What Kind of Experience Does a Strategist Need?

by Gradon on March 30, 2011 · 5 comments

in Brands,Enterprise,Marketing,social media

Yesterday, I had the chance to sit down with Peter Kim of the Dachis Group and talk social strategy. We talked about different social media programs and the people behind them. Towards the end of our chat, he said (I’m paraphrasing here):

“You can’t do strategy until you’ve done other things.”

This struck me for a couple reasons. First, it smacks in the face much of the idea that, by using social media, you can reinvent yourself. This is something that I’ve heard many times in the years I’ve been using social media, and it just stinks of phoniness.

Second, it reinforces the fact that, to get to the point of being influential in the direction of a company (whether yours or a client’s), you need to put in the work. Whether in PR, marketing, customer service, or even accounting, the hours have to be put in — the teeth cut, if you will — to build up the experience that guides proper strategy development.

Now, it’s true that companies — both agencies and the brands they represent — will hire someone just out of school, or someone that has little to no experience in marketing, PR, or some other direct business function, as a social media strategist. Some of these people will have a natural bent, and will excel over people with years of experience. But that’s the exception… not the rule.

What do you think? What in your work experience, or in your academic history, makes you the right fit for the role you have now… or the role you want?

  • http://twitter.com/frankrebecca Rebecca Frank

    My first job out of college was in the Strategy and Insights department at an ad agency. I think that for me, having the two words so close together was key to understanding how someone so young could be asked to help with strategy. I was hired to help with research, to look into trends, to help explain what we knew about the people we wanted to talk to – and then to learn how to tie that all into a strategy that would inform our decisions.

    When I think about what I’ve done since then in social media, it aligns. Strategy can’t exist independent of research, of information, of experience-based knowledge, so if you’re lucky enough to get a job in it at a young age without a ton of prior work, you can learn from people who have that experience and can help you synthesize it in the context of your data.

  • http://twitter.com/EvilPRGuy Michael Dolan

    When I was working agency side in PR, pre-social media, Strategists were close to the top of the pyramid, on a similar level to Creative Directors. They were always people with a lot of experience who had worked in several different roles. I find it a little bit scary that since social media has become so prominent, that strategists are sometimes people with little to no experience. It doesn’t seem sensible.

    In order to create good strategy, you need a grasp of both the macro and the micro side of things. You also need to be able to effectively fill several different roles, understand how they work and coordinate them to work together effectively. You need real work experience to do this well.

  • http://ariherzog.com Ari Herzog

    Peter is correct. I am building my solopreneur consultancy to help public sector organizations with social media strategy and marketing communications. While anyone *could* offer the same, they don’t have my ~7 years of professional experience working in state and local government, including elected office, and a Master in Public Administration. I do. It is because of my past and present background that I can speak the language of public organizations and understand their constraints much more than someone trying to reinvent him/herself online.

  • http://nickhuhn.com nickhuhn

    I totally agree with Pete. Understanding (and having a history of *doing*) the ‘micro’ makes for a solid and necessary foundation to assume the role of a strategist. On the same token, however, having an understanding, appreciation and tactical skills across multiple facets (design, development, management, et al.) seems to be a prerequisite for someone to claim the ‘strategy’ title. The ability to empathize and collaborate among multiple aspects of a business ecosystem is the true epitome of strategy to me.

  • http://nickhuhn.com nickhuhn

    I totally agree with Pete. Understanding (and having a history of *doing*) the ‘micro’ makes for a solid and necessary foundation to assume the role of a strategist. On the same token, however, having an understanding, appreciation and tactical skills across multiple facets (design, development, management, et al.) seems to be a prerequisite for someone to claim the ‘strategy’ title. The ability to empathize and collaborate among multiple aspects of a business ecosystem is the true epitome of strategy to me.

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