Filed under Opinion:
Social media training in the real world:
Much of what I do involves teaching executives how to use Social Media in their day to day business activities. I help Marketing managers integrate social channels into their departments’ activities, for example. I help PR departments develop around-the-clock monitoring practices and crisis response protocols. I help customer service managers develop real-time customer support capabilities and train their staff to be as comfortable in social media environments as they are on the phone or via email. I help COOs integrate social media across their business units and CMOs and CEOs make sense of it all. In essence, that part of what I do looks a lot like cross-training: I teach marketing, customer service, sales, advertising, and PR professionals how to incorporate social media into what they already do, and I help executives understand how social media fits into their professional ecosystems. From there, we build programs based on their needs, objectives, and capabilities.
On occasion, I also help social media professionals learn basic business management concepts so that they won’t waste their employers’ and clients’ time with disconnected “social media strategies” and pointless measurement methodologies. I help them understand how to build social media practices for customer service departments, for instance or teach them how to apply their skillset to a digital marketing role, but somewhere along the line, it is their responsibility to take that training beyond what little guidance I can provide. I am not a university: I am simply not equipped to teach someone how to become a customer service manager or a data analyst or a CMO.
What I also don’t do is teach “social media professionals” how to get better at “social media.” Why? Because any non-basic course on “professional” social media management taught outside of a specific business application context is essentially worthless. It is the social media equivalent of taking an “advanced” course in telephone conversations or email content management. It’s bollocks. You want to learn how to use Twitter better? Find some free tutorials and spend more time using Twitter. You want to learn how to be more fluent with tools like Spiral 16, Webtrends or Seesmic? Get friendly with their tech support teams, let them show you some new tricks, and spend a few hours every week using what you’ve learned until it’s become second nature. Want to learn how to be a better community manager? Talk to other community managers and learn what you can from their successes and setbacks, then try some of their tricks to see how they work for you.
Here’s another tip: Every time you learn something new, share it. Train other people in your organization so you won’t always have to do it all. Build knowledge all around you. In time, they’ll be the ones sharing new tips and tricks with you.
The reality of the business world in 2011 and going into 2012 is that there is no need for “social media professionals.” What businesses need are marketing professionals with a fluency in social media, customer service professionals who can operate in a social media environment, executives who understand how to leverage social media to assist and amplify their other activities, business analysts who know how to measure the effectiveness of their companies’ activities in social media. In other words, businesses need professionals who know how to blend “social” with existing business functions. What they don’t need is to try and figure out how 500,000 newly minted “social media professionals” somehow fit into their organizations.
What is the value of a social media “expert” who can’t translate that expertise into a skill or role a company can actually use?
Where things go wrong:
The notion that thousands of organizations out there are in need of “social media professionals” is a complete sham. Whatever you were doing before social media became a “thing,” that’s what your real skill is. Your profession. What you will be most likely to be hired to do. Your new social media skills, they’re just a fresh layer of value wrapped around that core skill. That’s it. You have 10 years of experience as a customer service rep and three years of using Twitter and Facebook? Guess what: You probably aren’t going to be hired as a Social Media Director by anybody, nor should you. You aren’t ready for that yet. But you could be hired as the customer service manager who will be asked to build and manage the company’s first social media customer service team. Go for that job, kick ass at it, and maybe a year from now you get asked to build on that success, and so forward goes your career. Not as a “social media professional” but as a professional who knows how to use social media.
That social media shortcut though, that magic door to a Chief Social Officer title without passing “Go,” it’s bullshit. It’s a marketing scam to lure you into signing up for webinars, certification programs and whatever else will pass for training these days.
Not to pick on this particular event that popped up in my feed yesterday (whose content actually seems pretty good if you reframe it as a social media-themed conference), but read this marketing copy and think about what it promises and how:
“If you are a social media professional wanting to take your skills to the next level, or an online marketer expanding your capabilities, this program is your chance to go beyond a typical introductory course and get advanced insights from true social media masters. This conference series is a unique opportunity to develop your own mastery of social media for Marketing and Communications, with an emphasis on engagement. Whether you are in charge of a department in a large organization, you are responsible for multiple clients within an agency, or you are an independent professional deepening your skills and knowledge, this special event series will help you advance your career and accomplish your goals in key areas of social media marketing.”
Again, the event might be great. At $199, it seems reasonably priced, and some of the speakers, although I have never heard of them, seem like they might have some interesting insights to share. I just can’t help but be a little curious about:
Take your skills to “the next level.”
Develop your own “mastery” of social media.
This special event series will help you advance your career and accomplish your goals.
This program is your chance.
There’s a little voice in the back of my head that whispers “bullshit!” every time I read copy like this. What it really is, is another “chance” to spend $200 on a conference and listen to presentations. Period. Not that there is anything wrong with that, conferences are great, but they are a far cry from anything close to a course or training program that will “take your skills to the next level” or help you “advance your career.”
