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How To Find a Social Media Marketing Strategist and Avoid Scammers

By Duncan Wierman

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 03Oct2010 Word count: 486 Viewed: 176 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

One of the biggest marketing trends in the area of Internet marketing is using social media to get traffic and awareness about your business. Most business owners want to use social media for their business and start to look for help but the problem is that it seems everyone is touting themselves as a social media consultant. It's hard to figure out who to trust when everybody claims that they're the expert.

So how do you figure out which consultants to work with? First, you need to separate from the people who walk their talk and the people who just talk. Anybody can use social media sites but have they used it to promote their own business and for their clients? Ask the consultant on how he personally used social media as well as for references to other clients.

Next, you need to find a consultant that knows how to use the different social networking sites to its fullest capacity. Using Facebook is much different from using Twitter or maintaining your own blog. There are different strategies that need to be put into place in order to build a following and communicate with them. Likewise, you'll have to set up different things for a blog such as commenting, RSS subscription, social bookmarking features, and more.

Third, find out if the consultant can measure the results. So you've set up a Facebook and Twitter account but did it really translate into sales? Some businesses are looking to communicate through multiple channels but small businesses need to turn their marketing into profits. You need to find an expert that knows how to use these mediums to bring in more sales.

Fourth, look at their presentation from their portfolio, personal site, and background. A qualified consultant should have a good portfolio for you to look at, a well designed professional site, and can verify any experiences they had working with well-known clients or businesses.

Fifth, ask them what they'll be doing to help you make the most of social media. You want to get an idea of what's involved. Find out what their plan of action is and what kinds of services are being offered. You should also read some articles on social media from a trustworthy source to see if the consultant knows what he is talking about.

In conclusion, you have to be careful about hiring consultants that claim to be social media experts. It seems like everyone is trying to jump on this trend and make a profit out of business owners that want to use social media to move their business forward.

Go through the steps outlined in this article and verify as much information you need in order to make a solid decision and hire the right person. Hiring somebody that is qualified and has delivered results can really help you utilize social media to its maximum capacity.

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