The attraction of social media for many is the low-cost entry. A few tweets and Facebook posts cost nothing but time. But to garner any sort of return on this time, your social media output needs to be refined and engaging. Its not enough to simply post messages and broadcast your news and products. You need to engage in conversations because its difficult to build up a presence on line without this. Of course, creating a buzz on line demands a commitment to investing the effort involved in cultivating and building a following. So, would you invest time and money in this? Spending hard-won profit on a social media specialist might be expensive but the return might also be well worth the investment. Because you can't do this half-heartedly, it needs a certain level of input, and this means you've got to put out to get in. Here's a great little blog post on social media marketing spending...

More than 100 million less searches carried out on search engines in the UK fromJuly-August. 40 million less searches carried out August-September. So what's happening? the rise and rise of social media, that's what. Because the increasing trend for those in the know is to find the answers and information they're looking for on the social web. Although Google remains the king of all search methods, its lead is gradually being eroded by the likes of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
So what is the real significance of this shift? Those in the know say its this; Social media is becoming more and more important in driving traffic to websites that search engine optimisation, and it might be that the days of search engine optimisation (SEO) are slipping into the past. Is it worth businesses spending hard earned cash on SEO when there might not be any return on this investment?

Probably not. Indeed, it all points towards money spent on social media being a far better bet.

Ok, so you've taken the plunge and entered the world of social media. Your business is on-line and active across the social web and you are starting to get some interest. A few likes on Facebook, some followers on Twitter and you're ready to take the next step and recruit a social media expert to boost your profile and hopefully bring in new business.

So, what do you look for in a social media consultant? and how will you maximise your rate of return (ROI on what might be a substantial investment. After all, its notoriously difficult to quantify success or failure with social media compared to traditional profit and loss accounting.

I came across a great article recently which hits the nail on the head on the subject of social media consultants. I think it sums up the qualities of the ideal social media expert your business needs. Have a look here and see if you agree....

( image used under creative commons licence. Original from theadaptivemarketer.com )