This may highlight my ignorance as I consider myself more of a search guy than a social guy. I recently ran into an interesting question on LinkedIn from a social media group I follow. Here’s the question.
Forget for a second that this is directed at someone who claims to be something without the credibility of having an aged Twitter account (does that really matter?). What I am asking is, when SEO’s take over the social media responsibilities because they affect search, do social media experts even have a role to play for companies anymore?
From SEOMoz-
More Clarity + Differing opinion:
- Everyone Should Hire ‘Social Media Experts’
- I will never hire a “social media expert” and neither should you
- So what exactly does a ‘Social Media Expert’ do?
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Twitter: crestodina
says:
This is an excellent question. This makes me think of a comment I left yesterday on an “SEO is Dead” post on Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenkrogue/2012/07/20/the-death-of-seo-the-rise-of-social-pr-and-real-content/)
As the venn diagram of social and search move closer and the overlap grows, the question will be which group can adapt more quickly to perform the duties of the other. Your post assumes that the SEO will do the social piece, but I’m not so sure. The urgency for them to adapt is there (Panda, Penguin, etc.) but a lot of SEOs lack a skill that some social media marketers have: writing. I often think that writing is the most important skill.
I do both search and social. I think you do too. Question: Which could you do faster? Teach a social media marketer how to do search? Or teach a search marketer how to do social media?
I sometimes think that the social media teams will offer clients search benefits before search teams offer clients social media benefits. Either way, it will be fun to watch.
Andy Crestodina recently posted..Email Marketing: How to get an extra 7% to 12% open rate every time
Andy,
Great points to consider. I think that rudimentary SEO is fairly easy to understand. Where I think most social marketers may fall through the cracks is the back-end under-the-hood type of stuff. Most SEO’s have a working knowledge of web code like php plus they generally understand keyword based search funnels and how to maximize the link equity on site. Most SEO’s also understand web design in an architectural based way and some understand the rudiments of design itself with typography and the importance of images in relation to conversions.
Can social marketers bring that much to the dinner table? I dunno.
You do bring up a great point about writing though. I guess for those of us who happen to excel at writing and SEO would definitely have an advantage over an analytics-under-the-hood SEO with no experience writing.
Awesome clarity and those are some great questions that you are asking!
Twitter: kbloemendaal
says:
So, essentially, if someone understands SEO and can write…. they are golden!
Keith recently posted..Why Real Estate Agents Don’t Benefit From Twitter
Keith,
Yeah…I never thought about writing as a skill that most SEO’s have an issue with but I guess if you can do both, you will wind up being a step or two ahead of a traditional SEO.
Hey happy holidays Leo! finally found your new site, I’m from the old days of Grizzly Brears and friends…
I have a hard time Imagining a “social media expert” dress in a tuxedo and visit a small business to try to offer his “services”… like it has been said, they live in another world and don’t know how a business functions and survives.
Sometimes I like to spy what they do from day to day, in their natural habitat, just as a researcher would study a fairly unknown animal in the jungle =D
Happy Holidays to you as well, my friend.