Social Media Certification: For the low, low price of…
It’s now twice in past week or so that someone has asked me about either how to get a social media certificate or promoted their social media marketing certificate to me (hmmm, if they were ‘listening’ they’d know I should be the very last person they should contact about a certificate in SMM).
I suspect it was only a matter of time before these things would happen. And now, I am even more firmly rooted in my reasoning why social media marketing is a bad term. I’ll reiterate once more:
The issue at hand, as I see it, is that a lot of people are adding Social Media Marketing as part of their service offerings, but they haven’t spent a day doing the marketing part and because of that they struggle with implementing social media as part of an overall marketing strategy.
So now, people are going to rush out to be certified in “social media marketing” and yet not only do they not understand marketing…they now truly don’t understand social media either. Why would they need to?! They just spent $1,495 (or three low payments of $549.00) to become experts in Facebook, Twitter, etc. I don’t know about you all, but it took me an awful lot of cash, time and sweat equity to become truly experienced in marketing and communications.
I know there are no rules here and I am not trying to be the enforcer of any, but I think offering a certification of any kind in a medium that is so new in the business world sets a bad precedence.
As a marketer what I worry about is that corporations will pass over talented social media and marketing folks (you know, the ones who have blogged, belonged to social networks for years and have actually implemented social media as part of an overall marketing plan) over for someone who is… um, certified in social media.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not against certifications; in fact the PRSA (APR) and IABC (ABC) offer two great accreditations. I am also a strong proponent of offering social media workshops that teach companies how to ease their way into social media (think training wheels). What I am leery about though is someone being certified in ‘social media marketing’ after a 12 week course. First, it takes a lot longer than 12 weeks to understand marketing and to develop relationships (social media tools aside).
I have now found #26 for the carpetbagger list: Offers social media marketing certification for the low, low cost of…
(Thanks @TomMartin for the reminder!)
Updated 1/29/09: My friend Andy Quayle over at TechBurgh has a great post on this same subject. He gives a lot better reasons that I do with my knee jerk reaction why social media certifications might not be the way to go. Andy’s also uncovered lots of certifications via Google. I guess it was only a matter of time.
What do you think? Does this concept have merit?
[Image: PA Pundits]
Tags: marketing, social media
72 Responses to “Social Media Certification: For the low, low price of…”
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Hi Experts!
First, before I post…Beth, you forgot what I consider the bible: Clay Shirkey’s Here Comes Everybody. Put that on the reading list if you have not yet had a chance. Or maybe that’s just a given….
Ok, so now I need some advice. I see you are all clear about why I should not consider a certificate in social media marketing. Here’s my problem…
I’m of a certain age…(there’s a 4 and a multiple of 4 in the number) and have a Masters and BA in a field unrelated to Marketing. About 10 years ago, after a successful career in another field, I decided to follow my passion for marketing and the Internet (learned on the job in said field and a LOT of seminars and conferences.) I was fortunate to find a job in a related field as an Web Editor/Marketing Associate (with significant steps back in salary and stature.)
Over the next 8 years, I earned my way up to VP in a small-to-exploding company where I was fortunate to have a lot of opportunity to grow and learn and participate in a lot of conferences and seminars on Internet Marketing.
Now I work for a non-profit using the same skills, and have been using all of the social media tools around. I have taken every seminar, webinar, in-person training on Social Media marketing that I can fit in with my work. But, I can’t put all of that on my resume or parlay it to the next step in my career. I must be able to demonstrate that I have credibility in the field, and a long string of seminars will not be impressive to potential clients or employers.
I feel stuck. That’s why I was considering a certificate program. Do you have any suggestions for me in lieu of a certificate program? I’ve pretty much wilted under the intensity of your wrath for said programs!
Suggestions, please. Thanks!
@FranSimon, thanks for stopping by! I do have “Here Comes Everyone” on a long list of books to get; maybe I should bump it up to the top!
I will honestly tell you, a certification isn’t going to get you the credibility that you are seeking. I’ve checked out a lot of the programs and they basically teach people how to use tools like Twitter, Facebook, etc. And, well, some of them are not run by the most scrupulous of people.
You said that you have 8 years of experience and a recent title as a VP; I guess I do not understand why you can’t put that on a resume…that’s a great accomplishment. And it seems you have a lot of Internet experience from the position and others. Why not put that on your resume?
As marketers, we all attend seminars, conferences, read books, and learn daily from one another via social media tools. Do we put that on our resumes? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean we can’t implement what we learn in a way that most benefits the company we work for or the product/service we are marketing.
With social media, the tools will change…proper marketing and how to interact with people (think Emily Post) will not. Social media tools are just one more way to reach your market, audience, community. The difference between social media and say SEO/SEM, direct mail, etc. is that it allows for a two-way conversation. Heck, trade shows and conference do that too.
If you don’t have a solid foundation in
marketing (or business), a certification in social media isn’t going to provide that.
