Peter Shankman once again caused a ruckus with his latest post on Social Media Experts.  In a nutshell, Peter says that he would never hire someone who claims to be a "social media expert" comparing that person to a bread-taker-outer.

I actually bought this shirt for a good friend. Hi, Serena!

An interesting anaology, certainly.

I agree--and disagree--with Peter, hence this blog post.

When I'm looking to make a hire, either for MLMC or one of our clients, I always want a well-rounded individual.  Much like I look for cross-industry experience, I look for candidates who have dabbled in a variety of tactics, be it media relations or social media.

I, myself, started in the b-to-b world and would never have imagined that my current client roster would be comprised of so many CPG companies. But, without the b-to-b stuff, I wouldn't be the same media relations gal.

In other words, the right marketing candidate is an expert in all things marketing, not just social media. To that end, Peter's point is solid: companies do themselves a disservice when they hire in silos.

So, do I want a social media expert? Yes. Will that be their sole responsibility? Heck no. We're all hands-on here :)

1 Comment

1. Serena Ehrlich on May 24, 2011 at 1:32 PM

   Great post, Megan. You are so right!
   
   This is a new industry and we are in charge of creating our own titles which means that both parties must do due diligence when hiring. Social Media is one small portion of the marketing funnel, but you should still want an "expert" to manage it. After all, you hire experts to do everything else.