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?
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73 Responses to “Social Media Certification: For the low, low price of…”
The Harte of Marketing by Beth Harte is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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Oh boy. Now people can “officially” be an expert.
It does, however, make it easier to identify the kind of people you don’t want to work with. Oh wait, you’re a 7th Degree uber social media blackbelt expert? And you’re certified! Wow, you must be important.
Matt J McDonald’s last blog post..Thoughts On The State Of Magazines
I totally agree with you on the certification and think that this is a noncense. 12 weeks workshop (hmmm, it is a little bit too much but…) OK but giving somebody certificate that he or she is a social media certified specialist (or whatever the certificate is for) is stupid. Every moron can pass the workshop but this doesn’t mean he can drive your social strategy and the certificate means nothing.
ToddySM’s last blog post..toddysm: @amandagravel Wine and pizza!!!!???? Can’t you get beer somewhere? I don’t think wine and pizza works
This is very similar to the problem I have with “diploma mill” career colleges offering courses in computer systems administration, programming, and such. Both cases are built on the faulty premise that it is possible to take an area of expertise that can take years of experience and skills building in order to be any good at, and distill it into a few PowerPoint slides. The results tend to be someone who knows some of the buzzwords, but is actually a danger to their future clients.
Chris Jones’s last blog post..chrisjones77: I’m Chris. I help people who are experiencing the crisis of a failed hard drive & lost data. It’s my joy to deliver sighs of relief! #whoami
To put a different spin on this discussion, if someone like Chris Brogan or Amber Naslund were offering certification in social media marketing, would that change your opinion of the idea of being certified?
Trying to determine if it’s the certification that bothers you, or the people offering it? Or is it both?
Mack Collier’s last blog post..The Viral Garden’s Top 25 Marketing & Social Media Blogs – Week 136
@MackCollier, see now…that’s a trick question because you know Chris or Amber wouldn’t do that. And in all due respect to them, if they did, no it wouldn’t change my mind.
Ultimately my issue is that any certification would be in the tools and the “rules.” And they change all the time. But more importantly, they don’t all work the same way for every situation or every company/client.
The only way to get social media to work is to roll up your sleeves, do it and figure out what works for/with the community. If a company thinks someone with a certification or the ability to ghostwrite is going to allow them to say “see, we are involved with social media!” they are just heading down a path with potentially disastrous results. Then they’ll need someone with a “crisis communications certificate.”
Terrifying! That certification class link is just unreal. I agree that it was only a matter of time until these sorts of things surfaced. Your reasoning is perfect. Much more concise than my own. It’s this continued misunderstanding of the medium that just floors me. I feel that traditional “marketers” just don’t have the tools to succeed in a space built around genuine, and often profit-free, interactions. At least not yet. Great post photo too BTW.
Like any qualification, it depends on who/what is behind it. Hopefully employers are careful enough to take a quick look at what lies behind the “name”. Or maybe they will find this post, and think again
Gavin Heaton’s last blog post..Five in the Morning 012909
I personally have no objection to legitimate, professional bodies with credibility and standing in their areas of specialty offering some sort of credential or accreditation. (Beth’s mentioned two here that come to mind.)
What I *strongly* object to are marginal, PT Barnum-esqe entrepreneurs offering meaningless “certifications” to earnest, sincere souls (in exchange for a hefty chunk of their money and 12 weeks of their time) who actually believe these companies’ materials will equip them with the skills, insights and prudential judgment to offer Social Media services to clients at a high professional standard. The mind boggles.
The inevitable result of this can only be:
1.) Clients who will be confused and distracted by this bogus credentialing before engagements, and..
2.) hugely disappointed in the results delivered by these newly-minted “certified social media” folks during and after those engagements.
Honestly, it’s hard to see an upside here. I think the best course of action is probably what Beth’s doing here, namely calling B.S. on bogus credentialing, and trying to de-legitimize stuff like this that is unhelpful at best, and misleading at worst.
