What are the most important social media marketing skills that graduating college students need to understand?
Aaron Lee
I’m asking three questions of some leaders in the field of social marketing and this is what I learned. This is No. 30 in the series (see the links below for other posts in the series). Today: Aaron Lee, an entrepreneur and marketer based in Malaysia, who is the Social Media Marketing Director for Binkd (a social media contest campaign platform provider) and who blogs at Ask Aaron Lee. He can be found on Twitter as: @AskAaronLee. Passion is the key to social marketing success, says Lee. "Passion is what separates every successful person from others," he says. "You can feel it in what they do and how passionate they are to help others be successful as well. "As a marketer myself, I’ve seen businesses and marketers fail because they aren’t passionate in what they do. "They know that social marketing is important for their business, but the lack of passion in using these networks and connecting with people makes them feel social marketing is a chore," Lee says. "Social marketing is still being confused with online advertising, even as we reach over a billion users on Facebook and business owners tend to use it just to promote their products, get bored with it, and give up after a while," he says. "Mind you, success is not necessarily about financial well-being," Lee adds. "To me, success is about loving what you do and being great at it." Some of the most important skills for successful social marketing are "people skills," he adds. "As social media marketing is built around the concept of interaction, engagement and building relationships, it is important for one to be a people person," Lee says. "You can tell if someone is a people person through their interaction with others and most importantly it comes across in all of their posts on social networking sites. "A people person has the ability to not only connect with people on a personal level, but they are also able to build engagement in their posts regardless of what feedback they get," he says. Lee says social marketing is an "extremely important" part of the marketing mix. This is because of the three types of media in the marketing mix – paid media, owned media and earned media – its earned media that used to be the hardest to get. Earned media, or word-of-mouth gained from people, has been called the "holy grail" of marketing because before social marketing existed, it was tough to get people to spread word about an idea or a product. "Earned media is all about getting someone to trust your product, to support it and to recommend it even as a consumer and not a paid advocate, and this tends to be a difficult and slow-moving – but highly effective – form of marketing," Lee says. "With social marketing a brand can now reach millions of people on platforms that are human and highly accessible. "Today, it’s easier to be part of the conversation shared in the everyday lives of people around the world. People are constantly sharing product reviews, post, tweets etc. with their friends," Lee says. "Friends are also asking for opinions before they buy or watch a movie, and social marketing (helps) make it possible." So, what do you think? How important is social marketing to the future of marketing and what skills and knowledge MUST graduating students have? Previous posts: 10 Experts Weigh In On Social Marketing 10 More Experts Weigh In On Social Marketing Social Marketing: Listen and understand, says marketer and author Kent Huffman Social Marketing: Engage with your community for success, says Peggy Fitzpatrick Social Marketing: Three distinct kinds of thinking needed, says speaker and author Neal Schaffer Social Marketing: 'Be yourself' to be successful, says Ted Rubin of ROR fame
What are the most important social media marketing skills that graduating college students need to understand?
Kent Huffman
I’m asking three questions of some leaders in the field of social marketing and this is what I learned. This is No. 29 in the series (see the links below for other posts in the series). Today: Kent Huffman, is the Chief Marketing Officer at BearCom Wireless, Co-Publisher of Social Media Marketing Magazine, and author of the new book, 8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success. He holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from Texas State University and can be found on Twitter as @KentHuffman. Listening to and understanding what’s happening on social media are the keys to social marketing success, says Huffman. "Of primary importance is the ability and willingness to listen and comprehend on social media before making the leap into that world," he says. Almost as important are such things as "planning carefully, developing relationships, establishing trust, demonstrating leadership, building community and ensuring value." Graduating students need a broad understanding of the mechanics of how to use the primary tools and channels (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, blogs, etc.), Huffman says. Beyond that, "the most important key to success with social media marketing is comprehending and applying the behavioral traits of individuals and brands that have already been successful," he says. "The importance of social media in the marketing mix has been rapidly rising over the past three or four years, particularly in the B2C arena." Business-to-business marketers, whom Huffman says, "typically lag behind when it comes to adopting new trends … have begun jumping on board” and using social media.
