Probably my biggest competition for Social Media business is “The College Kid.” Many potential opportunities have slipped through my fingers by unsuccessfully articulating the value of a Social Media professional with an MBA over a college kid. The burden of that outcome rests squarely on my shoulders. When doing my SWOT analysis, I didn’t give “the college kid” enough clout.
Why the college kid is appealing
First and foremost, “the college kid” is cheap. There is no doubt that the cost of hiring a college kid to “do” Social Media for you is less than what we (Devine + Powers) would charge. This is a clear advantage for “the college kid.”
The second reason is that kids coming out of college these days have grown up around Social Media. It’s in their blood, their DNA. Building websites, Twitter accounts and Fan Pages is like second nature to them. To you, Avatar is just a movie, to them it also means profile picture. Naturally the assumption is that they know what they are doing.
So why shouldn’t you hire a college student
Just because you can use a telephone doesn’t mean you are qualified to run a call center. GM Shareholders wouldn’t hire a race-car driver to run GM. Knowing how to USE something isn’t the same thing as understanding it’s value and function.
Many college students think “targeting” is something you only do in Call of Duty: Black Ops and “segmentation” is what you do with an orange.
Social Media is fun for “the college kid” but to a business, this is serious work. The person managing your community is an ambassador of your brand. Think of your social media staff as “community managers” and “strategists” instead of “the person who updates Facebook.” If you take it more seriously, you can expect more serious results.
As the saying goes “you get what you pay for.”
Why you should hire a college student
Hire a college student when you already have your strategy in place.
Hire a college student when you need enthusiasm, execution and creative thinking but all within clearly defined guidelines.
Hire that college student when you already have an internal policy and oversight.
Or hire that college student because you think everything that I just wrote is BS. I promise I won’t say “I told you so,” but you might get a link to this blog post.
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UPDATE: I wanted to clarify that “the college kid” in this post is referring to the notion that “any ole college kid” can do it because they already know how to use Facebook and Twitter. There are some brilliant students that could probably rock as a Social Media professional. This post is not meant to infer that all college kids lack value.
Steph Takach says
Jeff–
Great post. As a college student my defenses inevitably came up after reading. While I agree that college students are appealing because they are cheap and have social media ingrained in their blood, experience is a key in driving one’s understanding of the value and function of any tool and college students are perhaps the most experienced with social media tools. I’d also argue, from my experience, that upper management employees are the ones that think social media is “fun” and don’t take it seriously. Our generation has seen its impact since we’ve grown up with it so that we understand that it can have serious results for better or worse.
College students can help develop strategy and need to be able to lend a hand in developing the guidelines. We’re kids, but we’re often kids with big ideas! Thanks for the update on the post as well.
-Stephanie (@stephtakach)
Jeff Gibbard says
To be honest, I couldn’t possibly agree with you more. I think that college students are a vital PART of the equation. They are generally enthusiastic, creative and often do not have the burden of years of “we tried that” cynicism. The younger generation is also less risk averse, they view careers differently and have a unique view of what an online social experience actually means. All of these things make college students an invaluable part of the equation.
That being said, those same traits that make them valuable can also make them a liability. It is for that reason that I would hesitate, in 98% of the cases, to put a college student “in charge of” Social Media for a company. Familiarity with the tools is essential, but when it comes down to it, a business doesn’t look at Social Media as a tool for socializing, which is the majority of a college student’s experience. Without a view of how these tools fit into the marketing, public relations or customer service mix, most college students are ill-equipped to carry the full burden.
Upper management is also a liability at times, though it is often from inaction instead of reckless action.
Harrison Kratz says
It really can go both ways. I think there are a lot of college students who think they’re qualified to be a social media pro because they always use it, but it does take a special breed to understand the strategy and utilization of social media that will warrant results. You’re absolutely right when talking about managers and strategists. I can’t say I would trust any student with those responsibilities.
I do think students can bring fresh blood and enthusiasm to the company, but how long does that outweigh the inexperience or misunderstanding of the full spectrum of social media. That all being said, I think there are many exceptions to this and I’m glad you clarified in the end.
Nice eye-opening post Jeff
Jeff Gibbard says
Harrison,
I’m really glad that you commented on this post.
When writing this, I wasn’t even thinking about the college students who think of themselves as qualified. That might be a whole post unto itself (feel like guest blogging?)
I was trying to provide some perspective for would-be employers who see college kids as cheap and facile with the technology, and thus rush into it. As with any rule, there are exceptions and by no means would I mean to stereotype all college students as incapable, you are a prime example.
I think that it all comes down to what the responsibilities would be. As part of a social media team, I think college students/millennials are a vital component of being able to think fresh, new and unique ideas. When I think about broader business implications including risk assessment, understanding how to communicate the business value of social media and understanding how social media integrates with other business functions, I would hesitate to give “any ole college student” that much responsibility.
Always great to hear from you on my blog.
Irene says
I wouldn’t let a college kid write a news release about my company and send it out with reviewing it first. Why would I let a college kid be the voice of my company in a platform that is out there in my name — forever?
Jeff Gibbard says
Completely agree, but remember that you have experience in writing and reviewing press releases; in the context of social media, many of the people that would hire “any old college kid” to “do social media” for them, don’t have the experience to even know how to evaluate them. Additionally, social media creates far more opportunities for error given the real time or fast paced nature of the medium; it’s nearly impossible to review all communications.
Jake Kaskey says
Great post, Jeff. When I work with my political friends, I always talk about the super-volunteer. Your super volunteers love putting up yard signs, love working the phones and knocking on doors. They’re the best at what they do because they’ve done it forever and they care about what they’re doing. But you wouldn’t put the super-volunteer in charge of WHO to call, WHICH doors to knock on, HOW to dole out campaign resources, WHO to target. With time, experience, and training you get specialized help- that’s why campaigns that win are campaigns who hire talent– and not rely solely on the super-volunteers.
Jeff Gibbard says
To your point, there is a big difference between knowing WHAT to do and knowing WHY to do it.