I don’t see the problem here. If I’m a marketing expert who wants to educate myself about social media then taking a course like that one seems like a great place to start.
Why would Chris or Amber never offer certification? If you’re a great teacher what’s wrong with teaching others and certifying them as a business model?
“@MackCollier, see now…that’s a trick question because you know Chris or Amber wouldn’t do that. And in all due respect to them, if they did, no it wouldn’t change my mind.”
Didn’t mean to position it as being a trick question. I referenced Amber and Chris because we both know that they are in a much better position to offer credible ‘certification’ than most people out there.
Laura I think the main issue I have with the idea is that it implies that you can ‘learn’ all elements of social media in 3 months. I know many that have been active in this space for 3 years that will admit that they are still learning.
If you want to get a certificate to hang on your wall, fine. But if you want to really get an in depth knowledge of all elements of social media, it’s probably going to take a lot longer than 3 months.
Mack Collier’s last blog post..The Viral Garden’s Top 25 Marketing & Social Media Blogs – Week 136
Considering Mack’s comment about a Brogan or Naslund School of Social Media Marketing, let’s go bigger.
Suppose an institution such as Harvard University offered a bachelor’s degree in marketing with a concentration in social media, how would you react? Any differently?
Ari Herzog’s last blog post..Sextogenarian Women Come to Facebook
Beth,
First, thanks for the gold star and I’m honored to have found #26 on your carpetbagger list.
I think the whole certification thing is actually quite interesting. Most other professions have it – accounting, law, hell even real estate agents have to go to school and take a test (a hard one I might add) to be licensed.
But in Marketing/Advertising, no such cert program exists and many feel that is a major issue. If gives anyone permission to be a marketer or social media expert.
Would a cert program from a recognized and respected organization like Harvard help — likely. It would make prospective clients or companies that are hiring you feel more comfortable. But as the old joke goes, “You know what they call the guy who finished at the bottom of his med school class? Doctor” so in the end, cert programs will do nothing more than create money for those who certify. To work in the social media world, you have to be in the social media world, every day listening and learning and likely failing.
Great post and thanks again for the hat tip.
Tom Martin’s last blog post..Follow me baby.
For the time being (and foreseeable future), I think the best social media “certification” is to Google the person’s name. You’ll find out very quickly if that individual knows social media, with or without some 12 week course…
Steve Woodruff @swoodruff’s last blog post..Five in the Morning 012809
@MattJMcD, @ToddySM, @ChrisJones, exactly. The proof is in the pudding, not the certificate (Hmmm, I seem to be using that phrase a lot lately…is there a better one?!
@MichaelRussell, What I am objecting to is certifying people without them actually having to prove that they have and can successfully use social media for business communications, relationship building, etc. And the combination of social media and marketing (how does one get certified in marketing in 12-weeks?!) just doesn’t sit well with me.
As Shannon Paul said so aptly “Monkeys can use tools, but it takes an artist to be able to appreciate the subtle nuance of bringing humanity into our communication to encourage the growth of real relationships without the luxury of a face-to-face introduction.” (From Shannon’s post: “Social media outreach is not a tool.”)
@LauraRoeder, I am offering a workshop for $1,500 (but no certificate, sorry), I’ll send you the Google invoice today. Sound good? And if you have any friends who also want to be certified, send them my way…my bank account would surely love it!
In all seriousness, what qualifies anyone to offer a certification in this new space called social media? If I started offering marketing and PR certifications, I can tell you I’d have a lot of bodies (academic to associations) would be speaking up…and quickly!. Personally, I think for any type of certificate or accreditation, there needs to be an official body (academic or association) behind it. Not just any guy/gal off the street.
@MackCollier, you know me…I was being sarcastic.
