I am surprised by the recent RSS feed bashing. A few blogs and magazines have commented on how in the era of Twitter and Facebook, RSS is no longer relevant.

I disagree strongly. I love RSS feeds. It allows me to browse through a truck load of updates / news and views in a matter of a few minutes. I would never be able to accomplish that by following any number of Twitter feeds or Facebook pages.

Most importantly, RSS feeds allow me to be in control. I choose what I want to read and browse. Relying on Facebook and Twitter makes the whole process more random.

My favourite RSS reader is Google and at last count, I had over a 150 feeds set up keeping me informed about everything I need to know.

I am officially tired of all the fluff going around in the name of Social Media marketing. The next time you want to hire some one to run Social Media marketing for your brand, run through the following check list first.

Question the Sales/ Marketing/ Business pedigree

You cannot be a social media marketeer unless you are a marketeer. Just writing a blog, having 3767 fans and 2653 followers does not a Social Media marketeer make. Does this person have credible sales and marketing experience in general?

Question the digital pedigree

Does your Social Media marketeer understand digital? Digital and social are intertwined. Your Social Media Marketeer needs to understand digital advertising,  CPC, SEO, Analytics, Hosting, Software Development and more.

Question the Social Pedigree

Does your Social Media marketeer live social? Do not just look for personal experiences. Look for brand experiences and look for results (and yes look for blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts too)

Assets and tools

Has your Social Media Marketeer built / conceptualized / used tools and applications that allow for a more effective use of available platforms?

Just do it vs a Planned long term approach

Does your Social Media Marketeer use the work viral 4 times every 5 minutes? If yes, run away. Do you only get to hear the word ‘campaign’ and not a long term road map or plan? Social is a way of life, it is not about a flash in the pan campaign. It is about building assets for the long term. It is about having answers for eventualities.

Boxed in a Silo?

Is your Social Media marketeer boxed in the PR Silo…or the Advertising Silo…or the Digital Silo? It won’t work. Social Media spans across all three and much more. You need someone who understands all aspects of communication and has a good business sense in general.

Are they ready to talk about measurable results?

Or better still, peg their payments to those results.

Are they experts?

Does your Social Media Marketeer also call themselves ‘Social Media Experts’? If yes, run away.

Are they bluffing?

I am sure they are not, but do check them out on Google just for good measure.

Do they go deep?

When you ask them pointed questions and clarifications, do they spew jargon? Or do they answer in a manner that you can understand?

And finally – Are they talkers or doers?

The ability to create a great deck and talk smoothly do not a Social Media marketeer make. What have they done? Have they got their hand dirty? Have they led a team that has got its hands dirty?

My son is 8 and carries a 12 kilo bag everyday to school. The bag is full of text books and notebooks – all of which are important and cannot be left out. I did the same when I was small and so did my dad.

However, life will surely change for my him in a couple of years. I can imagine a future where all that kids will take to school will be a handy tablet PC – much like the iPad. All the text books, syllabus and lots more will be preloaded into the tablet with the option of ‘buying’ content for a new class when required. All notes will be made on the same tablet. All assignments and exams will only require the tablet as well.

Kids (and parents) will be able to access videos, take mock tests, chat with the teacher and classmates – all from the same secure tablet.

Just hang on son!

Traditional digital ad campaigns are simple.

1. Design creative.
2. Give creative and pot of money to media agency.
3. Run Campaign.
4. Deliver report at the end of the month.

We cannot run Social Campaigns this way.

1. Design 28 versions of creatives.
2. Run each version for 4 different sets of audiences.
3. Check effectiveness.
4. Tweak CPC bids.
5. Change borders.
6. Check effectiveness.
7. Stop ineffective ads.
8. Create 12 more variants of effective ads.
9. Check effectiveness.
10. Tweak ads.
11. Change background colours.
12. Check Effectiveness.
13. Deliver daily report.
14. Start again.

Social campaigns CANNOT be created, run and managed the same way as traditional digital campaigns. You need a team that understands advertising, the product, analytics, is patient, is creative and most importantly a team that has an incentive in driving down the CPC (or any other measurement criteria)

Lots of brands talk about investing in their customers. Very few talk about encouraging their customers to invest in the brands. Even fewer actually do.

I don’t have much invested in Google. The moment a better search engine comes along, I will switch. I have a lot invested in Facebook. Many hours have gone into adding content and curating my profile. The moment there is a new platform with more bells and whistles, I will perhaps not even notice.

Investment does not have to be time. It can be emotional (be a part of their special moments and memories), monetary (I own Wii and cannot buy X-box games), effort (I am comfortable with wordpress, I do not want to use Joomla) and so on.

Have something you want to promote? Don’t just create banners and blast them all over. Start by creating useful and interesting content around your widget. Write up’s, how to’s, contests, videos, testimonials, comparisons and so on. If you have any money left over, run some banners to get people to reach this great content.

Content is permanent, banners are fleeting.

Content is found, banners are displayed.

Content is a friend or a consultant, a banner is a salesman or a hustler.