Social Media Coordinator Analysis - Research Paper Example

?Introduction Our world today is very advanced and powerful. Businesses are very competitive thus each and every person finds his or her own way to become more competitive, well trained, and prepared for the career life after school. Finding a job is a very difficult task to do. Finding the “right” job is even tougher than we think. With the long lists of available jobs and careers ahead of us, we cannot say that it is easier than we think it is. Jobs requirements differ. Companies also do not just hire people to work. If we think that we already escaped exams and interviews in school, then we thought wrong. Life after school and getting a job require a long list of interviews from HR supervisor to AVP of the company. More exams and trainings are required before you get the post. But if we can observe how things go this time, we can see that more jobs that are being offered are focusing on online and customer satisfaction. With the people spending most of their time checking their sites online every day, what’s better to do than to develop customer satisfaction and increase revenue via advanced campaign methods by the use of the powerful internet? Social media coordinator is one of the most popular jobs in the world today. This job is responsible for day-to-day execution of corporate social media campaigns. What can be more fun than to recommend, build and execute campaigns for Twitter, You Tube and other social media channels as required? Isn’t it fun to be responsible for blogger engagement, including conferences and maintaining relationships? These are just some of the many but fun responsibilities of a social media coordinator (jobs.mashable.com, Social Media Coordinator). The Industry From the previous paragraphs alone, the frequent use of the words ‘online’ and ‘internet’ should be noted. Coupled with how relatively young the internet happens to be, a possible inference that could be derived from the above passages is that social media coordination is relatively new. Additionally, another implication is that the most common form of social media at this point in time is the internet. Aside from the already tried-and-tested methods such as posters, print ads, TV and radio commercials, the internet has come to be recognized as a way to reach a large group of people with relatively minimal effort or cost. Government Of course, it goes without saying that different parties would have different perceptions and preconceptions as to the use of the internet as the main form of social media. For instance, an article by Abdulrahim (2010) of the LA Times talks of former Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona, who felt that the print and electronic media that served as his downfall failed to take into account the positive things he had done for his area of responsibility. More than that, however, the ex-Sheriff also brought to light the lesser-known problems associated with social media that had been causing chaos all over California. The problem, as noted by the article, is that laws need be kept up-to-date as technology continues to advance, lest there be loopholes that more unscrupulous parties can exploit. Among the policies said to help would be the discouragement of hyperlinks and attacks on specific groups, as well as employing a social media coordinator in charge of screening and filtering content before publishing it. In short, it would be safe to say that the government is fully cognizant of the benefits and setbacks inherent to social media – which is why rules need to be made and adhered to in order to minimize the risks of it being abused. International Community and the Internet First and foremost, it should be noted that the main reason there are ramifications from the international community at all, is precisely because of the internet’s ability to connect people and enable communication, all irregardless of location or distance. While it is true that TV allows shows and ads to be broadcasted globally, the fact that it only allows messages to travel one way means that it is not quite as effective as the internet as a mode of communication. And in turn, that companies have recognized and become aware of this has sparked the birth of social media marketing. Given how the internet was new at the time, and was – and still is – considered to be an excellent way of getting one’s message to all but the remotest of areas, it seemed all but obvious for companies to take full advantage of it, milking it for all its worth as a marketing tool. However, too much of a good thing is not good at all – and even this mode of marketing is no exception. Going back to the aforementioned study as reviewed by Morris (2011), the biggest reason why customers unsubscribe or unlike companies on social networking sites like Facebook is excessive frequency. Specifically, these customers found that the frequency with which companies tend to shamelessly plug or promote their products is so high as to be grating, in addition to getting old and repetitive relatively quickly. Other times, people like these companies purely on a whim – and then, later, unlike or unsubscribe from their page based on similar whims. This is yet another detail companies need to pay close attention to, as neglect could very well cost them in terms of ratings and revenue. There are people who would normally be supportive or at least neutral to them but, out of annoyance at the seemingly overeager and persistent companies and their borderline spammy behavior, end up disowning the company and its product/s instead. And unless the company’s products happen to be that much better than those of their competitors, this loss will really be felt by way of decreased sales and a smaller consumer base. In summary, it is undeniable that the internet’s gift for connecting people even across oceans and time zones would eventually be noticed and become common knowledge, and even utilized by companies in their pursuit of profit. These companies cannot be blamed or faulted for their line of thinking, either; if anything, it would have been instinctive for them to take advantage of such an obvious opportunity, and folly not