Mack, that’s the problem I am having…sure certify everyone, but in the end who pays the price? The corporation or client that has hired this certified person who knows all the “tools” but doesn’t have a clue about marketing or social media. Heck, if all it takes is a certification, I have Photoshop, a nice color printer and a blog where I can place my “Social Media Certified” badge. I am here and now self-certified.
@AriHerzog, you are talking apples and rotten oranges my friend. A degree from Harvard cannot be compared to a certificate from some guy just trying to develop a revenue stream off a buzz word. And, the fact of the matter is that I know lots of people with college degrees who call themselves marketers that are terrible at what they do (mostly because they aren’t passionate and they don’t keep up with changing trends in marketing). And I know folks without marketing/comm degrees who are absolutely brilliant because they are smart, passionate, insightful, etc.
@TomMartin, we had a discussion on Twitter not so long ago about people being certified in marketing, PR, communications, etc. and there were lots of opinions. I tweeted that I thought people should have to be certified to practice marketing. It’s one of those things that I go back and forth on… I believe in the accreditations, but I also think people who are good at what they do deliver with their campaigns, etc.
Some of the comments tweeted about accreditations (like the APR and ABC) questioned whether or not those doing the testing and approving the APRs and ABCs even had the skill sets themselves to market/communicate in this brave new world…so how could they possibly provide accreditation to others. Personally, I believe that there are foundations that are necessary to understand and in that regard I have no issues with the APR and ABC and have actually considered getting them myself. The tests are quite rigorous and “proof” is required (i.e. a portfolio of work, campaign measurement, etc.) for some.
Certification for something that changes almost daily is nothing less than absurd. The really scary part is that I am asked almost daily about social media marketing and my answer is – lets discuss what your expectations are and goals for your online strategy.
You mean we can still refer to the whole Internet as the wild wild west still? – YES so how can you certify anything.
Oh! Also, I forgot…not only does $1,495 get you a certificate, it certifies you to coach others on social media marketing!
So, does that change anyone’s mind on why this is a bad idea? One person, who potentially has never used social media or marketing (tools, campaigns, etc) in their career, is now certified to teach others how to implement social media marketing and coach them too. Nice.
To Mack’s and Ari’s pseudo situations – It wouldn’t change my mind either, as I agree with Beth’s points.
A certification in social media that can be completed in 12 weeks is a bit off the wall. Our industry is evolving by the day so I don’t see the benefit of a laid out course to ‘teach’ you social media is going to work. Sure you may learn some basic strategies and tools but all that is possible by doing your own course of LISTENING. Listen and see what we’re all doing and then jump in and communicate.
Selling a social media course is the most unauthentic thing I’ve heard for awhile in this industry. SM is real time and there’s also different uses for different companies. Getting in the trenches is the way you’re going to learn that, not by shelling out $1,500.
Sonny Gill’s last blog post..Transparency – The Double-edged Sword
I would even like to extend this sentiment to include all of the other microsite offers that appear to promise that anyone who enrolls, without any process of qualification (except the possession of a valid credit card), can become masters of this that and the other…
Beth, you’ve made an important distinction here that tells me I need to clarify my own previous comments.
First, I don’t have an APR or similar credential, so I don’t have any axe to grind.
Second, I would be *overwehelmingly* opposed to any kind of “accredidation” – from anyone – including professional organizations or Ivy league universities – that wouldn’t be *heavily* weighted towards real world experience.
What kind of experience? For starters, try project management, finance/budgeting, branding and strategic marketing, human factors, behavioral psychology, copy writing, graphic design, systems administration and programming… to name *some* of the skills I believe you need to “do” social media competently. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t learn 90%+ of this stuff in any classroom, and I sure didn’t learn it in 12 weeks.
To paraphrase author and funny guy P.J. O’Rourke: Age, Guile and experience Beat Youth, Innocence, and a Bad Haircut …every time. Count on it.
Certified, shmertified.
