Everybody seems to claim to be a social media consultant or aneurism media strategist. (If you are wondering about the names or titles of thes social media gurus check that post). Yet there are some really terrible options out there. People who are snake oil salesmen. This is true for SEOs as well but I’ll harp on those people another day.

There are different levels of staff or consultants you might need based on business objectives and current presence etc. For this post were going to focus on the social media strategist. You’ll know the definition of a social media strategist by the time we’re done here.

So, what makes a good social media strategist?

Is it time spent on social networking sites (SNS)?
Often times people are looking for the younger individual who spends copious amounts of time on facebook or YouTube. They must know the inner workings of social networking by sheer time on site. I mean practice makes perfect right? When it comes to youtube, you must discover best youtube views bringing ways to have better reach.

Time spent on a site doesnt make a person smart or strategic. A person who spends this much time on social networking sites would be a good tactician. Someone whom carries out the daily mission of listening, responding and flagging for more attention.

Alternatively, if you hire someone to be a social media strategist, while capitalizing on recruiting services, you must verify that they do spend time on these sites. That they have examples of what other businesses are doing on social networking sites. Imagine hiring a social media strategist who doesn’t have a facebook profile. Seems stupid right? (it’s been done)

Or content they produce?
What about that funny father son duo on YouTube. We can hire those guys since they produce great quality content a d obviously know strategy. They’d be great social media strategists for my bank, or my restaurant. Right?