As a Marketer I would really have to disagree with any suggestion to give the Intern the control over your messaging and voice on social media. I know your article is not saying that, but It does really come across as this is the recommendation. I just can’t beleive that anyone especially tech or b2b companies would trust a customer touchpoint that hits thousands of customers every day to an Intern. I mean would you? I am the marketing intern and that’s absolutely stupid and risky even to me.

Ideally If I was in charge (I’m the intern, obviously I’m not) This is how I would do it. The marketing manager would approve a company logo, company description, 30 tweets for the next month, appropriate links, target keywords, and short content pieces to be spun.

The Intern would actually Implement – Setup the accounts on Social media and Social bookmarking sites with logo, description, links etc. The Intern would then setup by scheduling or manually posting the pre-created content (posts, tweets, updates) The Intern would also spin the short content pieces and post them to social bookmarking sites pointing back to your website. Other tasks for the Intern would include managing content distribution and syndication to 3rd party social sites like Youtube, Slideshare, Flickr etc…

Summary:
To keep control and be the most effective craft the “Social Media” Message and voice internally – Do not delegate the content creation to your Intern!
Delegate content distribution, spinning, and syndication to the tech savvy intern.

I would be happy to elaborate, or answer any questions at my blog. http://nigelkay.ca/

Warm Regards,
The Marketing Intern
Nigel.

I loved the closing statements —
“As management, we just send them out for coffee because we’re scared they’ll figure out how to run the company while we’re in the bathroom. ;)”

I am a fresher at my place and I very well can see me getting guidance at places which is not much necessary. I can see in myself all he attributes which you have mentioned in the above post.
Thanks for the interesting read!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8642404.stm

Nice post. I do agree that interns could very well understand how to engage with social media more than their bosses. However as pointed out in the comments thats not always the case.

Great post though, subscribed :)

Interns are chatty but the depth of the conversation is about as deep as a puddle of water (they are young, inexperienced and have not been tested in the world – hence, they have very little of true substance to say – period). They can tell you what’s being said but they lack the comprehensive analytical skills and life experience to understand what the chatter means and how to address the needs of a community.

They are eager. Yes. This is lovely and translates into pure energy. But they don’t know what to do with it. That is why they’re interns. They need to be guided in how NOT to spin their wheels, waste time, burn bridges, etc.

As far as the technology goes, I’ve had to train each and every one of my interns on Twitter and third party applications (I”m in my 30′s). I’ve also had to teach them basic marketing concepts and social etiquette when speaking to people on behalf of a business (not their buddies from school).

I really wish people (the author of this article included) would stop perpetuating the ridiculous stereotype that a 20-year old is more effective at social media than someone who is older. Here’s a reality check FACT: the majority of social media users (Twitter and Facebook) are female and mid-to-UPPER 30′s. What the hell does a 20-something year old know about communicating to that demographic? Nothing. They have to be taught. Unless your brand caters specifically to a college crowd, having a “chatty”, ADHD, 20-something running your social media marketing initiative is lacking in sound judgment.

So let’s please stop acting like this is 1995. The youth are valuable. They are not the purveyors and keepers of all things technical (least of all social media).

Interns are, however, free. God bless them.

There are a lot of people out there who talk about social media but don’t really understand the “why”behind the rise of social media. This book will not only explain that readers it will take them by the hand and put them in a new mindset of social media marketing.

Social media is NOT a tactic, it’s not just developing a Facebook page, it’s a way of thinking about consumers, customer and most of all marketing. Ms. Evans starts out with the basics of social media and then takes the reader on journey to understand what social media is all about. She talks about giving up control and transparency and then continues to discuss how social media is integrated into the whole marketing plan.

In the chapter on “Interns make coffee not social media strategy” Ms Evans says:

Interns don’t really know your brand
Interns don’t know your ethics of brand philosophies
The have no real vested interest in your brand
They might know Facebook but do they really understand and know marketing ?
Can they relate to your target market ?
This is a great list of why companies should not be using interns to develop and execute social media strategy and she then quantifies this list with “would you let an intern plan a major PR event ?”

The book is an excellent read for those who know social media and those who are still trying to figure out what social media is all about and how it fits into their marketing strategy. I highly recommend it.