Michael Russell – @planetrussell’s last blog post..planetrussell: For those interested: @WEFdavos livetweeting from #wef #davos #davos09. Current session: "The Next Digital Experience" http://tr.im/dozu
Frankly, if I met anybody who tried to furnish a “social media certificate” to justify their legitimacy as an “expert” (a term that makes my eyes roll and stomach turn), I would tell them point blank that the only thing that makes them is a Certified Dumbass for falling for that ploy.
Stacy Lukas’s last blog post..Facebook thinks I’m old and fat.
two thumbs up stacy!!!
“I think for any type of certificate or accreditation, there needs to be an official body (academic or association) behind it. Not just any guy/gal off the street.”
What’s your view of WOMMA? They seem to be addressing important ethical issues in WOM/SM (http://womma.org/ethicsreview). Do they have the reach and standing necessary to be a accreditation body?
Beth:
I wholeheartedly agree with you. This is another step towards trying to make a postmodern tool like social media fit into a modern box. Creating “experts” is a way to make people who don’t understand what’s happening to the world feel better.
But my question is this, and it’s something that I’ve been wondering for a while. You mention that it’s wrong to claim to know how to make someone an expert in an area of marketing that is so “new”. How much does social media need to evolve for it not to be “new” anymore? Is it then OK to have experts?
Caleb Gardner’s last blog post..Bad service has nowhere left to hide
Hi Beth,
I remember when I 1st started out in my social media adventure my co-worker was heavily into SEO and took some classes to obtain a certification.
His argument was that a certification was required if you were to be respected amongst fellow SEO’ers and if you wanted a job. He advised me to do the same.
Well I didn’t and with only two years of SM under my belt I too am suspicious that someone could learn everything they need to know in a 12 week course. I do strongly feel that colleges and univeristies should start implementing social media classes into their course electives.
You bring up a good point – that corporations will pass over talented social media and marketing folks in favor of those who are “certified”. I believe that talent and experience will outweigh any piece of paper.
DaveMurr’s last blog post..Can Blogs Work on Paper?
In my humble opinion, it’s just not a “One Size Fits All” kinda thing. Needs are going to vary from person to person. Experiences are going to vary.
It’s going to take an investment of time, energy and yes sometimes money. Oh and did I mention a whole lot of “doing” and trial and error. Just because you sat in some course and slapped a title on your business card doesn’t make you successful (let alone ready to counsel others).
Ricardo Bueno’s last blog post..Social Media is NOT for Everyone!
Beth,
I agree with you that the proof is in the pudding. And before I signed up for anything, I would find out what qualifications the person has, whether it’s to teach me something, fix my car or take out my appendix.
Coaching programs have been around forever and have benefited many. Some people want the certification to add legitimacy. Some are only interested in what they learn.
Certification has been brand new at one time or another for EVERY industry or practice that offers it. SM is new and it doesn’t surprise me that someone is offering certification as part of their curriculum.
I don’t understand the offense.
– Kurt
@MikeLanese, I think any association like PRSA, AMA, IABC, WOMMA, etc. have the ability to offer accreditation. The difference between those associations and some guy/gal off the street is that they usually have a governing set of rules, ethics and in order to receive accreditation, a test must be passed.
@CalebGardner, I think just like integrated marketing communications (IMC), SEO, SEM, e-marketing, viral marketing, etc., social media will one day not be new and those who really are leaders and experienced practitioners will still be around and implementing social media for companies, non-profits, clients, etc. For me, personally, I shy away from the use of the word “expert.” I think once someone says they are an expert in marketing (or anything), they’ve stopped learning and trying new things. But, that’s just me.
@Kurt, it’s less of an offense and more of an objection, which I have stated pretty clearly.
Hi,
is the term “certification” that makes everybody so angry or is it the fact that someone earns money by teaching social media?
If a person (not an academic institution) offered a social media course for three months without a certification, would you all feel better about it?
I have recently done a social media course and received a certification (the course conductor explained it was not an official certification as it would be from a university, etc.) This course was very affordable and taught us students a lot of information. Many of the networks we learned about we wouldn’t have found on our own.
