take the easy way out. Be authentic and tweet for yourself.” -@TiffanyPR

“@TMarieHilton I don’t like how twit4hire.com implies that I’m a twit for talking to Adobe peeps here + none of their personas are women!” -@acrogirl

“Busy day – haven’t had a moment to twitter. Think I may need to speak to http://www.twit4hire.com/” -@andrewbloch

“RT @HomeBiss: Twitterers for hire? We have many here! http://www.twit4hire.com/ #twip #twitter #business … I love the name twit4hire ” -@stevenhealey

So there are mixed feelings about the service from users, so weigh your options before shelling out money for a stranger to implement your marketing for you- it may be more cost effective and in line with the online culture to have someone in house be your face person rather than hire someone to twit AS you. Our advice is to research and test the waters before jumping in any pool and by temperature testing, you’ll know if it’s too hot or cold to jump in.