What are the Marketing C's?

To be an effective social media consultant what background or combination is most relevant (HR, marketing, CS, Business)?

• Answer:

  Ooo Good question. Three things, I think. One, Marketing. A strong background in building brands and shaping consumer opinion; relationship-marketing. Two, Technology. I think having a background in IT is very practical in the field. Three, Business Strategy. I personally believe you need all three. I say this because a lot of people will call themselves "experts" at social media because they own a Twitter account or set up a Page on Facebook. Yet they may not understand anything about the mechanics of the software platform behind a social networking; the underlying protocols, limitations, and risks of using it; the broad understanding of policy governing privacy and information security; the IT strategy that requires social implementation; how social could be used to execute business strategy. On the other hand, you could meet a good technologist or Facebook trainer that doesn't know a wit about Marketing or how it could be used as a successful business or marketing tool. This is purely my own opinion but these are broader technical and business discipline issues that - in my mind - qualify "expertise" in social media. I think it's an usual dynamic because the Marketing dimension introduces a typically extroverted personality to this role, and I think you need that personality trait (confident, extroverted) to be a successful social "evangelist" or "consultant" where the purely business or purely marketing-focused person may not have any technical skill to be very "confident" in the field. Yet successful folks do seem to have an interesting, extroverted mix between each of these skillsets.