The thing is that a lot about social media CAN BE TAUGHT, eg. Twitter applications, Facebook applications, what is possible with LinkedIn, where to submit videos other than to Youtube, where to submit articles and press releases to, how to repurpose content, how to track reputation online, etc. It’s the little technicalities a lot of people struggle with, starting even from how to set up a proper profile, how to customise the website link on LinkedIn, etc.
Many small businesses/one-(wo)man-bands wish to go online with their services and products and feel overwhelmed when they try to start out with social media. They go on Facebook or LinkedIn, fill out their profile and then get stuck because they don’t even know where to find a Facebook page for their business. It’s actually not easy to find!
Worse even with Twitter! Most give up within one or two days if they don’t find out what it actually offers and how to make best use of it.
Additionally, there is a huge amount of Twitter tools that one needs to discover to make Twitter work.
There are plenty of bloggers who blog about these tools (and others). If you have the time you can read through all these blog posts, spend half a year with this and then begin networking for your business online. But what happens in the meantime? You just wait until you are savvy enough without anybody teaching you for money – and lose one year of effective networking. Not a good tactic in my opinion!
The work of Public Relations practitioners and Marketing Managers needs to include online work nowadays as well. I know many PR people who work mainly offline for and with their clients, but have absolutely no clue how to use social media on behalf of their clients nor how to plan a social media campaign. These people need a quick fix to stay successful in their chosen PR career and for them a course is an ideal solution to get into this quickly.
Once you’ve done a course you can find your way around in social media and explore yourself, but to get there, it is very helpful to enrol in a course to get the basics.
That’s my 2 cents.
Heike Miller’s last blog post..Do your potential customers forget about you?
Well put! Social media marketing is a TACTIC, something practitioners often forget. Today as we enter a tough economic time, having and understanding the basic premises of marketing- target markets, positioning, USP, etc. is even more critical.
A social media marketing certification makes sense in some cases for folks with traditional marketing backgrounds or those without who plan to help experienced marketing managers implement social media tactics.
However, as with any new field, social media is changing so fast, experience in social media and understanding how it fits in with classical marketing is probably just as worthwhile if not more.
[...] fling of utter bliss and then thrown aside the next business day – A strategy that you can purchase and be certified in by anyone who wants to ‘do it’ – A plug n’ play or one-size-fits-all strategy [...]
WOW! that’s a great idea. How come I haven’t thought of that.
I should be teaching social media marketing and designing and handing out cirtificates while I charge these dumb asses load of $$.
knowledge of classical marketing theory and techniques would likely prove very useful, in that having any kind of knowledge is never a bad thing. however, there could be something to be said about the way in which technology is changing the entire paradigm around marketing, itself.
by placing easy access to these tools in the hands of everyday people, aren’t we opening the door to democratizing the flow of information? so then more and more we’re building personal connections based on mutual interest, in lieu of using many of the usual marketing strategies.
so instead of using a billboard, web banner or print ad campaign, you would do something like blog every day on the thing you’re passionate about. or maybe you’d send out email blast announcements for online radio shows given on a certain subject… and then ultimately that would lead to commerce, the variety of which would be centered around the needs and purposes of a community.
it would be as if social media would not only be a new tool in classical marketing. it would also present to us a new dynamic in marketing theory, all-together.
i pose the above as a question. can anyone please answer it? thank you.
@HeikeMiller, I really wouldn’t describe it as “anger” but amusement. I don’t think anyone involved in social media is against consulting or holding workshops to help clients learn and implement social media. I for one am not and plan on offering workshops. That said, I’d never offer a certification…just because it would be a meaningless piece of paper, right?
My objection was more about who has the credentials to offer certification. Surely not some John Doe off the street who gets Twitter and Facebook…but then again, that’s just my opinion.
