Best Buy: Crowdsourcing a social media job description

Jul
9

Yesterday, word came out that Best Buy was going to leverage the collective knowledge of the community to help write a job description for a Sr. Manager, Emerging Media Marketing. Best Buy CMO Barry Judge is also asking those who want to contribute to post the job description on the Best Buy Ideas Exchange; where other community members can vote it up or down.

This has been an excellent exercise because I think they want to hire someone kinda like me; or at least someone with similar skill sets. Plus, my LinkedIn profile is a little slim so I will probably add many of the below elements to it later.

So here goes …

1. Responsibility section:

Be a leader; an evangelist of Best Buy brands, products, initiatives, services; both internally and externally. Inspire colleagues, direct reports and agency partners. Strategy is important. Execution is key. Authenticity is imperative.

You will be responsible for:

Being human online (and offline)
Managing and integrating social content (Blogs, Twitter, Youtube)
Participating in conversations; even if they are critical or accusatory
Collaborating with internal stakeholders like legal, customer support, Geek Squad, product management and others
Working closely with other marketing organizations to ensure a tight integration with the social web activities/initiatives
Measuring the success of social media activities; and reporting the results to management

2. Basic Qualification section:

Knowledge and understanding of technology, new trends and the latest in social/mobile innovation
Has a bachelor’s degree in business or related field.
Excels at online research, possesses excellent writing skills and the ability to crank out editorial at a moment’s notice.
Has work experience in advertising, public relations, online marketing
Proficient with Microsoft Office products
Demonstrated creativity, engagement and collaboration within social media
Demonstrated the ability to integrate social media into broader marketing campaigns
Managing people and agencies is a must
The ability to identify threats and opportunities within the user generated content space and make quick decisions

3. Preferred Qualifications:

Very active within the social web and have significant equity in Twitter, Facebook, et al
Community & conversationally focused
Proven track record of listening & engaging with the online community and acting on their behalf
Understanding of search and it’s impact on social media content
Experience in integrating content into multiple social distribution channels
Understanding of the purchase funnel; metrics associated with each tier and relevant messages that resonate with the community
Strong understanding of tagging content both on and off domain
Proficient in using social listening tools like Radian6 or Nielsen Buzz Metrics
Experience in maintaining and executing an editorial calendar

Author: Michael Brito

Michael Brito is a Vice President of Social Media at Edelman Digital. All thoughts and opinions on this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of his employer or clients; neither past or present. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or subscribe to this blog.

Dubai Jobs

Authenticity is pretty important when it comes to products for this will give your product te credibility it deserves,

Whitey1984

I have two critical comments.
One - I strongly feel that they should move "Has a bachelor’s degree in business or related field." from Basic Qual to Preferred Qual. Mandating this qualification was successfully litigated in the federal sector of employment law, calling this qualification unlawful due to the heavy prejudice for individuals with the financial advantage of wealthy families capable of sending the individual to university and deferring their contribution to family income. The legally acceptable qualification is "or equivalent experience".
Two - Best Buy proclaims itself to be a Strengths-Based organization. I do not see how "Strategy is important. Execution is key. Authenticity is imperative.", aligns with the categories and natural capabilities defined in the Strenghts Based organization. Perhaps, Strategic would, as the third, "important" qual, be acceptable, but how about the others? How about Communication or Woo for the imperative "Authenticity", and Arranger or Acheiver for the key strength "Execution"?
Just a thought, or two...

kriszha

Excellent description. I think this will be the next description trend.

Richard Clark Marketing Blog

This whole idea was a great move from Best Buy. As Head of Online Marketing for Best Buy in the UK, this is the kind of level we will need to attain.

Best Buy undertake some great utilisation of Social Media in the USA, it is a refreshing change to see a major company really embracing the potential of social media

leosaraceni

Brito, I have nothing to add to your list of requirements. Best Buy, just like any other company engaging social media, will have a much harder time qualifying people under them.
It is still difficult to measure one's "equity" in social media - that's why "experts" are everywhere.

Leo S

jamespatterson

WOW that is one clever company in my honest opinion. Two minds are greater than one and you can assume that with hundreds of thousands of employees this would be a breeze. They could even vote on their favorite reviews.

bradatpharma

Figures... as soon as I set up the site... I can't make any edits. I've moved it over to http://jobdescription.wikispot.org/Front_Page. Same intent... same appreciation for comments and help :)

Oh, and still #iwork@novartis

bradatpharma

This is amazingly timely. I'm trying to open source a similar thing, and have created a wiki space over at http://jobdescription.wetpaint.com. In my case, I'm doing specifically a description for a job in the healthcare industry, so we have some regulatory issues that are mildly different. I'd love to have some feedback.

Thanks.

#iwork@novartis

farouk

social media is becoming really popular these days!!

Michael Brito

LOL, please do and thank you for your comment.

Deborah

I think people from Best Buy have finally succumbed to the marketing trend that the Internet has given birth to. I'm sure they'll find out sooner or later if hiring such an employee would be of great help to their company.

dawncallahan

Love this and will be employing the sincerest form of flattery: larceny!

Tristan

Great article! Very interesting about BBY. I used to work for them and would love to return to bestbuy.com, corporate social responsibility or social media/pr.

They do a good job of being transparent, but could improve their social responsibility.

Vodality

Great description. We are looking to hire someone with the same skill sets. This will come in handy. Mind if I borrow some elements of this?

David Alston

Hey nice job Michael. You've written it in such a way that it could be used but just about any company to hire the new breed of marketing/communications/community person. Great stuff. And lovin' that Radian6 shout out in the description too :)

Cheers.
@davidalston
Radian6

Dude

@Marc - no probs buddy. Take what you need, please.

@Jamie - thank you so much for your kind words.

Jamie H.

"Be a leader; an evangelist of Best Buy brands, products, initiatives, services; both internally and externally. Inspire colleagues, direct reports and agency partners. Strategy is important. Execution is key. Authenticity is imperative."

I almost cried when I read that. : )