I don’t blame any speakers and SMEs for being dragged into operations that don’t quite align promises with delivery. For the most part, they are knowledgeable professionals with great insights to share. They are driven by a desire to help their audience gain insights on certain aspects of social media that are relevant and actionable, and have no idea when they accept the invitation how or to whom the event will be marketed.
Generally speaking, the people who create and operate events which promise one thing but deliver another, on the other hand, know exactly what they are doing when they write or authorize their marketing copy. They see where the ethical lines are drawn as clearly as you and I. Not all but most knowingly choose to use certain keywords in order to create expectations not in line with the reality of what they are delivering. In other words, they choose to deliberately prey on people’s aspirations, hopes and fears (the fear of not being qualified for a job, of missing out on some vital information or insight, of being left behind if they don’t constantly sign up for the next webinar, the next top secret newsletter, the next so-called training program) to make an easy buck. To call people who deliberately engage in deceptive practices predators would be too flattering. They aren’t predators at all. They are parasites: They don’t just hunt you down and kill you. They suck you dry, little by little, one event at a time, one webinar at a time, one newsletter or monthly community membership fee at a time.
Imagine hundreds of termites eating at the very foundations of the social media discipline they claim to be building, all the while charging you for the wood. Now you’re getting a glimpse of what is really going on right under everyone’s noses.
My beef isn’t with the quality of these events or what they charge, mind you. I take no issue with any of it. You want to put on a poorly produced event and charge $3,000 a head? Go for it. It’s your reputation. You want to put on a world class event and only charge $25? More power to you. No, my beef is first and foremost with the marketing. What I take issue with is always the same thing: The predatory sales pitch, the misleading copy, the deliberate formulation of unrealistic expectations to lure the gullible and the desperate (read: the underemployed).
It reminds me of TV evangelists asking the most desperate and poorest of their viewers to send them money in exchange for favors from God. “Send us $50 right now and you will see your investment multiplied tenfold! So sayeth the Lord!” Right. Says the guy with the Gold Rolex, the villa in Beverly Hills and the private petting zoo on his 500-acre estate. If only social media gurus sported TV preacher hair and dressed in 12-button gold lamé suits instead of baggy jeans and ratty T-shirts, the sham would be easier to spot.
My other beef is that when the objective is to make a quick buck, more of the organizers’ time is focused on marketing the event than it is on vetting its speakers and curating their content. As an event organizer, it is your responsibility to make sure that your speakers or trainers won’t deliver complete nonsense that will end up doing more harm than good if anyone actually tries to actually apply their advice. Things along the lines of Social Media ROI = (engagement x brand equity) ÷ brand mentions. And yet, how many times have we seen “experts” deliver complete nonsense at events that were supposed to help us learn something valuable?
An event organizer more focused on making money than creating an exceptional event for his audience probably has his mind on the wrong thing. It’s hard to read slimy marketing copy and not wonder what is really going on behind the scenes. That doesn’t help anyone.
A word about ethics, responsibility, and digital citizenship:
There are ethical lines all of us, every single day, decide not to cross. And I get it: Times are tough. As one of these very well fed social media termites had the nerve to tell me via email not long ago, “everyone has the right to make a buck.” Yeah. True. But you also have the right to have both your motives and practices questioned when you choose to make a dishonest buck. This goes way beyond the shady SEO schemes and non-disclosure of paid endorsements you run into on a weekly basis with many so-called A-list bloggers: It goes to the heart of being part of a community, of presenting yourself as a “thought leader,” as a guru or role model or shepherd, and then using that community to fill your pockets with little concern for the damage you cause its members.
It takes a remarkable absence of empathy to deliberately build trust in tens of thousands of people with the sole purpose of betraying that trust at the first opportunity to “make a buck.”
Speaking of that, here’s what “making a buck” under the pretense of helping people looks like in the real world:
The same thing happens in the social media “industry,” only it isn’t caught on CCTV.
If you’ve ever wondered why some of us who work in this community sometimes speak out against predatory or otherwise unethical practices, it’s because we see the scams for what they are, and we are just as outraged by that type of behavior as we are by what you saw taking place in that video.
Now I ask you: What would be the upside of keeping quiet about it? Of protecting the perpetrators, even?
To see it happening and do nothing shames us. It makes us either cowards or accomplices. It’s that simple.
Being part of a community means you give back to it. You contribute. You watch out for other people. You help them whenever you can. You protect them when you must. You make sure it is healthy and crime-free. What you don’t do is turn a blind eye when someone gets scammed. What you don’t do is glorify or help support people whose sole purpose for being in your community is to exploit it for their own gain, at everyone’s expense, and without a hint of remorse. What you don’t do is sell out your neighbors and your friends in exchange for a tiny slice of the pyramid scheme pie.
Repeat after me: The word “social” means something. It isn’t just a marketing buzzword. In that regard, it is just like authentic, transparent and honest. In the immortal words of Gordon Ramsay, “if you’re going to take the money, work for it.”
The biggest difference between the real world and the social media space is that in the social media space, it’s a lot harder to smell the bullshit.
