With social media for business on the rise, more and more people are trying to jump on the social media consulting firm bandwagon - even if they know nothing about social media!
And what's worse, is that there are people out there who are actually encouraging this behavior saying things like, "Get certified as a social media consultant in 1 week!" and "Start your own social media firm in 24 hours!"
Anyone can slap up a website in a few hours and call themselves an expert. But those who do their due diligence in research won't get suckered into the hype.
Here are 7 ways to find out if a social media firm is really worth their salt or if they're just pulling your leg so they can take your money and run:
1. Are they active in the social media communities?
Any social media specialist who is worth their salt will be as active in their own communities as they are with their clients. Check out their Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and anything else they may have. Even do a Google search on their name. Check them out thoroughly to make sure they're consistently active. And when I mean consistent, I mean, at least one tweet a day! But don't just check how often their active, look at the quality of their interactions and shares. Does it look like someone who is truly engaged in the community and knows what they're talking about?
2. Do they practice what they preach?
Make sure the social media firm you have your eye on practices what they preach. If, say, in their blog they talk about how to get a million Facebook fans in 24 hours, then they better have a million Facebook fans themselves! Of course that's an exaggeration, but you get what I'm saying.
NOTE: they may practice what they preach more for their clients than for themselves and in that case...
3. Do they have any testimonials or examples?
If there are no testimonials on their site, that doesn't mean they've never had a client. For my consulting firm, I have confidentiality agreements with a lot of my clients and if I put up a testimonial from "no name, no company", then it'd look worse than having no testimonials at all. So if they have no testimonials, email them and ask them to show you some of their work, if they can.
4. Are they just echoing other marketers?
If they have a blog (which most social media firms will) then do a simple Google search on the subject of their last blog to see if they're just echoing other people or if their content is any different from anyone else's. Also make sure that their blog is updated at least once a week. You want someone who is active, not just someone is a fly-by-night marketer.
NOTE: more often than not, social media specialists will talk about the same things; that does NOT mean they don't know what they're talking about. Look at more than just the title, look at the content and see how it's laid out. Is it original? Is it thought-provoking?
5. Can you put a face to a name?
Is there any indication that there's a real live person behind that firm? More often than not, social media specialists will have NO problem showing their face because they understand the importance of being personable. So are there any pictures of said specialists either on their website or on any of their social networks?
6. Do they respond to you in a timely manner via Twitter, Facebook, etc?
One of the bases to having a great social media strategy for any business is having open and quick communication. If the social media specialist themselves doesn't reply to a Tweet in a timely manner (say, within 24 hours, I would usually suggest much less time, but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt), then I would seriously doubt their ability to help you communicate with your audience.
7. Do they sound knowledgeable?
More than anything, they must sound knowledgeable. When you speak to them face to face or over the phone or even through email, you can usually get a sense right away if they know what they're talking about or if they're just stumbling along, trying to find the answers on Google as you ask your questions. You don't have to know the answers before asking (that's why you're hiring the social media firm, right?), but even so - if they try to sell you links, if they try to downplay your strategy, if they try to sell you things that you never talked about or asked for, if they don't bring any new and fresh ideas to the table or even if they try to avoid a question and try to steer it in the complete opposite direction; RUN AWAY!
Are there any other signs that can tell you to STAY AWAY?