@jbenham, Is social media changing marketing theory? Personally, I don’t think so. Sales teams have always used information sharing and dialogue (albeit not online). It’s just that most people forget that sales is a function of marketing. What social media is changing in marketing, however, is the need to have real, two-way, online conversations (without a “push” mentality) to build relationships that indirectly lead to sales. And that is something that most classically trained marketers (with the exception of PR folks) need to understand, learn, experience. These are just my opinions, but I hope they answer your question…
This is EXACTLY what happened in the technology field. Microsoft decided to make some spare change by coming up with all these certifications. I worked in technology and wouldn’t give them a dime for a piece of paper. I found many of the techies certified took good exams, but knew nothing about actually fixing problems.
Anyone wanting to hire an expert should take the time to know them, not weed people lazily by looking at certifications.
Lynda’s last blog post..Productivity tip
There seem to be two different conversations here. Certification of users and certification of experts/consultants.
I’m all for training for both. Just don’t weed out my expertise because I didn’t pay $1,999. to some phoney to become a certified social media Consultant, when I have working in the media successfully while it grows.
There was recently a blog post (sorry I don’t remember where) from a PR lady who said – I don’t need to be using social media to tell my clients how to use it. -
Lynda’s last blog post..Productivity tip
Very Nice Post Thanks.
I like the discussion. It shows that the market is maturing, getting bigger, wider…
It reminds what I learned about school in general – it took quite some time to get over it. In fact it took about 1,000 years from the first schools popping up to an education system.
And guess what we are even more expensive. We charge $4,500 for the social media leadership class. Yes it is expensive but either we don’t do it and somebody need to accumulate all the knowledge by digging through the net – which is absolutely possible.
I think we need to allow people to be in one of two groups:
1) Self teaching, exploring things on their own, love to take the time and does it whatever it takes. Learning by doing. Totally fine and many are that way – no educational program needed.
2) Very busy – need to learn the stuff in a short amount of time and apply the learned material in practice.
So here is what we are teaching for instance:
[All promotional crap DELETED by Beth]
In any case it is not about the certificate – it is about the content, the practice experience, the learning in a team, the networking around a common content etc.
Cheers
@AxelS
@AxelS, thanks for using my blog as a way to promote your social media certification and for proving my point… Social media certification providers don’t get social media and are only in it for the fast buck.
All promotion content has been deleted. This blog wasn’t established as a billboard for your lame attempt at self-promotion.
@Beth – that’s fine – consider it “Promotional crap”. It is interesting how a marketer like you “censors content” in an open world.
It just makes clear that you don’t care about any other opinion – you are only interested in getting your point across. We consider this Marketing 1.0. It is the old model of “market penetration”, “getting the message out”, pushing content “at an audience” rather than exploring thoughts “with an audience” … maybe you join the academy once and actually get an idea for yourself to then judge it. Your style here actually proves the opposite – you judge based on your opinion.
Come on, open up and explore the new world.
Ahhh – now I get it – I just browsed through your blog and saw this: “Two ways how to learn social media” and if you sign up now save $200. So sorry, I didn’t mean to ruined your sales pitch on your own campaign. Never mind. I’m out of here.
@AxelS, by not understanding why I deleted the promotional crap you are, ironically, continuing to shine a spotlight on your social media inabilities… not mine.
Yep, that’s right it’s my blog and I can choose what information I share with my readers. And they’ll let me know if they do or don’t find value in it. What I don’t abide by is people using the comment area for self-promotion…especially if they don’t have a relationship with me. BTW, it’s not my own sales pitch…but if you understood social media, you’d get that.
