You can’t outsource relationships!

Some aspects of Social Media can be handled by outside vendors (building applications or tools, creating content assets like video, etc.).  But at the end of the day, Social Media is about building real-ationships.  Your customers want to establish a relationship with YOU, not your agency.

So, invest in training and coaching for staff (and not just marketing staff!).  Even if an agency is involved, you’ll be better equipped to manage their activities properly and drive Social Media success if you know your stuff.

What types of training programs are out there?

Many conferences now include Social Media programming.  For example, Industry vertical conferences such as The Specialized Information Publishers Association and the Open Government & Innovations Conference offer sessions on social media.  Marketing conferences such as Search Engine Strategies, Ad Tech, SMX, and Word of Mouth Marketing Association offer sessions that are tactic-specific.  These conferences are an excellent way to get an idea of what other marketers are doing.  (Many of Serengeti’s presentations at these and other workshops can be found on slideshare.)

For more in-depth training, Serengeti provides customized programs that are tailored to a client’s specific strategy, staff resources, and measurement infrastructure.  We also provide custom workshops to help our clients accomplish specific education goals  (for example, preparing an organization to become “social media ready”).

Many of our clients use our coaching service.  Coaching can be extremely valuable, especially to those who are accomplishing much of Social Media in-house.  A coach can watch your social media activities to make ongoing recommendations for improvement and help you leverage new channels and tactics as they emerge.

For more on in-house Social Media, check out some of the interviews with Social Media marketers on our Take It In House web site or call us at 703-556-3390.  Also see this nice list of courses on Social Media from universities around the world.