Welcome to the Wild Wild West!
You've been traveling a long way and now you have finally reached your destination, the open frontier of Social Media Marketing (SMM). Now that you are here, how are you going to survive? It depends on what you are good at and who you have to help you. Are you a farmer, businessman, lawman, or the gunslinger? Let's take a look at what each of these trades brings to the table.
The Farmer of SMM
You have to have these guys or you're going to starve. They are your content providers. They love and are good at creating things that people love to gobble up. They constantly plant new things in the ground that will grow into something great. To do this they watch it, care for it, and pull the weeds out along the way. It takes a lot of hard work to be able to create all this wonderful content people have on their plates. Sometimes they struggle with the delivery. They need help getting the good stuff to the plates. That's when the next member of society shows up.
The Businessman of SMM
Now that you have this wonderful content that has been made, you hand it over to the man with the plan. These businessmen came out west to sell the world what they have to offer. They set up shop and plan how to get this content out into the world. They are good at pushing numbers and goods at the public in the right way. They know how to talk to the people, to market to them, and how to represent themselves. They set up shop in the best location and help the farmers understand why it's the best way to get their product sold. They will get up on their soapbox and say "Come one, come all, I have the best and only product you will ever need to get your business to prosper in the Wild West of Social Media Marketing."
The Lawman of SMM
Think of this guy as the moral compass of the team. He will let you know what you can and can't do in SMM.This new sheriff wears a white hat and likes to keep things clean and organic in SMM. You might ask yourself why you need this guy in the "Wild West", but I'm here to tell you that if you don't have this guy on your team, you'll end up in the stocks or find yourself hanging at the end of rope. You don't want to hang your company or client because you wanted to do things the way the old black hat sheriff use to do things. So think wisely and listen to advice of your moral compass.
The Gunslinger of SMM
Wait a minute! I just told you that you should listen to the sheriff, and now I have a gunslinger on the team. OK, calm down, who said gunslingers are always the bad guys? This gunslinger draws for the right team. You need this guy because he is your celebrity and is quick to draw out the facts and awesome ideas to give to the people out in the SMM west. People will know his/her face and know their ideas; this will draw people to your company and generate revenue. So make sure your gunslinger is someone that has these following traits.
1. They are a people person and are easy to like. You don't want someone to be your gunslinger or your company's celebrity if they are not appealing to the public.
2. They are quick to take action. You want someone who is proactive and always wanting to improve themselves and the company in the SMM west.
3. Fearless. You want them to not be afraid to come up with new great ideas and to take risks. You won't get anywhere in the Wild West SMM if you are timid and afraid, you'll get shot down.
The Roundup!
Behold, I give you your Wild West Social Media Marketing team. You need people that can fill these roles or multiple if need be. Just remember it's crazy and lawless out there in the SMM west at times, so stick to your guns and you and your clients will make it through to the next glorious age.