@ beth and axel, in your opinions, is the new social media steering the culture of marketing away form competition and toward cooperation and community?
btw, here’s a question from a typical 2.0 illiterate (namely, myself): when posting this blog, i naturally put my artist url in the field marked “website”. it’s my only website, so i just naturally did this. i do have a blog somewhere on blogger.com (“clarityinthegoldenrule”) which i guess i could have used. it’s highly politicised, though, and i don’t know if it would have been appropriate.
but below this field and the submit button, there’s a checkbox for something like “feed” (i think thy mean “rss feed”). right next to that, there’s a link which reads “a feed could not be found at http://wwwthe2013collection.com (my artist site)”, which then takes you to a page on “commentLuv” that explains the error and then offers instructions. it’s all very confusing to me, and i used to design websites (i was certified back in 1999).
then below that, there’s a pull-down menu which allows the user to dynamically change that link to go to somewhere else or to some other set of instructions. i’m realizing that all this comes from various user interface design features which were chosen to create this site and make it navigable. but to someone like me, it doesn’t make much sense.
i’m not talking about just the technology being used. i believe that one of the features offered is to set up a link or a feed which actually goes to alternative discussions on this same blog site by beth. i can understand the technology and the concept well enough, but i can’t understand the social media or marketing implications of doing this (don’t worry beth, i’m not trying to fish in your pond). I even have a background in old-school sales, marketing and advertising, and i still don’t get it.
beth, you mentioned that people in public relations use much of the same marketing strategies as people using social media. but i also believe that the term “pr” was originally coined by freud’s nephew to replace the word “propaganda”.
i hope that it’s developed into a much more socially healthy and responsible thing. if it has, then what i’m hoping to find is a training program that can educate people on those strategies, show them what tools are available and focuses on how they can be properly, responsibly, effectively and successfully used. i think it would likely take much longer than 12 weeks, and i’m itching to find a program that does all this.
beth, if you are offering or endorsing any kind of social media marketing program (as axel was mentioning that you did above), then i’d like to know more about it. the fact that you’re a skeptic is actually reassuring to me.
axel, i took a look at what your school is offering and it seems to fit the description of what i’m looking for. i like the fact that you appear to teach real marketing fundamentals and do it from a social media standpoint. i also like that you require an entrance exam which tests prerequisites for minimal core competence in both marketing theory and use of the technology.
but from what i’ve researched, i don’t know that this can all be done in 12 weeks. i don’t know if any course has the ability to effectively deliver all that information in so short a time and i’m certain that i’d be more than challenged in trying to absorb and retain it all.
i also don’t like that your school’s programs appear to be primarily targeted at acclimating people toward working with social media in the corporate world. firstly, this is the kind of thing that i’m trying to steer away from. if i was going to go corporate, then i’d choose a job in sales which doesn’t require working so much with computers.
social media looks to me to be an opportunity to promote my art and the work of other artists. the technology is a useful and necessary evil. i don’t like spending hours in front of the computer screen, but i would if i knew how to make it really work for me.
the corporate agenda is something which i don’t think will thrive on social media sites, either. during the rise of web 1.0, google and the other big search engines devised very cleaver ways of eliminating from their searches sites with things like spam and repetitive key-wording. this was to ensure the quality of their own product. people wanted to find the things they were interested in and didn’t want to be lead around by a bunch of ads (granted, these search engines do have ads, but they tend to make it clear which things are ads and which are authentic sources of information).
my fear (actually, my hope) is that the culture surrounding social media will create a demand for the weeding out of any kind of inauthentic or corporate agenda. given that, i have an interest in art and i want to be able to connect with sellers, buyers, creators and fans of art on this level. i want to keep it real.
that might mean working independently or for somebody. i don’t know. so, can either of you help me with this? maybe point me in the right direction?
While a corporation may pass over an uncertified consultant, a small business or non-profit may not want to pay for that “certification”. The small business, entrepreneur, creative capital that will bring the economy around, is more likely to get what they need: A coach or motivator rather than an “expert”, a fellow student or study partner in the ever-evolving world of social media.
First off, anyone with a few hours to spare, a computer, and internet access can learn the tools all by themselves for free. If you’re like me (and I learned this back in the old Bulletin Board days) you make an account, you watch, listen and learn and then jump in.
