I had an awkward conversation with a recruiter for a Fortune 500 company, who insisted that they needed a top e-commerce expert to run social media for them. It’s a mistake: Social media is about conversations, communications, and customer service. It’s not about Web sites, and it’s not about sales. Put a sales-focused e-commerce person in charge, and you’re going to end up with a failed sales campaign with no impact or social media credibility. (They ended up hiring someone from a top PR firm.)
My take: PR executives make the best social media executives. There is a similar mindset. Traditional media relations requires finding the right influencers, building trust, and sharing credible, relevant stories. Translating those actions to social media — replacing reporters with the bigger community — is exactly how to run a great social media program.
Of course, an inept spam/pitch PR loser will be just as inept in social media.