In short, be careful what you register for. Tighten your vetting process. Approach every social media event with an eye for red flags. Ask yourself whether it is really worth your time and worth the fee. Ask yourself whether the event can truly deliver on what it advertises. Ask yourself what you really need to get out of it and whether or not you can reasonably expect that the event will not disappoint. And recalibrate your expectations if you must: In spite of shading marketing copy, some events, once reframed as conferences rather than training programs, can be well worth the price of admission. Whether or not you reward them with coin without first pointing out their shady practices is entirely your call.
But back to our original topic:
Social media’s educational fix: Focus on cross-training.
If “social media professionals” really want to advance their careers, here is my advice:
Learn the difference between a conference and a training program. (The former has a schedule of speakers. The latter has a discernible curriculum.)
Learn the difference between beginner training programs and advanced training programs. (The former touches on basic introductory concepts and teaches you how to use social media platforms and tools. The latter focuses on either becoming an expert platform/software operator, applying SM knowledge to specific business functions, and/or – for executives -operationalizing social media).
And here is the big one:
Take less social media strategy classes and more business management classes.
That is where the real value is. That’s what will make you employable.
Likewise, if business professionals want to advance their careers in an increasingly digital world, they probably need to learn how to properly integrate social media into their profession. This is the group that should attend social media conferences and events. Ironically, events like the one mentioned above should cater to these folks rather than “social media professionals” and online marketers. There would be far more value in that, but since it would require a lot more work, the low hanging fruit tends to suffice. Too bad.
If you aren’t focusing on cross-training at this point (teaching social media operators how to apply their skills within the scope of a business function, or teaching a business professional how to incorporate social media into their business function), you are missing the mark.
Cheers.
Brand Building and Online Marketing Blog 
As Valeria said yesterday, “Less conversation, more agent.”
This post is particularly timely, as I’ve reached the point in the development of an automotive journalism workshop/program where I’m looking to distill the social media/networking into a single module. Our aim is not to turn people into social media “experts,” but to help people develop a mind for the business and effectively use social media to support that business.
Only when you know where you want to go can you determine the best vehicle (and route) to get you there. Cars are meant to get you from Point A to Point B. How can anyone recommend the best car for the job without knowing anything about Point A, Point B, or the route between the two?
Merci.
Exactly.
I do believe there is a place on a team somewhere inside the corporation dedicated to training people internally. This would be 80% training, support, and keeping up with technology integration. They would also be a part of the business teams understanding this from a internal and external integration perspective as well. Fully baked into the business, not some person hired to teach tweeting 101 or status updating 201. How can these be used for communication internally, find business externally, find business relationships, forge and increase the skills of their paid workers. Most of all it is tied to business strategies not social media strategies. How do you feel about that?
I completely agree with that. 100%.
I have been espousing “Objective-Oriented Marketing” from day one, and this phrase alone costs me business. Why? Because it’s the freaking truth – if you are selling Aircraft Engines, you do not need a Facebook Fan Page. If your customer service function is broken, fix that – then worry about whether or not it makes sense to have dialogue with customers on Twitter.
“What business objective will this help us achieve?” That’s the smart question that lots of smart people are asking about [insert shiny object here].
Nice post. Good to see you haven’t lost your edge in your late 30s.
Very very very late 30’s. 😉
And yeah, you’re absolutely right. Though nothing says a B2B company can’t at least claim their accounts, monitor channels (BI) and be involved in SM that way.
Content and engagement aren’t always the right drivers.
Thanks for the comment, man. Spot on.
Bravo! And, the most useful Gordon Ramsay quote I’ve ever seen! Sadly, the ‘market’ places more emphasis on ‘Social Media Professionals’ than it does on sound business people who can actually integrate what they know into a social media context that benefits the organization.
It’s changing. Too slowly for my taste, but after a few more rounds of wasted budgets and obvious bullshit reporting at quarterly meetings, the wheat and the chaff will part ways. 😉 Patience.
As the person who wrote the copy specifically being called out, I stand behind the intention of the event and the expectations set for our attendees. Most people understand what we are doing with this series, and it is a natural extension of the Social Media Club Chapter activities where we help individuals, small businesses and large corporations sort through this ever changing digital world we live in.
We could go the route of charging oodles of money to hear someone pontificate, but we don’t. We believe in creating opportunities for people to learn, directly from people who are doing the work. And we do it for little to no money (which is the mission of our not-for-profit organization).
I agree with a lot of your post, and you are correct in that there are a few words on the homepage that could be reworked. No harm, no foul. But inferring Social Media Club and the events we run are ‘shady’ is insulting after we have invested so much into helping the community find free and inexpensive opportunities to learn about social media over the last five years.
Thanks for the comment. I know it hurts to be criticized, so let’s knock things back down from an emotional level to a rational level:
1. I didn’t “infer” that Social Media Club or the events it runs are shady. In fact, I never mentioned Social Media club once in the post.
I also didn’t link to the event or mention it by name. I only cited it as an example of shady copy.
Here is a piece of the post you might have skipped in which I “infer” that the event might actually be pretty good. Here it is: “Again, the event might be great. At $199, it seems reasonably priced, and some of the speakers, although I have never heard of them, seem like they might have some interesting insights to share.”