The real value anyone can bring to a client in social media is strategy, coaching, consulting, project management, implementation, budgets etc. These skills and those who have mastered them are essential to a successful campaign. And these skills could have been gotten from anywhere. I ran a technology company for 15 years. The skills I honed there are the same skills I now use in social media.
I could have taken many single courses on all these things (and in a few cases I did), but I also developed many on my own.
Certification in social media is not something I need, and if someone turns me down because they are looking for it, then I doubt we are a good fit anyway. I’d rather someone hire me because we are a good fit and they respect my experience.
Since I’m doing well at this point, it seems to be working for me. Just like in the old days I decided not to give Microsoft money to prove I knew what I already knew (and what.. prove I’m good at taking tests).
@jBenham To answer your two questions:
1) Competition is a natural process of selection and evolution. I don’t see social media “replacing” competition with collaboration. Instead I feel COLLABORATION is a better way to (still) COMPETE. We compete for mindshare, attention, better solutions, we compete to make things better…
2) I want to be honest, I don’t think the Academy is what you are looking for. There are so many free webinars and tips and sites to learn more about social media – what we offer would be an expensive overkill.
Hope that helps.
Cheers
Axel
@ axel: lynda morris says that what’s really required in social media is “strategy, coaching, consulting, project management, implementation, budgets etc.”. i took a pretty good look at your school’s curriculum and they appeared to cover those things. is there some skill-set which you may think i need that is missing from your series?
@jBenham – I guess this is not the place we should explore all the details. Let’s discuss it on the social media academy forum – You find us in LinkedIn, Facebook or in our own online community.
@JBenham,
I’ve been involved in social media for the past five years and I can tell you that there are NO accredited associations (PRSA, IABC, AMA, WOMMA, SMC, etc…) that offer social media certification (some, however, do offer accreditation in PR or business communications).
First, if these highly respected and credible business associations aren’t offering SM certifications, then I’d surely question the motives of any business who is. Caveat Emptor.
Second, to Lynda’s point, a certification will not teach you “strategy, coaching, consulting, project management, implementation, budgets etc.” Those skills are gained from being on the job for many years & being hands-on, working with teams, etc. An SM certification isn’t going to make you business savvy or teach you marketing fundamentals.
Third, social media is nothing new (you had asked this question a while back & how SM is changing marketing). It’s taking those offline business relationships and moving them online. Social media tools are a vehicle to do that, but they are always changing. Social media is changing marketing because instead of one-way push of messaging it’s interactions with customers. Instead of mass communications, it’s one-to-one-to-many. But the business development aspect (relationships, trust, authenticity) is nothing new, it’s just online.
If you really want to learn about social media and how it can help your business, save some money and start here:
Groundswell (Charlene Li/Josh Bernoff)
Now is Gone (Geoff Livingston)
The New Influencers (Paul Gillin)
Marketing to the Social Web (Larry Weber)
Blogging for Business (Holtz/Demopoulos)
Naked Conversations (Scoble/Israel)
PR 2.0 (Deirdre Breakenridge)
Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why it Matters (Bill Tancer)
Take the time to ease yourself into any of the social networking sites that will work best for your business.
@ Beth: thank you for your valuable input. i will definitely look at those sources you’ve named for me.
i guess that what i for-see (in my naive fashion) is an evolving marketplace wherein you mix the social protocol of the present/future with the professional marketing techniques of the past/present. i’m not supposing that the old methods are going to be lost forever, just that the new technology may set an entirely new direction for their future development.
i guess it’s a very broad question which calls for quite a bit of speculation, even from the original pioneers who are still at the forefront of it all. given that, do you have a “speculation” blog entry concerning possibilities for the future of social media (culture, commerce, etc.)? as i said, i will definitely look at the sources you name. but you do have one of the most popular discussions on social media and i like everything i’ve seen so far.
hope you don’t mind me picking your brain.