There is a sudden and recent rash of debates over social media consultancy because each social media specialist has a different background based on experience and exposure to social media. With a pinch of salt, perhaps it’s time to categorize social media consultancy and the different backgrounds for each marketer, as well as the pros and cons of social media consultants.

Social media specialist with a background in communications

This type of specialist may have a communications degree and may have experience in jobs handling public relations functions. This is the type of specialist that can adapt quickly to the explosion of social media due to the recognition of the large communications factor. One aspect that they may study up on is online publishing skills and creative use of content.

• Pros – the communications background provides the perfect background since social media deals in communications as well as long-term engagements with customers and influencers.
• Cons – may not have the background for media buying, search engine optimization marketing, and digital designing that supports all social media marketing efforts.

Social media specialist with a background in digital designing

This specialist sees what can be done with digital content in social media. These are usually the content that can catch strong attention.

• Pros – a background in digital designing and trends means being able to create unique content for different social media platforms that can change the way potential customers can see the brand.
• Cons – the downfall here is that these people might not have the skills to handle the daily engagements with customers and potentials.

Social media specialist with a background in search engine optimization

Social media consultancy based on a background in SEO or search engine optimization will make the marketer or consultant see the viability of each social media activity and being able to use it in conjunction with SEO.

• Pros – having a background in customer search habits and how to use content visibility and interaction can translate to better online reputation management on a larger scale when using social media. It can also mean using other paid internet advertising like PPC in conjunction with social media.
• Cons – SEO marketers normally make content with quantity and keywords in mind for search engine results rather than creating more unique content for each social media platform. SEO experts are also very conscious about the ever-changing algorithms of search engines like Google rather than interacting with customers and potentials.

Social Media Consultancy Means Hiring for Your Needs

Social media specialist with a background in traditional advertising

This type of background can develop creative and unique solutions and content for social media.

• Pros – this specialist has been so used to large budget requests that suddenly working with a lot of social media platforms with little or no budget will seem like something heaven-sent, so this specialist will move heaven to learn everything. Interacting with customers will also be no problem for this person.
• Cons – big explosion sales and campaigns may become too focused and some post-campaign activities may be forgotten.

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