May 27, 2009 98 Comments

Getting Back to Your Desk

man at desk The age of social media as “wow” and “gee whiz” is almost at an end. Thank *.deity. I’m tired of mapping conversations. I’m sick of people asking me to make things go viral. Here’s what’s next, friends and critics: a return to the desk. That’s right. A real job. Social media as a tool and not as a fancy shiny object.

Let’s not get too literal here. I’m a workshifter and don’t usually visit a specific desk too often. But what I mean is this: social media is a set of tools and tactics that people use as part of their larger business communications efforts. They are functions of a job, not something shiny that hides off on a magical island away from the job. They are part of a job function, not a standalone vocation.

Your mileage may vary in 2009, but let’s see where things are by the end of 2010.

First, Metrics

Let’s get right to it: measuring how many people commented on a blog post shows you that people are engaging. Unless you’re looking for awareness-only, all you’ve measured is that someone has commented on the blog post. Views of a YouTube video? Same thing. Hits on a blog or website? Same.

Measure what you need to change. Sales? Subscriptions? Trials? Whatever the next action is you need to accomplish through your communications effort, make that measurement (which you’re already measuring for your traditional business communications needs) the same number to track.

If you’re doing PR and you need more coverage from the blog world, excellent. Then make that just another channel that you devote efforts to, and then make sure that these tie back into however you’re measured. If you’re doing internal communications, then use these tools as an alternative to email, or a more engaging way to promote two-way conversations, or anything but a sideshow novelty to check off a box on the “we’re cool too” report.

Essentially, make the numbers matter to the business, not to what social media does and doesn’t cover.

Job Functions

What are people doing taking titles like “Social Media Manager?” To me, this is a scary thing. Why? Because it’s like being the fax manager or the email manager. You’re naming yourself after a tool.

The jobs where you might use social media tools exist in the marketing department, in the PR department, in customer service, and in several other parts of the company. But use the titles that exist.

The functions? Focus on what your company needs most. By the way, that’s advice to everyone at all times. No matter your title, do your job well, but FOCUS on what your company needs most. It’s how I got through my career so far.

Rise Up and Buckle Down

Maybe this sounds ranty. Maybe it is. I guess my big point is that we’ve got to shift this from “gee whiz” to “this is what we do to build business relationships.”

Push away from meaningless metrics and point your efforts towards moving the bottom line. It’s absolutely imperative that this become a “real” job instead of something cool.

Are you with me?

photo credit foundphotoslj

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  • Batman

    I've been focusing on #UselessTwitterMetrics specifically, but I'm sure that most other metrics are indeed meaningless as you define them above. I also like what you stated about job function. Of course, as a one man operation, I do have to take on the additional job of “Social Media Manager” on top of everything else that I do….

  • http://jfciii.com/blog/ John F Crosotn III

    I have been saying the same thing for a long time now. Social Media is just a big fancy set of words to do what marketing and PR have done for years. The people that do Social Media, just get to use really cool wiz bang kind of tools to accomplish their tasks.

  • http://www.bigpictureweb.com/ jlbraaten

    There is a huge rift growing between digital and old-school marketers, which is creating the need for titles such as this. The marketers that are winning are the ones that keep the title of marketer. The companies that are creating the “social media manager” positions are, by in large, and this is only a guess, playing catch up. And losing.

  • http://backyardzen.wordpress.com/ Anthony A. Ampania

    I'm with you Chris. Building character and competence creates the trust ingredient essential to any productive business relationship. Getting back to the sturdy wooden desk serves as the metaphorical foundation for technology expanding your universe, but YOU still have to be its Captain Kirk.

  • http://www.timjahn.com/blog Tim Jahn

    This is definitely the time to buckle down and start using these “social media” tools to actually do something. It's going to remain shiny to those who don't understand it fully, but that's all the more reason for those who do to showcase what this is all capable of.

  • http://www.ramseymohsen.com/ Ramsey Mohsen

    Amen, amen and amen. I don't have anything more to add because this blog post is dead on. If there was a Facebook “like” button on this blog post, I would of clicked it already.

  • http://gobusiness101.com/ GoBusiness101

    “No matter your title, do your job well, but FOCUS on what your company needs most.”
    I do well agree with this. Thanks for the reminders.

