who is hiring social media experts?

After attending the #140Conf this week, I was thinking about the buzz that social media generates with customer service stories, @zappos or @comcastcares and the like being the prime examples. Social media triage can win customers and control the damage done by bad experiences. I hope they post the video from the panel that @zappos was on.

Most of these firms have some kind of customer service function anyway, and it's really the motivation of the social media team that cuts through the walls of BS and gets problems resolved. The social media teams are comprised of people who love their jobs, are empowered and motivated to fix things, and talk to real people.

So in the future, won't "social media" just be part of "customer service?" The jobs done by reps in call centers will all have some social media element. @zappos says that any tweet to @zappos that is about service is answered by @zappos_Service or something like that. They built a gateway that turns inbound tweets into emails which I assume also means they enter their CRM issue resolution systems.

What won't change, IMO, is that some companies won't be able to elevate their caring about customer service to make it work, social media or not.

Companies that care about customer service should be hiring people who care about customers...who know how to use social media.

Outside of customer service, a lot of startups maintain "community manager" positions. While you've got a lot of experience already, some firms (Burger King, Pizza Hut, Jet Blue) are rolling out internship positions devoted entirely to managing the firm's presence on Twitter and Facebook.

I'm sure they wouldn't mind people managing those at a more professional level, although I wouldn't expect you to cover social media alone.

There might not be many full-time jobs devoted entirely to it, but you may be marketable right now in the same community management or marketing positions.

Depending on your previous work, marketing agencies (you manage online media as well), especially the interactive/digital/more modern ones, might also be interested.

Unless you're a thought leader or respected within the social media space, I'd also recommend getting experience outside. Or giving some attention to more general online and digital marketing, just to be more marketable.

Pushing social media alone might be risky. Some people just don't understand it, and others may decide it's not worth paying too much for above the entry or intern level.