Do Not Leave Social Media to the Interns

I was reading an excellent post over on MSN’s Business on Main about why it is important to watch young people when they are using social media on behalf of a brand. The post gives you a few tips of how to monitor, and build a digital strateg. I talk about this at length in many of my training and development sessions. While the younger generation (my generation) is intelligent and extremely skilled in the use of social media… it does not mean they have developed into a brand manager or marketing professional. Here is a great quote from the article:

“There is a disconnect between the old-school marketing generation, who moves slower but understands the value of brand management, and the younger social media generation, who moves fast but settles for quick and dirty,” says Lorrie Thomas Ross, a self-styled Web marketing therapist based in Santa Barbara, California. “That can make a business quick, but you also end up in the dirty camp.”

Let me be clear… this does not mean there are NOT the individual who could handle the call for social media management. I would like to think I could handle the development of a brand on social media. However, I have not had the depth of experience that a seasoned PR pro brings to the table. There is a balance to be had on both sides of the table.

It is important that we understand the true nature of a marketing program. It is not (completely) about what type of tools we use or content we create. It is about how we plan and implement the strategy for the overall development of the brand. Strategy and content always come before action and vetting is always important.

Brainstorm with a team that has years of experience… from 2 to 25 years. It is important to have both sets of minds around the table. An alliance between the old-school and the new-school is extremely important for the future of brand management.