me & her

Here’s why so many social media managers are dipshits

Perhaps the question was rhetorical, but an article about social media managers at large companies (and why they suck) is picking up steam on the interwebosphere, so I thought I’d take a few minutes to provide an answer and, perhaps, the solution.

WHY ARE SO MANY SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS DIPSHITS?

The first reason is that most of these people are simply living up to the value they are assigned at the company they work for. My guess is that (in many cases) they’re low-level nobodies assigned to the task of writing some tweets, perhaps because they have a Twitter account and have demonstrated an ability to tweet.

Large or small, most companies create a “social media manager” position because they think they have to, not because they understand the point or value of having one. As an extension of that ignorance they accept click/like/retweet-baiting as a substitute for quality engagement.

That initial lack of vision transfers over to assigning no value to the person tasked with the job, which means they get paid shit because the job they’ve been given isn’t worth paying much for. In turn, that person could give a fuck about doing anything more than an adequate job.

Assuming a company does go through the trouble of interviewing and hiring someone to fill this role, they fall back on the “pretty person” syndrome and seek out a hipster or a hot girl or Alicia Keys or Ashton Kutcher and bank on the idea that cool bleeds.

The trouble is, you can’t really pay someone to like your product, let alone love it, and bullshit stinks whether it’s attached to Alicia Keys or a nobody. 

So, to sum up:

1. Companies don’t care about or don’t understand the value of social media which means;
2. they under-pay and/or under-hire for the position which results in;
3. a social media manager who doesn’t give a fuck, and it shows.

THE SOLUTION

This is actually way easier to explain:

1. Make the position a priority and pay for it like you mean it.
2. Hire someone who can actually write, not someone who merely tweets.
3. Hire someone who actually loves (and uses) your product.
4. If you can’t find someone who actually loves and uses your product 1) reflect on why that is but 2) at the very least hire someone who loves to write and is enthusiastic and creative when you talk to them about your product.
5. The best way to find someone who qualifies for 2-4 is to go out and do something fun with the person you’re thinking about hiring. Dinner, drinks, whatever. If that person can’t shut up about your product and has ideas about how he/she would promote it, hire that person.
6. Ultimately, you want everything you learn about this person to shine through in the way they engage customers (and potential customers) through social media channels.
7. This doesn’t mean hiring a salesperson, it means hiring an advocate: Much like the Great Pumpkin, you’re looking for sincerity.