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Not all social media trainers are the same

I’m sure you know this because not every person in your industry is the same

There’s the good, the bad and the ugly; the introverts and the extroverts; the enigmatic ones and those dull as ditch water

The difference with Social Media Marketing is there are no barriers to entry and literally anyone can claim to be a social media trainer

My journey to social media marketing took in
– Studying marketing at GCSE, A Levels and University
– Spending 7 years as a journalist
– Spending 10 years as an events organiser
– Spending nearly 11 years running Altrincham HQ

So study and then n total 20+ years of online marketing experience and nearly 11 years running Altrincham HQ

I don’t say that every day so you might not know the difference between myself and a VA who says they can “post on socia media” for you

Or the difference between what we offer and which of the 6 types below we are

In this blog we look at 6 Different Types Of Social Media Trainers and you can probably notice a few familiar types from your network

There’s a question at the end of each description – think about that answer for 1 minute before moving on to the next type

1. Side Hustler
They don’t really do Social Media Training as a career, but they’ve won a couple of clients from social media for their own business, so they offer it out as an extra service to their main job as it pays for the holiday

Often the Side Hustler will have added the “Social Media Training” section onto their website as an additional service

It might have been a pivot during lockdown or it might be the VA (Virtual Assistant) model of let’s say we do everything under the sun

But you can guarantee social media is not their main role and something they spent 24/7 on

Question: Do you want someone training you in something they only dabble with themselves?

2. Sales Trainer
Their techniques are stuck in the 80’s and every post says buy from me

Everything about them makes you feel a little uneasy

In fact it feels like a blast from the past to the 80’s and 90’s when these guys will have ruled the world

They grew up in the age of Cold Calling and it shows. They sell hard in every post on social media and go for the overcome 3 objections before giving up model

Their posts really only get engagement if they tag in 4 or 5 people in every post – which of course they do in every post

Question: Think about how it feels to be sold to all the time vs making a decision for yourself because their content draws you in

3. Engagement Pod Owner
Part of the training is joining an “Engagement Pod”

An engagement pod is a group of people who all agree to like and comment on each others posts to inflate the reach of each others posts. Often it inflates poor quality content to a wider audience

The nature of this means your content blows up the moment after the training. And yet you read what you post, it doesn’t sound like you and you’re embarrassed it’s been seen by so many people

After the training you’re still not sure of the what or the why

But you feel you’ve signed up to a cult where you must commit 1 hour a day replying to other people’s post that seem like drivel

You know it feels wrong, but you keep at it for a few months worried that your own engagement will drop

What worries you even more is the pod encourages you to jump on social media posts and recommend people you’ve never worked with just because they’re part of the same Facebook Group / Engagement pod. It feels just so inauthentic

After you lose the will to live you start to think about your social media strategy and realise these vanity metrics just aren’t worth it

Question: Would you want poor quality content for your business being seen by huge amounts of people and turning potential customers off?

4. Jackanory Time
Post every day – just make up a story to get something out there

“You just have to be active. It doesn’t matter if what you post is true, just put something out there”

Unbelievably that is the advice some social media trainers give

The type of fake narratives that end up on State Of LinkedIn

Whilst consistency is key it has to be activity for a reason and one that is interlinked with what you do

I don’t need to know how it’s national Watermelon Day or how Game Of Thrones made you change your whole business model

Question: Does it matter to you if people see you as authentic and a person who tells the truth?

5. Automation Fiends
They’ll literally tell you to add 100 connections a day and automate spam messages

OK, so what you post doesn’t matter

It’s all about the numbers and they’ve got software that can follow / send connection requests to 100 people a day and then they’ll automate the DM’s that go out to those people

They ignore that people buy from people and will be able to bring you XXX leads a month

The problem is they’ve just p*ssed off thousands of people in the process who will never ever work with you

What they’re offering is against the social media platforms terms and conditions so it could also see you banned from the platforms

Question: How would you feel if your social media profile disappeared over night due to use of automation software?

6. Social Media Pro
This person works in Marketing. Social Media Marketing specifically In fact they have done for a long time and they don’t just know Social Media Marketing, they understand the principles of marketing and sales as well

They can tell you about their success stories and have case studies of these

Importantly they have lots of testimonials from happy clients. Know the art of marketing, storytelling and how this actually drives sales rather than vanity metrics

They won’t lie to you and tell you one post will change your life or you can manage your social media in 10 minutes a day. They know the importance of hard work and that marketing is work, not something you play with

Once you spend time with his person you’ll know the why and have a plan of action along with the tools to measure it

Question: You’re an expert in your field – do you choose to work with people who are experts in their field?

SO HOW DO YOU CHOOSE?
Ignore 1-5

Choose number 6 – they’re few and far between, but worth it

I think it’s pretty obvious which type we are

NEED HELP WITH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA?
Chat to us about Social Media Marketing for YOUR organisation , so we can better understand YOU and what will grow your organisation

We can only find out what is unique to your business by chatting with you

Look at our Social Media Training and Social Media Management services

We offer Social Media Training on
* Twitter
* Facebook
* LinkedIn
* Instagram
* Blogging

We can do this
* 121
* Corporate Workshops
* Group Workshops
* Face to Face or Via Zoom / Skype

Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk

Alex McCann

Author Alex McCann

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