#FFS...there’s NO SUCH THING AS A TWITTER EXPERT!

What’s NEXT...sandwich eating experts!? Listening to some folk bang on about how they are twitter experts is really annoying. Being social online & having the ability to use a computer does not make you an expert.

The BBC recently spoke to James Rebanks, a British Shepherd Farmer who currently has 58.4K followers on Twitter, but does this make James a twitter expert? 

This is a great example of how social media connects people as his profile appeals to animal lovers, fellow farmers and country folk etc. If he wanted to grow his following he could just use some common twitter strategies.....NO need for expertise to do that!

Social Media (SM) Management Services

We’ve seen the growth & subsequent claims of these services that they’re experts at SM, but I don’t buy that! I understand the value of Content Marketing (CM) and it’s role for big brands to engage customers, but do we all have to rely on CM? James the farmer certainly doesn’t! (Traditional context for social media)

"I’d like to see more small businesses & start ups get stuck into their own SM campaigns"

Package Deals

I’ve seen social media management agencies charging £150 pm for 50 posts or interactions each month. What happens when those interactions lead to extended conversations? I think this sector is heading towards an ethos of mass production with replicated content used for multiple client profiles. Building your brand on SM takes time and with the short daily SM window for engagement, I can’t see how agencies can genuinely cater to numerous individual businesses. This ethos may be on Tweetdeck already, where I’ve seen identical tweets from different profiles. Not so social!

Social Media Assistance

This is another option to help grow your SM presence, and can be a great way to learn the ropes quickly to help ease you in. Just make sure in either case you ask your service provider if they meet or have the following criteria:

• Experience of your industry or business.
• Similar profile to your customers for additional contextual insight.
• Been a previous customer - not always possible, but great for relating to followers.
• A good personal social media profile - good indicator of their SM experience & style.

For my next blog, I’ll share some of my fav Twitter strategies (I’m NOT an expert!) so stay tuned! 

Thanks for reading folks!