Do we have experts in social media ?

A couple of days ago, I came across a survey that said 65 percent of U.S. business leaders find it challenging to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and developments within the field of social and digital media. Twenty-three percent of the survey respondents believe the best way to gain the insights and knowledge they need, is by participating in conferences and seminars.

Having particiated in a variety of work shops and strategy discussions and having made presentations on social media to a huge number of companies this fall, my personal impression is that marketers here in Norway are also struggling to stay abreast of the constantly fluctuating social media trends. One consequensce of this is that an entire industry of consultants has arisen to help companies navigate the world of social networks, blogs, Facebook, Twitter and wikis. And there are certainly plenty of experts, most of them self-proclaimed and some even self-centered. And we pay them for good advice on how to pitch a product, listen to customers feedback and for activities in social media.

But how can you tell if someone's claim of expertise is legitimate? From my point of view, anyone who claims to be an expert in any medium that is so new is misleading you. No one has been able to invest enough time in the subject to become an expert and and even if they do, it is continually changing. In the Bloomberg article entitled  "Beware Social Media Oil Snake"  Stephen Barker argues that the self-proclaimed experts are more like "wannabes" who devote their time to writing best-selling books and giving advice based on "likes" and "successful case studies". David Armano, SPV at Edelman Digital, calls it a "Wild West Scenario". Without naming names, he compares some consultants to "snake-oil salesmen."

Further more, it takes two to tango. This means that to succeed in social media you need to get advice from someone who is skilled in all areas of marketing and have insight into  how mechanisms in social media affect customer attitudes and buying behavior. I have spent this fall teaching BI-undergraduates in a brand new social media course and I admit it has been demanding. Structuring, organizing and, not least ensuring a theoretical framework has not been easy in a field that is so new and poorly documented as social media. Although I have received valuable help from experts, the challenge is to professionalize and anchor all practical experiences in a theoretical framework that remains very limited. I have read and learned from what is available, and today I am proud that my students hopefully possess more insight and knowledge about how companies should respond to social media, the roles they can play in conjunction with the launch of new products and services, and not least, how the company itself should communicate. Another important concern is how communication through social media interacts with other communication and marketing activities.

It's important however that BI, as a leading business school in Norway, connects, engages and shares knowledge with outside professionals for common purposes.  Therefore, the faculty at the department of marketing are discussing the possibility of establishing a Forum for Strategic Communication with selected companies. The intention of this forum would be to develop and share knowledge that is based on an overall plan. It is about research and activities in social media that creates new insight. I think that would be exciting.