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  • http://mizzinformation.blogspot.com Maggielmcg

    LMAO–so funny and so true! Don't get me started on the whole social media manager vs. intern thing!

  • KatFrench

    Thanks, Chris. After a decent night's sleep, I'm in a better place to respond rationally. Yesterday I was just plain mean most of the day, for reasons that had little to do with this post.

    I agree that “social media manager” is probably a transitional role. But I would strongly disagree that it's already a deprecated role, or will be very soon, particularly in an agency context.

    Jason and I discussed changing my title last fall, but in the end “social media” says I'm conversant with the technologies and etiquette of the social web, and “manager” says I'm empowered to act on behalf of my clients.

    It's not ideal, but it's the clearest option at the moment.

  • http://detroit.fwix.com Jamie Favreau

    You are so right.

    If you are a manager you aren't really a thought leader. I would rather lead then manage. When you lead you get a better understanding and are willing to make the changes necessary to make your business stronger.

  • Alan

    I like the post. Not so sure I agree with the concept of not hiring a social media manager. Sure, in time, using social media will become woven into the fabric of most/all the employees of a business. However, not all businesses are nimble and ready. Many are still command-and-control. Many aren't willing to have their employees accept “yet another thing to do”. Even worse, the executives at some of these companies don't even know what it is that's extra that their employees are supposed to do! They hear “social media”, and say “ooo, go do that”.. Wait, what?

    I think a social media manager (or whatever related title you can think) helps ferret out the right and wring channels, finds out how to funnel the information collected back into the organization, identifies who are the primary recipients and evangelists of a new way of doing things (which will, in a few years, just be 'the way' and not the new way), and staying on the edge. I think you might be giving a lot of companies too much credit (and as hard as it is to believe, that's not a dig, it's just one person's take on corporate culture) with respect to their ability to react and change course.

  • Tyler Pennock

    As one of those people with a “Social Media something or other” title, I can say that I definitely agree with your assessment that social media skills need to be woven throughout the organization – and not living as some sort of separate practice area. For my job, I'm helping to get my colleagues as well as my clients better versed in all of these new “tools”. So I guess I'm not managing tools – but I am managing the process and strategy by which my agency learns about the tools and how to put them into action. Also, right on about tying sm efforts to business objectives. We'll never get past the “fad” phase if we can't start demonstrating impact on beyond “engagement.”

  • http://ohiogrowthsummit.blogspot.com/ Michael Bowers

    Great post Chris. Small businesses need ways to reach potential customers and social media certainly can be a great way to engage and build relationships. It is critical that these interactions lead some place that moves the company forward. I look forward to hearing more about using social media as a tool to move business forward when you speak at the Ohio Growth Summit on June 10.

  • http://terenceinmonochrome.blogspot.com/ Terrnursery

    Chris,

    You are so correct in expressing concern over how some are employing or applying the name of “Social Media Specialist” in a system that works to navigate to a source, not adopt as a title. Being a user of “social tools and networks”, I want to gain the best audience and exposure that is available to me, without insulting the true meaning of social exchange.

    Your blogs are, to invoke my New York City unbringing, “dope!”

    T

  • jimbursch

    I think my beef is with the term “social media”. In my admittedly small brain, social media is media intended for socializing. Media that is used for something other than socializing is not social media.

    So (again, keep in mind my small brain), when I hear about a business getting into social media, it sounds to me like they are crashing a party to which they were not invited. Imagine some schmuck you don't know showing up at your dinner party handing out his business card.

    This is a semantics problem. Clearly, communications technology that was originally designed for social purposes can have other uses and applications.

    Is there an alternative to the term “social media”?

  • BryanPerson

    Might be time to rethink that “social media evangelist” title on my business card :)

    Bryan | @BryanPerson

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  • Anne Orens

    Great post Chris, on the perils of mistaking the tool for the product, the skill set, or the function.

    As someone who lived through the dark ages of CD-ROM Managers, when my publishing colleagues were hired to handle a content format rather than publication of the great stuff we were doing in something other than a book format, I cheered (to myself) when I read your post.

  • http://janpedrano.blogspot.com janpedrano

    The best definition of “social media” that I have found so far!!. Now, for the position titles yes they sound “cocky”, but for the normal non internet-facebook-twitter-etc user, this world of “social media” does not represent an easy endeavor.