That should take care of that. Social Media Club’s honor is preserved.
2. By your own admission, “there are a few words on the homepage that could be reworked.” In other words, accidentally or on purpose, the copy is shady. I’m glad you agree.
Here’s the thing, Kristie: As a copywriter, a marketer, whatever it is that you do, you have to weigh the consequences of the words you use. You can’t just promise people the moon or sell a product as something it is not.
Your event looks like a solid little conference, but your copy makes it sound like yet another shady “let’s make a buck off this social media thing” scheme. Whomever signed off on the copy should know that too. It isn’t just your fault.
I don’t know you, and I have no reason to personally attack you. If you tell me you didn’t mean for the copy to overpromise, that you just got carried away but that, deep down, you meant well, I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. The fact that you responded the way you did and admit that a few words could be changed is a good sign. I am curious though: Why did you write it that way? And when you submitted it, after reading it several times, did it never occur to you that perhaps it wasn’t 100% squeaky clean?
As for Social Media Club, I was very active in growing my local chapter, so I understand the emotional attachment and loyalty you feel towards it. That said, what you have built in the last 5 years can be utterly invalidated by what you do in the next 6 months. A few bad choices can and will tarnish an organization’s reputation, and it will be back-breaking work, trying to restore it later. So all I am saying is, if you care, tread carefully. Make sure your copy isn’t shady. Make sure your events are what you say they are. Focus on the value of the event to its audience BEFORE you start working out the money piece. Don’t let dollar signs get in the way of taking what you’ve built to the next level.
Cheers, and thanks again for responding.
Olivier, the tone in your response is condescending.
You don’t have to directly call out Social Media Club or the Social Media Masters event. The only conference example you give is Social Media Masters, and you talk about “shading marketing copy” several times as you refer back to it, so it is clearly targeted. All I did was point out what the post was doing.
We are glad to hear that someone who teaches “executives how to use Social Media in their day to day business activities” is as concerned about people looking to make a quick buck in social media, as we have always been and it is something that we have stood against from the day Social Media Club launched.
When I reference a few words could be tweaked, it does not mean a website needs to be rewritten. I stand by the name, the intent of the conference and what attendees will get from it. You can dislike the words we use all you want, but to try and diminish the good work we have done at great personal expense is purposefully damaging for no clear reason.
Your last comment it trying to sugarcoat the original intent of your post.
If you feel like the tone of my response is condescending, I’m not sure we can have an adult conversation about this.
In a nutshell, I find your copy misleading and I explain why in the post. It isn’t a personal attack on you, Social media Club, Chris or even your event. I understand if you want to disagree, but if you choose to take any of it personally, that’s on you.
Hi Olivier,
What an interesting post. I was curious if you used the same kind of laser-focused scrutiny on events you are involved in?
I mean, as someone who obviously understands the implications to a brand of associating with an organization or people like this, the revelation you share in this post must have made you question your own affiliations at some point.
Have you asked the same questions of conferences you are speaking at?
Great questions though…
1. What is motivating the people behind it? Money? Power? Doing good? We could even point that question at ourselves as speakers and authours. Are we doing it for the right reasons? Money? (Are we being paid?), Book sales? (another form of payment i suppose), brand awareness (guess that goes to ego to some extent, but widely accepted) and of course genuine passion for teaching/sharing.
2. Are the organizers going to keep their promises, be that marketing or otherwise? It may be something as simple as say, paying expenses they said they were going to pay for example. Its still a broken promise and if they break that with the people they entrust to deliver value to their audience, what other promises will they break? This could also apply to whether they portray or mislead attendees as to the quality of their event couldn’t it?
And what really hit home for me were these words:
“What you don’t do is turn a blind eye when someone gets scammed. What you don’t do is glorify or help support people whose sole purpose for being in your community is to exploit it for their own gain, at everyone’s expense, and without a hint of remorse. What you don’t do is sell out your neighbors and your friends in exchange for a tiny slice of the pyramid scheme pie.”
I guess the question i would ask is: Do we really know the people we trust with our brand as speakers and authours?
If someone steps forward like Kristie has it shows a social conscience and desire to ensure her brand’s intentions are not misinterpreted as you carefully point out. Kudos to her for doing it. As a speaker, that is the kind of organizer i would want; one that is willing to admit mistakes, however minor, and take action to improve – all in the public eye; an obvious sign of remorse (back to your words).
To your points on learning, i guess i am just left with questions…
-Why does learning have to be curriculum based?
-Isn’t learning a constant process we choose to either embrace or not embrace in every aspect of our lives?
-As a speaker who speaks at conferences, don’t you teach people or is it some other motivation?
– Isn’t it possible then that attending conferences can be a learning experience?
Appreciate the thought and time you have taken to create this post. I fear you may have opened Pandora’s box just a crack though for all event organizers whose nefarious actions may have gone unnoticed until now. I’m sure we all know a few and maybe its time to call their BS too.
Cheers and great post!
