I think that the answer to your question is in Isabel’s post..
http://blog.isabelhilborn.com/2008/07/how-to-choose-a-social-media-marketer.html

I could give you my thoughts but I really enjoy having the community get together and answer the question

Francois

Great points!!!

I completely agree with the statement:

“there is no need for a “social media marketer.” What companies need is someone who truly understands how to “create a customer,” and how the social media platform of participation changed all the rules to make that happen…”

I truly agree that someone who can be considered a good marketer must know how to create customers; and in modern times, social media is essential in that effort.

I don’t really like the label “social media marketer” either.

What are we going to do about it?

We need a new title. Something that we can use when referring to the type of marketer that is an expert in the area of marketing in social spaces in particular (at least until the social media mania dies down, and all media is referred to as social)

Social media has changed the way that buyers behave and provided new challenges and opportunities to marketers. But the primary goal of any marketer is still what it was when Peter Drucker defined it as “creating a customer.”

Unfortunately there are too many marketers who have not yet realized how social media has rocked their world – and who are considering social media as another media channel.

And unfortunately (squared), there are too many so-called social media experts who have no clue what marketing is all about and are being zealots about how marketers are not getting it.

Some, if not most/all, of the Cluetrain authors truly understood both sides of the equation…but many late adopters of the cluetrain manifesto do not.

So back to the original premise – if the purpose of a company is to create a customer, and the only two things that matter in achieving this are marketing and innovation (again – according to Drucker), there is no need for a “social media marketer.” What companies need is someone who truly understands how to “create a customer,” and how the social media platform of participation changed all the rules to make that happen…

You can train someone on the job to understand commercial marketing and all kinds of other skills that help in social media but what are those skills that specifically qualify someone as a good ’social’ marketer?

Mica

Enthusiasts are great, but don’t you feel some general marketing chops are essential as well?

Thank you so much for creating this, I think it will be a benefit to the community

But how is this different from any other services offering? There are strategic consultants who don’t know what they’re talking about, accountants who don’t know what they’re talking about, lawyers who don’t know what they’re talking about, programmers who code for sh*t, etc.

What’s really needed is a 10-point checklist on how to choose a social media marketer. So I wrote one this morning:

http://blog.isabelhilborn.com/2008/07/how-to-choose-a-social-media-marketer.html