If you are feeling left behind from a social media perspective, don’t. A lot of people are still dipping their toes into the social media waters. If you want to understand how social media works…get (if you don’t already) Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn accounts and participate as “Fran.” Not as a brand you work for. I think over time you’ll see how communities build and participate with each other.
And read and continue attending conferences, online seminars, etc.
There are a lot of great books out there that will give you your monies worth and will be a heck of a lot cheaper than some scam certificate. Here are just a few:
Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
Marketing to the Social Web by Larry Weber
The New Influencers by Paul Gillin
The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott
World Wide Rave by David Meerman Scott
The Twitter Book by O’Reilly
The Corporate Blogging Book by Debbie Weil
PR 2.0 by Deirdre Breakenridge
Tactical Transparency by Shel Holtz
I hope this helps, if not just come back and we’ll try to help out some more.
I was recently helping a friend look for work who was in a similar situation as Fran. I don’t know why I thought of this, but along with the resume and cover letter, I had her throw in a few case studies, things she had worked on from beginning to end, showing the goals, how the strategy was created, who she worked with and the end results. Anyone who is working can do this type of thing.
Her response rate to her job application increased amazingly.
Lynda
Lynda´s last blog ..Social Communication2
This sounds a lot like what happened to “web design”. In 1995, I took it upon myself to learn how to create websites. There were no courses at the time. I got pretty good at it, and had my own freelance business for a few years. Unfortunately, it became necessary for me to find a “real” job. All the jobs, however, wanted people with “certificates” or “diplomas” and even “degrees”.
I have been teaching myself about social media marketing, and am now wondering if is worth the effort.
GP
Whether it’s worth the effort probably depends on your goals. I have an online marketing business, so of course it’s worth the effort for me. If you are seeking a job, most likely no one will be able to afford to hire someone “just” to do social media, so you may need some other skills to couple with it.
Will certification help or hinder us in the business. I say not. But it is up to us to educate those who want to use us why we have what it takes. I worked in the technology field for 15 years and had the same problem, everyone wanting Microsoft certifications (which to me meant you could afford the exams and were good at memorizing info – not that you could interact with other humans). I spent a lot of time educating potential clients, with much success.
@GP, well, here we are 14 years later and I can’t think of a single company or agency that requires “website certification.”
Will hiring managers looking for people engaged in social media require a degree? Possibly. Most businesses today require that someone has a degree and/or proven experience.
Social media can be looked at as just a set of tools to communicate…or it can be looked at as a new method of two-way communication that bridges the gap between customer and company. I don’t think a certification in social media will help teach you the latter.
As for social media marketing…if you don’t have a degree in marketing or lots of experience, good luck with adding social media to the mix without stepping on toes or causing some sort of faux pas. Social media isn’t always about marketing…in fact rarely it is. Again, only being involved in social media will teach you that…not a certificate.
What is a person to do who wants to learn about social media but hasn’t been exposed to these tools the way all of you have? I have provided hr communication consulting help for 20 years, and now there seem to be so many opportunities to use social media to reach employees (and to hear back from them at last), but I have never had training in social media. What can a neophyte do to learn? Certification seems like a way to start the process (and no, I wouldn’t put myself out there as an expert after 12 weeks. But, yes, I would feel like I could talk about the subject without hanging my head in shame for being such a dinosaur. Any ideas??
Thanks for your comments.
Hi Kathryn,
My recommendations would be to read, read, read. One of the books I would recommend to get a good start is “The Social Media Bible” by Lon Safko & David Brake. This will give you a well rounded understanding of the media. Most Amazon’s carry it.
Then, read everything you can, from books to blogs.
And then, start using the media yourself. Sign up, watch, listen and then start participating.
And if all else fails, think about if this is something worth outsourcing.
I don’t see a problem with a 12 week certification course (although I haven’t taken any) as most people that I’ve seen taken them don’t call themselves “experts” but strategists or consultants. Social media is changing way too fast for anyone to call themselves an expert or guru.
I’ve been trained and have a degree in engineering, worked as a project manager for 10 years and I still don’t consider myself an expert in that area although I’m involved in some consulting work from time to time.
I also have a passion for real estate and been trained for the past 8 years but I don’t call myself an expert in that field either. I just share my experiences of what has brought us the most success.
The key is experience and working in the particular field and finding what works or doesn’t work for you.
Do I value my USC engineering degree? Yes, but I don’t flaunt it. Will I take a 12 week cert course? Yes, probably but not to flaunt some piece of paper but to enhance my own 2 year social media testing in my particular niche.
Will I launch my own social media product one day? You betcha..but it will be less than $50.
Word.
[...] Here’s the thing – all of the companies that are popping up to create certification programs are MAKING MONEY on you taking the certification. They are smart entrepreneurs who realized that there is no governing body on who can create a certification program. There is no one organization appointing individuals to be THE center for certification. So, they decided to take advantage of people coming into an industry by saying, “People won’t hire you unless you are certified.” Beth Harte makes some great points here in her blog post. [...]