Inspires me to write my own shortly. I’d appreciate your review when its done.
Jeff – Sensei
I do. In fact, I have been involved with a few events recently whose marketing was a lot like this one, and I didn’t like it. The thing is, as I mentioned in the post, speakers don’t always get to control how an event they have been booked for is marketed. rarely, in fact. I have taken my concerns over marketing copy with event organizers several times. In some instances, they changed it. In others, they didn’t. In one instance, I unbooked myself from the event because of the way it was being marketed. One of the reasons why I don’t speak more often than I do is because of that. I don’t want to be part of an event that promises one thing and delivers another. I don’t need the money that badly.
As for your learning question, I think it has to be curriculum based, yes. Attending one of my presentations at a conference is the equivalent of attending one lecture during an entire semester of lectures. You might learn one or two things in that hour, but you probably won’t learn how to apply what you’ve learned. It’s just one hour out of what should be a 40+ hour curriculum. So, as insightful as my presentations might be, they aren’t the same as a training course.
Olivier,
I’ve been following this convo here and on Twitter with discomfort because you, Christie and Chris are all friends. I do not think they overreacted. It seems to me you singled them out by clear implication. You should either stick to your guns and say you meant to sdo that, or you should offer a non-ambiguous apology. To be honest, I think you owe them an apology. SMC does great work and has done great work for a long time now. Jumping on a few words that could have been better selected does not change that.
An apology? For giving an example of misleading copy, then making a point to say that the event is probably pretty good in spite of that?
I used their copy to illustrate a wider point, Shel, because it fits the bill. By Kristie’s own account, and now yours, the copy “could have been better selected.” What else is there to say?
“Develop your own “mastery” of social media.”
“This special event series will help you advance your career and accomplish your goals.”
What should I apologize for? Using their copy to illustrate my point? Pointing out what is wrong with it? Making sure not to make it a personal attack? Having an opinion? Responding cordially to a comment?
Balls.
Contrast: Here is an event that doesn’t use shady copy:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=215784038455687
“Three days of interactive & engaging conference featuring leading key figure keynotes, brand case studies, topical Q&A and debates, exhibition hall, workshops, networking and Expo.
“ISME2011 is continuing to evolve with our aim to deliver an event which is second to none, ensuring our audience receives the maximum potential from attending our expo and symposium. New this we’ll have panel discussion formats, media centers, on stage and online interviews, open ‘Q&A’ portions, featured success stories, audience sourcing debates and group discussions allowing for you to explore in-depth the key social media platforms, and how they can enhance your marketing.”
Little do I know about social media but this was surely a breath of fresh air. Really enjoyed reading this post. It was very educational and an eye opener.
Also, after reading the comments I did not find your post condescending or insulting, as you were merely putting a point across (and a valid one). It was also very professional of you not to mention the organizer.
I think we need to look at the positives of this post and for someone who is new to this, I dig it! 🙂
Thanks! I looked at the way you are marketing your event and it isn’t shady at all. Very clear, honest and transparent. Well done.
Bravo!
(I composed a lengthier comment but I think the above sums it all up).
Wow, really long winded “opinion” piece.
I actually agree with Shel on this – Make up your mind and stick with it – pretty please, with sugar on top.
Your post and your comments to the comments are a textbook example of passive aggressive behavior.
As for the point I think you’re trying to make, I believe that you’re smarter than what you wrote.
Professionally, you could have made the same point more clearly to your Readers with 75% less words and more objective arguments (ex. don’t do this…but do this, because….).
Had you done so, this idea might have gained attention and the momentum it deserves. Instead, we are served up an amateur offering of endless water cooler complaints with no substance.
I look forward to your comment even though I’m confident that it will not further your cause.
Cheers,
Mark Krupinski
Thanks for the psychoanalysis and writing tips, Mark. I will give them all the attention they deserve.
“Cheers.”
Anytime.
That was quite a diatribe, Olivier! I agree with the basic premise that social media provides new ways to do jobs we’ve always done: HR, marketing, customer service, etc. I’ve been saying for years that social media will eventually be “baked in” to everything so there will be no need to study or specialize in it. However, that day is YEARS away. In 2011, most people still don’t know much about it (including marketers) and nearly all newbies vastly underestimate how complicated it is and how much work it is to get up to speed.
I teach a class at Portland State University in social media marketing (which is one of five classes in PSU’s digital marketing strategies series). The class is meant to be strategic, not mechanical. Students (who are mostly marketers with 10-25 years experience) are expected to figure out the mechanics of popular social platforms BEFORE class starts.
You know what? Most don’t. And the one thing people complain about is that I didn’t teach them “how to tweet” or “how to create a Facebook page.”
You know why? They don’t read the blogs that we do. They don’t follow the latest platform changes. They don’t have the time or interest, they don’t know where to start, or they’re just a bit techno-phobic. They want a book to spell it out for them and/or they want a person to guide them in a classroom setting.
I taught in the first Social Media Masters’ program for Social Media Club and it was the same thing. We only made it through 40 percent of the curriculum I created because I spent the bulk of the time answering questions like “What’s a retweet?” and demonstrating simple mechanics.
