Are social media “experts” worthless?

I am not a social media expert.
In fact, I know very little about social media.
But people say that Gary Vaynerchuk is.
Gary is a blogger, co-owner of a wine retail store, and an author and public speaker on the subjects of social media, brand building and e-commerce. As of today (June 24 2011), he has:

887, 518 followers on twitter.

It’s fair to say he knows a thing or two about social media, right?
Check out one of Gary’s recent comments about social media:
99.5 percent of the people that walk around and say they are a social media expert or guru are clowns,” he says, continuing with “we are going to live through a devastating social media bubble.” 

Surprised? Just watch this short video-clip:

I am not a social media expert. In fact, I know very little about social media.
But did I just hear Gary mention the word sale?
Do you hear that word often in the context of social media? Why not?
Sales make it possible for a business to exist. Why overlook this simple truth?
Consider Google: AdWords is still Google’s flagship product.
Why? Because it’s still Google’s main source of revenue (read sales).
Without Google AdWords, would  Gmail, Google Voice, or Google Chrome have happened?

Or consider BMW Group: It’s the best-selling luxury automaker in the world.
How many followers does BMW Group have on twitter? Are you sitting down? Okay:

8,480

My 2¢:
It’s possible to augment your advertising efforts with social media.
Know your target audience.
Your social media presence could be the icing on your cake.
But the icing is not the cake and the icing does not make the cake.