The ideal social media consultant. It’s Psych 101
An experimental scientist? A mathematician, an historian, an IT geek, a money making economist or socially savvy psychologist? Last week we conducted a Twtpoll to discover who you would rather employ as a social media consultant for your business. The results were eye opening.
To our great surprise the mathematician received no votes. One thing that social media and the world of online has is data – mountains of it. The ability to analyse and interpret data is increasingly important in social media, whether evaluating campaigns, assessing website analytics or search data or teasing out insights from the universe of social conversation.
However, it was the psychologist who was the most sought after. Inevitably, being able to understand the human psyche is a great advantage when trying to influence people and help brands to communicate effectively with consumers.
The IT geek ranked fourth in desirability. Having an avid interest in digital is a must, as the technology that drives social media is constantly evolving. But, perhaps our voters thought their technical know-how would obscure their ability to engage?
After much debate in the office we concluded that a professional with a mix of both psychology and a mathematician’s skills would be best suited. Having a firm grasp of statistics really is a prerequisite for the role. Social media campaigns’ success is dependent on a number of factors, one of which is to feel at ease with analysing data and responding accordingly.
Who would you employ in a flash? And whose CV would be quickly chucked in the recycling bin? We would love to hear your thoughts…
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November 14th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
This research is seriously flawed. I wouldn’t have put ANY of those choices into the survey. Where are the Customer Service experts, the Marketers, the sales directors, the community style managers – IT geek, economist, mathematician – what ‘consultancy’ do they really offer. Not a viable study at all…
November 14th, 2011 at 6:00 pm
Thanks for the feedback Michelle, we should have probably pointed out that this was a pop up poll conducted via Twitter and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. The choice of non industry folk was deliberate, we wanted to see what real life skill sets people felt were most appropriate for that social media role. Why not try running a Twitpoll from your community? http://www.twtpoll.com/
November 15th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
I’d be inclined toward the psychologist but that’s based on the socially savvy line. Cultural fit and personality are integral when recruiting so I’d meet them all and make a decision then. (am I fence sitting)