I’ve come to realize you can’t expect the rest of the world to behave like those of us who are early adopters. I never learned any of this stuff from a book and I tell people it’s not possible because it all changes so fast. But people want what they want. They come to it with old-school expectations of how the learning process should work.
And who are we to say that’s wrong? If people WANT classes in “social media” (not marketing, HR, etc.) taught by “experts” or “gurus” that show them how to tweet or how to sign up on Facebook or how to build a blog (which you might need, since you’re still on wordpress.com instead of self-hosting on your own domain), then there’s nothing wrong with someone serving that niche and trying to make a buck.
There may be some predatory practices out there. I don’t know. But they are marketed to adults, right? Grownups know that hyperbole is endemic to marketing. Let the buyer beware.
That said, you can’t lump Social Media Club into that category and I see nothing wrong with the marketing copy you singled out as “shady.” You’re way out on a limb here. And Shel’s right. You should apologize for maligning the organizing by calling “bullshit!” Just because SMC’s programs might not help YOU “take your skills to the next level” or help YOU “advance your career” doesn’t mean they won’t do it for someone else.
I’m often surprised when my students tell me about how much they got out of stuff I thought was utterly basic and mundane – and how they have used those insights to impress a boss or land a new job. It’s all relative.
Additionally, even if the marketing for Social Media Club programs was less than ideal, you need to realize NOBODY is getting paid to spend the time/attention on website copy that most brands can afford. That’s the deal with most nonprofits.
The marketing we’ve done for the Portland chapter of Social Media Club (which I founded and ran for two years) has occasionally fallen woefully short of my standards, but it’s self-defeating to micro-manage volunteers because then they wouldn’t want to help again. We all just do what we can in the time we have available.
Well, now that I’ve written my diatribe, it’s time to go earn a living – and do more free (if not ideal) work for Social Media Club and other nonprofits. And teach classes to people who are looking for help.
Show me where I’ve attacked SMC in this post, Carri.
I think its just fine to maintain a critical eye towards unscrupulous business practices. You raise some interesting questions and points. Its great for potential attendees to any type of event to raise their own questions about attendance. Of course the value of attending these types of events is rarely limited to the curriculum and the speakers. The opportunity to connect with like-minded professionals is its own value.
But as someone who has produced large scale training events, has over 18 years in marketing and an active supporter of training in the social media space (as well as current Chapter President of SMC), I can add that producing and marketing training events of any size is no small task, however, anyone is welcome to join the space and add value to the many people who are trying to make a positive impact on social media. A rising tide floats all boats, as they say.
If you choose to make an impact by speaking, but you are unhappy about the way events are produced and promoted, then clearly there are three choices: 1) stop speaking professionally, 2) define some guidelines by which to choose speaking engagements 3) show ’em how its really done and produce a first class event.
The one issue I really take with this post is wondering how you could claim that any particular event, even those not specifically named, delivers on its promises if you haven’t personally been an attendee. The experience of an event is different for speakers, attendees and producers and the best way to find out whether there is value is to go find out on your own.
I’d love to see a follow up post on some fantastic events you’ve been to as an attendee. Those that you highly recommend.
Thanks for the comment. I explain in the post what is wrong with that kind of copy. It’s all up there.
Strange to see so many SMC folks coming to the defense of SMC in the comments, even though I haven’t attacked or said one negative thing about SMC.
If Chris or someone else associated with the event feels the need to spin my post into an anti-SMC rant, could it be that it is easier to take my post out of context and make me look like the bad guy than actually take responsibility for the way the event was marketed? The copywriter herself admits that some “words” could be changed. Wouldn’t it have been easier to go ahead and change them instead of attacking me for pointing out the obvious?
Are the questions I raise only “interesting” when they point to no one in particular, or to someone conveniently not close to our own little world?
As for me, (2) I already have guidelines dictating where I speak and where I don’t speak. (3) I have produced and co-produced events, and in none of those instances did I or my partners promise anyone that attending would further their careers. We also always make a point to clearly indicate whether a session is a training workshop or a presentation. We always make a point to be 100% honest with the marketing of our events because it matters. It matters a great deal, at least to us.
It’s a real challenge implementing a social media strategy across a bit organization unless you have buy in from some of the people at the very top. In the middle layers of management there are often so many competing factions that they end up working against each other and trying to get one up on each other.
There is a need for good solid training but we are already getting to a stage where people know a lot about social media and the idea of courses to show people how to set up a Twitter account or Facebook page will be a thing of the past. In a couple of years most of the working popultion should be as familiar with social media as they are with answering a phone or checking their emails. They don’t answer a phone and say something stupid that will cause problems and the same thing should be happening with social media. Some good strong guidelines and a lot of it will start managing itself
Agreed. Thanks, for the comment, Niall.