to. However, it is equally essential that they refrain from being too heavy-handed in their online promotion, lest the people they are trying to reach be turned off by the feeling of the company forcing itself on them. The Profession – Tasks, Responsibilities and Qualifications As noted by Cashmore (2009), one who lands a job as a social media coordinator would seem to have hit the jackpot, at least at first. His job primarily revolves around the use of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook – which most other employees visit anyway while at work, usually illicitly. For performing relatively simple tasks involving the use of the aforementioned websites, he gets a salary of at least $60,000-70,000 Nguyen (2010) discusses the tasks, responsibilities, functions and qualifications of social media coordinators on his website as he sought out candidates on behalf of Metrostar Systems. First of all, it is this individual’s responsibility to come up with resourceful marketing strategies in the pursuit of his company’s goals, whatever those may be. This means that he needs to have the independence and the courage to stray from the beaten path, the so-called norms, in order to find newer, fresher and possibly more effective ways of doing things. He also needs the will to see these strategies through, and the integrity and responsibility needed to claim credit for whatever the result may be – whether it ends up a resounding success, or a crushing failure. Secondly, he is the one responsible for establishing an online community among his target market, with the aim of promoting his product, service or company. This task in turn requires a certain level of charisma and charm, as it is through those qualities that he will sway people to join the aforementioned online community and help the organization, in their own little way, to succeed. Good connections may also help, in that knowing the right people and being in touch with the right organizations can allow the coordinator to launch initiatives that will actually get something done for his organization. In a nutshell, this means that successful social media coordinators know who to contact, who to deal with, and have the necessary people skills to pull it off. Another thing is that the coordinator person may be called upon to organize and manage online events as needed, and from time to time, to assist the project lead concerning matters such as research, data analysis, event management and such. Again, this is where the need for people skills comes into play; as his position implies, he needs to be able to coordinate with the project lead and other relevant personnel in order to ensure success both when it comes to events, as well as data acquisition. It would also be highly beneficial for one in such a position to have the patience and persistence to see his tasks through; the aforementioned tasks such as research, data analysis and event management can get tedious and boring at some points, and thus one needs to be able to resist the temptation of complacency. An entry by contributor B. Croom (2008) goes on to add how social event coordinators are those who happen to be active users of social networking sites such as Friendster, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and others. They are definitely required to be aware of the latest trends, and to follow them as they shift. In essence, these people are the ones responsible for ensuring that whatever they are promoting – be it a product, service or company – has an online presence through which more customers can be attracted. Whereas the acts of establishing social connections and keeping up with trends are but optional for most people with Facebook, these become absolute necessities with respect to a social media coordinator. Failure to maintain up-to-date knowledge may be constly in the long run, as can letting one’s social network stagnate. Conclusion Social media has most recently been synonymous with social networking, thanks to how most companies these days have a page on Facebook and/or Twitter, to name a few. Such a notion does have more than a veneer of truth to it, if only because social media coordinators rely heavily on these sites in addition to their own official websites in order to disseminate information about their products and organizations. Indeed, considering how many people are more likely to log in on Facebook than tune in to their TV screens, the use of such a mode of marketing may be just as, if not more important that the more traditional methods. Considering how the work of social media coordinators tends to revolve around such networking sites, the typical reaction from most would be to envy them, or otherwise react in awe at how they get paid so much for doing so little work. However, as noted in the previous pages, the work of a social media coordinator has its own unique demands that not everyone may be capable of meeting. Someone taking on such a job expecting a walk in the park would be in for a very rude awakening indeed. That said, such work is definitely fulfilling in its own unique way. In effect, social media coordinators are the voice – the ambassadors – of their organization to the common man. And as such, it falls to them to ensure that the public more often than not gets to see their company at its best. References Croom, B. Social Media Coordinator Jobs in Social Media: a social media talent marketplace. 14 Jul 11. http://www.jobsinsocialmedia.com/profiles/blogs/1975232:BlogPost:4781 Abdulrahim, Raja Government agencies navigate the promises and pitfalls of social media The Los Angeles Times. 28 Nov 10. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/28/local/la-me-social-media-20101129 Morris, Tricia Consumers Becoming More Selective on Their Social Media Likes and Follows Dessert Content. 21 Mar 11. http://dessertcontent.com/2011/03/consumers-becoming-more-selective-on-their-social-media-likes-follows/ Cashmore, Pete DREAM JOB: $70K to use Twitter and Facebook Mashable. 09 May 09. http://mashable.com/2009/05/09/twitter-facebook-job/ Nguyen, Daniel Social Media Coordinator (Washington, DC) Govloop. 20 Apr 10. http://www.govloop.com/forum/topics/social-media-coordinator Read More