    What I think this new “social positions” will accomplish (or at least try to) is to submerge the company in this new world, not only by sending links to the executives saying “this is why we should do twitter”, but working with the people, showing them how to use them and making experiments with their products, services or grands in general.

    Then when the company manages the social media tools as part of their day by day business, those positions will not be needed anymore, but as everything, they will evolve.

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  • http://twitter.com/TruffleMedia TruffleMediaJohnBlue

    This post reminds me of a comment Dr. Seymour Papert made during the 2006 SqueakFest in Chicago: “There are no conferences on paper and education.”

    —-

    As the key note, Dr. Seymour Papert, shared a story of when he and Alan Kay were both key note speakers at a conference on computers and education. Seymour, during his keynote, stated that he hoped that this would be “the last conference on computers and education” because he felt that the focus on the computer was driving behavior in education the wrong way. The comment that hit home (and got the laugh) was “There are no conferences on paper and education.”.

  • http://kellycotiaux.com/ ladyotrout

    Whoa and thanks. Great reality check especially when there are so many folks in our neck of the woods think that twitter and facebook are not only NEW things but the only ones! Some of them are supposedly experts in their field and they fail to see the big picture and only a few tasks that they spew onto their client base. I can only keep learning. Thank you for this!

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  • http://www.benjaminjtaylor.com benjaminjtaylor

    By your definition the New York Times Social Media Editor ought to only write about platforms and tools and not about cultural and anthropological impact those tools have on society.Language evolves, titles evolve as do the needs of a business. There are companies large enough to justify “Social Media Managers” that don't fit nicely into marketing (consumer/integrated etc) departments, their new focus is on platform and community development, no small task. Most marketers in large scale entertainment businesses (of which I've worked for the past 10 years) work in television in partnership with online, that's how it works, you have online content producers focused on generating content and supporting convergent programming, editorial (blogs etc), video team dedicated to broadband video production and distribution, IS&T, Design, Photo etc… ALL working in in collaboration, as a team, with a social media manager – and it works. I'm not the social media manager but having that small team in place is critical in terms of distribution and community development.

  • http://twitter.com/bugsyrocker Bugsy

    I disagree.

    I believe a title should give a person confidence, pride in handing out their business card, summarize their skills and job, and is a title that can be justified.

    At the marketing agency where I work we are working on all sorts of new goodies and this has come up a number of times, some heavy discussion on title changes.

    And those are the four points that it comes down to. And if their title contains social media, that’s great! As long as they feel it is a great representation of them.

    If someone is a “Social Media Manger”, that kicks butt. The last thing I want is a title that everyone else in the world has…. so my title is simply “The Secret Weapon” at the office, or “Unofficial Ambassador of the Upper Peninsula”. Both which I love, give me great pride and confidence, summarize what I do, and can be justified.

  • http://twitter.com/bugsyrocker Bugsy

    I disagree.

    I believe a title should give a person confidence, pride in handing out their business card, summarize their skills and job, and is a title that can be justified.

    At the marketing agency where I work we are working on all sorts of new goodies and this has come up a number of times, some heavy discussion on title changes.

    And those are the four points that it comes down to. And if their title contains social media, that’s great! As long as they feel it is a great representation of them.

    If someone is a “Social Media Manger”, that kicks butt. The last thing I want is a title that everyone else in the world has…. so my title is simply “The Secret Weapon” at the office, or “Unofficial Ambassador of the Upper Peninsula”. Both which I love, give me great pride and confidence, summarize what I do, and can be justified.

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  • http://twitter.com/Davezilla Dave Linabury

    Ah my old friend, just because a tool has a name and business function, does not mean it cannot also be in a job title. Some examples: Computer Programmer, Telephone Operator, Air Hammer Operator, Tool & Die Maker, Network Line Tester, Cellular Manager, etc.

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  • http://www.naturalk9supplies.com/Brand/mulligan.aspx Mulligan Dog Food

    Great post and I think that it must help the people or it can help employee

  • http://twitter.com/5starweddings 5 Star Weddings

    So true, new jobs, new titles all made to make one feel important. I wonder what will the next new job title will be.

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