Note to agitated SMC-members:
Please don’t spin this post into an anti-SMC rant when it isn’t. I don’t mention Social Media Club once. I don’t “infer” anything about SMC either. In fact, I had no idea that SMC had anything to do with the event whose copy I used to illustrate a broader point. I made sure not to turn this post into a personal attack against anyone in particular. I only used that copy because it perfectly illustrated what I wanted to talk about and because it popped up in my stream the day before I sat down to write the post. Don’t read anything more into it.
It is disappointing to see how easily one little group of people will so readily attack me personally to defend something that wasn’t attacked to begin with. Lame. Whatever paranoid persecution fantasies people feeding you your outrage behind the scenes might be dealing with, be assured that they have no basis here. SMC wasn’t even on my radar. I’ve always supported SMC and even helped build my local chapter. Why would I attack it? It makes no sense.
Look, your opinions are welcome here. All of them. If your critique is essentially going to consist of calling me an asshole for attacking SMC even though I haven’t, that’s your right. Before you do, however, the copywriter in charge of the copy I used as an illustration has already conceded that some “words” on their website could be changed. There you go. End of story. Let them change the “words,” and move on.
And for Pete’s sake, tone down the drama. It’s getting a little ridiculous.
Everyone else, carry on. 😉
There is no drama here Oliver. There are a few people questioning some of the words you wrote, there are others who support what you wrote whole heartedly, but think everyone is keeping this at a good level of discourse. I don’t recall seeing anyone call you an asshole, and there is no bounty on your head. We are all professionals here.
I believe you wrote a misleading post that *looked* to target one event and/or group. By only providing one example of marketing copy, it infers the event and the organizer are ‘shady’. Honestly, had there been more examples presented, I would not have said anything at all, as the spotlight would have been distributed. It is unfortunate there was only one.
As for SMC, we welome discussions around areas that need improvement, and constructive criticism is always taken under consideration.
I did just want to add one little piece though – the conference website clearly shows it is being produced by SMC (our logo is on the home page where you pulled the copy) and also noted on the ‘About’ page. Maybe a little more research might have changed the way the post was written, or, maybe it wouldn’t have changed anything at all. Just thought it was worthy of a mention. This will be the last comment made on the subject as I have a conference series to run.
One last comment from me, as the ‘copy writer’ of the words Oliver found so offensive.
You write a post about shady marketing practices, buyer beware, and organizer’s trying to make a quick buck. The only conference you reference happens to be one that is being organized by Social Media Club. As I said in an earlier comment, ‘you don’t have to directly call out Social Media Club or the Social Media Masters event. The only conference example you give is Social Media Masters, and you talk about “shading marketing copy” several times as you refer back to it, so it is clearly targeted.’ The small quip you added about how this specific event ‘might be great’ is overwritten when the rest of the post talks about unethical marketing practices.
As I also mentioned in an earlier comment, I agreed with a lot of your post and applaud the efforts of anyone trying to help educate businesses and individuals on getting value for your spend. I just found it surprising this event was the one you choose to point out, when I know we both can name 10+ others that use more ‘marketing speak’ than this one does, charges more from their attendees to attend and their sponsors to participate only hear the same few people speak over and over again, on the same topics.
You have issues with the name. You have issues with how it is being presented. Ok. I am a fan of constructive criticism and am tweaking the ‘take your skills to the next level’ sentence as I have never been a big fan of that verbiage. But changing a few words does not change the intent of this specific conference or how it is being positioned nor changes my position that your post made some inferences that needed to be challenged, no matter how hard you were trying to sugar coat it.
And the fact that Social Media Club (.org) has produced solid educational events over the last 5 years is probably why you are seeing support from our community (and from people that are friends with you as well). They know our intent, and support our purpose. They felt it worthy of a comment. Thank you, and good day.
Oliver you did provide the community with a good service by writing a post detailing shady marketing practices social media “gurus” are using to fill up attendance at questionable events.
I think what you’re being bashed on is mostly due to your showcasing of only one example of a slightly exaggerated marketing message.
But this is where it gets weird,
I would’ve never associated the marketing message with Social Media Club. SMC was never mentioned in the post, and no link was provided.
Everyone has the right to their opinions, but the entire argument could’ve taken place without further damaging SMC’s credibility.
I’m sure a few instantly caught the marketing message’s reference, but many did not.
Bottom line, if you know better, do better. It’s hard to see what was gained from these arguments.
Thanks, Karl. My thoughts exactly.
Not to tell anyone what to do, but yes, if the event organizers had reached out to me with a little more subtlety and said hey, we hear ya, we’ll change the copy but can you get off our backs a little bit, no one would have even associated SMC with this post. Instead, we have this.
As for using other examples to make my point, several people have mentioned it. Here’s my response to that: If I had used 3 examples instead of 1, would it really have made this example look better (or “less worse”)? It doesn’t matter how many example I list in this post. 1, 5, 20… Bad is bad. I only needed one example. It happened to be the one I ran into this week. It could have been anybody. It just happened to be them.
But you know what? If their copy hadn’t been what it was, it wouldn’t have been used in this post at all. 😉
Want to know how to tweak the copy to make it not shady? Here you go:
“Whether you are in charge of a department in a large organization, responsible for multiple clients within an agency, or an independent professional, this series is your chance to get advanced insights from true social media masters in key areas of social media marketing.”
