Altimeter Group’s Jeremiah Owyang recently completed research into the role of client-side social media strategists. Timely, as many Dachis Group clients are determining how to best organize for social business. Related: Jive’s Gia Lyons considers the report from the E2.0/IT/internal side.
Jeremiah offers ten guidelines for hiring a social media lead:
- Hire a program manager rather than a social media “hot shot.”
- Seek candidates with a track record of early technology adoption in their careers.
- Scrutinize how they have used social media in the past.
- Seek backgrounds that demonstrate the ability to manage dotted-line resources and agency partners.
- Look for a corporate entrepreneur, comfortable with “calculated risks.”
- Ensure a culture fit – as the Social Strategist will tackle change management.
- Find a natural born connector – both internally and externally.
- Celebrate those risks by enabling them to “fail forward,” while clearing their obstacles.
- Enable them to connect to peers and invest in their knowledge and career growth.
- Protect your investment by providing new challenges and compensate well – they are highly coveted.
Altimeter has made the research publicly available; you can access the full report here and charts & graphs here.
In my experience, social business efforts are still nascent, making the use of terms like “career” and “strategist” a bit premature. Companies need help finding professionals who will put corporate brand before personal brand. They need agile managers who can respond quickly to emerging opportunities in rapidly changing platforms. Most importantly, an organization structure needs to be in place to govern “social” investments – technology, media, headcount – to drive value back to the business.
Don’t get me wrong; I think this is a useful report. It’s a highly useful guide for individuals who are currently in or aspire to hold social media management positions.
My advice to executives with the scope and span of control to impact the enterprise: focus on hiring social business executives who are interested in building corporate brands and bottom lines first, personal careers and ego after.
Very nice observations. I agree we are still in my opinion in Social Media 1.0 or 1.1 and since it is Technology vs really Media/Content it is still evolving. Anyone who is hired to handle Social Media Technologies for the myriad of ways it can be used for a business needs to be agile. Platforms are changing as we speak. I don’t expect Facebook to be as big as it is in 5 years. Not sure about Twitter (I see it as eventual imbedded technology like SMS/MMS is today).
Whoever you put in charge needs to be very open minded, flexible, excited about technology and trying things out, not afraid of failure, and a voracious reader. I mean its actually very simple. Upper Management with the help of ‘This Person’ figures out ways to use the Technology just like we use computers and phone etc and then its up to ‘This Person’ to figure out how to implement it in whatever way they can that can be measured and altered on the go.
BTW Aaron Strout of Powered sent me blame him!