[...] I’m not alone in my skeptic thinking but I’m joined by others in the field like Beth Harte, Andy Quayle and Olivier Blanchard. All of which talk about the dollar amount spent on the [...]
I don’t know the ins and outs of social media…I need to learn somehow. And yes, you have to put it into practice. Education is a great thing. If i do take courses, it’ll be from a real school, not some cropped up outfit.
Simply put….if a social media cert from a bona fide univeristy or collge gives me an edge over the rest of you when looking for a job, I’ll gladly take it. The fact that so many people I’ve read here are worried about it proves my point. I’m not worried about you. I’m worried about me, and will take the advantage if I can get it.
Joe, if you want to learn social media…get engaged. You’ll learn soon enough!
LOVE ‘cropped up outfit.’ Nice!
Also, the other thing to keep in mind is that social media is a communications channel. Do you know enough about marketing, marketing communications, branding, public relations, etc., etc. to develop/implement a measurable, strategic & integrated marketing/communications for a company? If not, a social media certification is not going to give you the advantage over marketers that do.
I will never get a social media certification. Why? Because two marketing degrees, over seven years as a marketing/PR adjunct prof. and five years social media experience will trump an SM certification any day.
Yes, I know…not everyone has that kind of experience. But I’d be willing to guess that marketing and PR degrees plus experience will also trump a social media certification.
Just food for thought…
[...] offering social media certification, however I’m not going to call anyone out today (read these posts if you want to see some examples). The reason I’m not calling anyone out is I [...]
[...] presents a pretty solid and grounded argument in years of Industry experience with her article “Social Media Certification: For the low, low price of…” that such uncertified ‘certifications’ are really shallow with out the backing of years [...]
Perhaps a social media certification is not the way to go. I’m not convinced. I’m a nearly 20 year marketing professional (and yes I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Marketing as well), that has spent the last 5 years learning and utilizing social media to further enhance my clients marketing mix. With that said, I think I heard it best said yesterday when my personal trainer told me that years ago she was told “when you know everything there is to know about coaching, it is time to change jobs”. The implication is clear, the day you think you have nothing left to learn about your business..you have become a dinosaur. Ongoing education = a good thing.
I don’t think any of us meant to say we have all stopped learning, my book budget is a huge amount of the operating costs for my company and learning takes up a lot of my time. What we had (I’ll speak for myself) objected to was these certification courses that popped up out of no-where, cost a fortune and were teaching very basic stuff.
That was actually the point against these certification courses, for me, Social Media and Online marketing was changing so rapidly that getting a certification when most of what you learned was obsolete the next day (and paying huge amounts of money to boot, seemed to benefit only the people collecting the money.
My thoughts on this subject have evolved over time. I recently completed the Inbound Marketing certificate program that is sponsored by HubSpot. Before I was against certification (for me). The reasons why I changed my mind and went with IMU was because the intensity and quality of what they were teaching, and, it was free. I don’t mind paying for things, but I didn’t feel IMU was slapping a course together and charging $2,000 because this was the next fad. IMU took it seriously, gave me access to great professionals and the exam was hard enough to make me feel they were not rubber stamping students.
Lynda,
where can i find this program being offered by IMU?
I checked this morning and the website seems to be down. I’m sure they will get it back up quickly. http://www.inboundmarketing.com/university
Lynda´s last blog ..Online Marketing Consultant
Sandra, Lynda, thanks for keeping up the comments here. Regardless of what the certification is in folks need to do their homework. There are scammers out there and you need to be aware of who is legit and who is just trying to make a fast buck off of a new trend/buzz word.
While I respect the folks at Hubspot, the Hubspot certification is still a certification that doesn’t hold much weight. I mean I have done what they “coined” as inbound marketing (which is really just smart SEO) for over 8 years. Do I need to be certified? I don’t think so. Should someone who is certified be hired over me? Well, what if they do not have a degree in marketing and I have two? My point is, certifications, while often legit and nice, don’t trump other things like university/college degrees, experience and results.
Thanks,
Beth
Oh Beth, I absolutely agree with you. When evaluating a new hire there are many things to take into consideration. Your level of education and experience is far superior to many others who do not have that. I also have seen that you know what you are talking about. But not even a marketing degree is the end-all be-all because I have seen many who come out with degrees and can’t put it into practice. I took the HubSpot certification because I wanted to continue learning more and I respected most of the teachers. The trick is to never stop learning, especially in this field that is in continuous change. HubSpot has its own agenda for offering this (get more people to sign up for expensive services) but I got value out of it.
Many of us (especially older folks like myself) didn’t get marketing degrees (my degree is in Psychology..lol), however I took the time to study all the marketing textbooks and teach myself over many years.
One thing I don’t see anyone teaching is strategy and planning and project management. This is what you learn with traditional marketing and without this 90% of all marketing campaigns will fail (10% get lucky.) Many are quite quick to throw out the traditional marketers for the new shiny marketers but best practice traditional marketing principles were created over a long period of time and apply today as much as they ever did.
HubSpot does offer a lot more than SEO, for what it is worth.