Loading ...Beware of Experts
credit - flickr: phauly
Remember all the “experts” that told you that your agency or small business was going to be disintermediated as a result of the Internet? Companies would no longer need the services of you the “middleman”. Instead they would now deal with customers directly via the Internet. The assumption was that there would be a drop in cost by servicing or selling customers directly.
For insurance agents (and many other small service businesses) that didn’t happen. What all those “experts” didn’t understand was the value and power of the relationship between you and your customers.
Today, there are hundreds – no thousands of “experts” who claim to be social media, social networking, or social web experts. These “experts” are good at telling you how to use the tools of the social web to grow your business. They claim to know all the “secrets” of using the social web for success. Don’t you get tired of all the experts telling you how to run your business?
I say beware of anyone claiming to be a social web expert and asking you to trust them. First of all, the social web is transitioning far too fast for anyone to have a complete understanding of its reach, impact and use – there are no experts. For now, we are all students and we are all learning. Don’t get caught up in the “rush”. Clearly, the social web offers opportunity and it is important for any business to understand the role it might play in their overall business strategy. I believe there are not some very social web savvy folks that can help you learn, build strategy, implement, manage, monitor and implement best practice processes. Yet, don’t trust anyone who tells you they know what is best for your business. It is your business and you know your customers – follow your gut and make sure whatever social web strategy you deploy makes sense for you and your company.
What do you think? What has been your experience in dealing with “experts”?
Thursday, 2 July, 2009 at 11:07
Part of the problem is that you have Time Magazine putting Twitter on their cover. Panic ensues when half the marketing organization has never heard of Twitter, let alone understand its supposed importance to deserve such prominence from a major publication.
So I guess it’s to not only beware of the gurus, but also you’re naivety.
Saturday, 4 July, 2009 at 10:13
I agree with you, Rick, social media as a form of marketing and communications is rapidly changing and, as such, needs constant attention if a business is going to try and leverage it. Far too many people are treating social media/networking in the same manner they did when they first launched a web presence — they built a website and waited for customers to swarm to them. It doesn’t work that way. Like any other investment, it needs to be managed and attended to on a regular basis. For social media that means daily. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, InsuranceCampus.org or whatever other social networks you choose, people need to understand they are very “realtime” focused and require attention by you to keep attention by your network.
Before anyone ventures into the world of social media, they should be fully aware of the commitment required. Like most things in life, you’ll get out of it only what you put into it.