That’s the reality of the event, and it sounds like a pretty solid investment. See how much I cut though?
Cheers, man.
Dude, you sure know how to stir things up. 🙂
It’s good to see Kristie responding, but I think I’d have the same question – if the copy didn’t “sit well” originally, wouldn’t it be more prudent to change or edit until 100% satisfied, and then publish?
Otherwise it will probably mean people looking at it in more depth, and then posts like yours being the result.
Just a thought.
PS: Shel – an apology? Seriously? For having an opinion? Come on…
Weirdness on the interwebs this month. 😀
This would have worked pretty well for them, and it isn’t shady:
“Whether you are in charge of a department in a large organization, responsible for multiple clients within an agency, or an independent professional, this series is your chance to get advanced insights from true social media masters in key areas of social media marketing.”
Great points, Danny. We’re on the same page.
Very interesting, must say thought that Oliver fella was spot on and kept a dignity under some pettiness.
Thanks for that, Robbie. Much appreciated.
“If you’re going to take the money, work for it.” I love that quote!
Everything you said, I’ve nodded along with. The shady practices of individuals trying to make a quick buck off those who truly need assistance with social media, marketing, PR, blogging, whatever; is becoming more and more frustrating. The saddest part is, we can’t do much about it. The most we can do is blog about it, tell those close to us about it and hope that everyone starts catching on about what to look out for when deciding to go to one of these events that claim to make you a social media guru in one week…or some other non-sense.
“Imagine hundreds of termites eating at the very foundations of the social media discipline they claim to be building, all the while charging you for the wood.” Well, this is the perfect analogy! 🙂
Along with the ‘cautionary’ words you described above, I’d also look out for those who want to turn you into a ‘guru’ or ‘expert’. No seminar, webinar or single event will make you a guru, expert or any kind of master. It takes TONS of continued effort, training and continued implementation.
Yes, there are events that can help build new tools and ideas in order to assist you in your social media journey, but that’s about it.
Great stuff, Olivier!
Absolutely. Any variation on the “take my course and become an expert” theme is the first red flag I always look for. Even when it is subtle. In this instance, it wasn’t particularly subtle.
What’s interesting to me though is the way this group reacted and responded. “We really hate that you used our event’s marketing copy as your example, but it’s opened our eyes to a problem we didn’t know we had” would have been a far more professional, responsible and mature way of handling things. Instead, a small cluster within the group decided to spin the post into some sort of direct attack on SMC and make me out to be the bad guy. 😀 Typical.
I hope that isn’t the kind of response to criticism these “experts” are teaching their poor unsuspecting students. No wonder so many B-list “experts” in social media have taken to deleting inconvenient comments in discussion threads and back-channel intimidation. It’s pretty lame.
Termites. 😉
Cheers, Morgan.
I love your post!
The problem Olivier is there are entrenched groups making money off the myth of the social media professional. Even Mashable is on board and needs this Myth. Agencies. Gurus. Book Writers. Shit the Social Media Breakfast Groups!
This is no different than why the US won’t legalize drugs. Makes sense. Less murders. More tax revenues. Less jails. But also less cops, lawyers, judges, jailers etc and they fight to ensure their cash cow doesn’t disappear.
I feel I am often screaming into air and no one wants to listen because too many people are so mesmerized they forget they are being fleeced.
A great example is a good friend took a job running Social for a big Video Game Company. They just hired Vitrue. I checked out Vitrue and saw nothing but BS because they had no proof their work led to sales. I checked out the Brand’s Facebook Pages for engagement levels. Basically this company that needs to move millions of units of games a year will probably move 10’s of thousands via Facebook.
But if he told his bosses he might have his position axed!
“No one wants to listen because too many people are so mesmerized they forget they are being fleeced.”
That right there. 🙂
If I had a dime for every newly hired social media director who has contacted me in the past 3 years with an unapologetic “oh shit, I got the job but I don’t know what I am doing” call for help, I would be driving a much nicer car. It’s depressing. Among the questions you will typically hear:
“Where do I go to find followers?”
“Do you have an example of a social media policy I could borrow?”
“What do you do when someone says something negative about a company?”
“Should I spend more time on Twitter or Facebook?”
On and on and on.
Termites.
Thanks a bunch for the comment.
Oliver,
Thank you so much for this post! I completely agree with you regarding social media, thanks for your insight and honesty. The fact that the SMCC people reacted the way they did, makes me believe that you called them out on exactly what they were doing. Personally, I would never consider a course from them, because the immature response would be exactly the opposite of what should be done on social media outlets. Is it true that once it is on the internet, it is out there forever? Hopefully, then they will have to learn from their own online mistakes. Maybe someone could take a course on how not to use social media from them. I am actually part of their target audience – looking to improve my social media “expertise”. I am so glad I found your post.
😀 You just gave shape to some of my thoughts on this whole bizarre turn of events. Thank you.
Good information. Your so right, anyone can do social media…..