That’s a "strong sign," he says, "that social media marketing isn’t a fad but is here to stay." So, what do you think? How important is social marketing to the future of marketing and what skills and knowledge MUST graduating students have? Previous posts: 10 Experts Weigh In On Social Marketing 10 More Experts Weigh In On Social Marketing Social Marketing: Engage with your community for success, says Peggy Fitzpatrick Social Marketing: Three distinct kinds of thinking needed, says speaker and author Neal Schaffer Social Marketing: 'Be yourself' to be successful, says Ted Rubin of ROR fame Social Marketing: Converse, don't broadcast says Ricoh’s Sandra Zoratti
What are the most important social media marketing skills that graduating college students need to understand?
Peggy Fitzpatrick
I’m asking three questions of some leaders in the field of social marketing and this is what I learned. This is No. 28 in the series (see the links below for other posts in the series). Today: Peggy Fitzpatrick, Director of Marketing and Social Media Manager for Kreussler Inc., the Brand Sparker at re:DESIGN and a writer and Managing Partner at 12 Most. She is on Twitter as @PegFitzpatrick: Engaging with your community is very important for social marketing success, says Fitzpatrick. "If you don't enjoy being social with people, this is not the venue for you," she says. "I genuinely love hearing from people who follow me or that I follow, they brighten my day." "Being social is one thing that many overlook. "Basic social skills such as saying thank you and greeting friends/fans goes a long way," Fitzpatrick says. "Dropping the social from social media turns you into a broadcaster and the fast track to going nowhere," she says. "Being unique is also a crucial point. If you like someone else's post, tweet or comment, don't be tempted to steal it just because it's easy. "Sharing, with credit to the source, builds a relationship with the person you shared from," she says, "and builds trust from your followers as they see you are generous and a person of integrity." Hard work is what separates a successful social marketer from others, Fitzpatrick says. "There is no short cut or cut to the head of the class pass," she says. "You need to be consistently good." And, just how important is social marketing as part of the marketing mix? "I think that soon social marketing won't even be considered part of the mix, it will be fully incorporated," Fitzpatrick says. "Traditional marketing is what may be soon overlooked and that would be a mistake. "Print is here to stay and may be used to promote and extend all newer forms of media," she says. "It's great to have an online LinkedIn profile but you can't beat a well-designed, professional business card for a post meeting touch point." So, what do you think? How important is social marketing to the future of marketing and what skills and knowledge MUST graduating students have? Previous posts: 10 Experts Weigh In On Social Marketing 10 More Experts Weigh In On Social Marketing Social Marketing: Three distinct kinds of thinking needed, says speaker and author Neal Schaffer Social Marketing: 'Be yourself' to be successful, says Ted Rubin of ROR fame Social Marketing: Converse, don't broadcast says Ricoh’s Sandra Zoratti Social Marketing: 'Be able to communicate well,' says strategist and author Jason Falls
What are the most important social media marketing skills that graduating college students need to understand?
Neal Schaffer
I’m asking three questions of some leaders in the field of social marketing and this is what I learned. This is No. 27 in the series (see the links below for other posts in the series). Today: Neal Schaffer, president of Windmills Marketing, a social media strategic consultancy, author of the books Maximizing LinkedIn for Sales and Social Media Marketing and Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn. He can be found on Twitter as @NealSchaffer
Social media marketing requires three kinds of thinking to be successful, says Schaffer. "I believe that traditional marketing and business skills are still important in social marketing, but social media marketing definitely requires that you are strong in these areas," he says. "Analytical thinking: There will be a need to crunch a lot of as well as analyze data from your social efforts. "Creative thinking: No doubt that you will always have to be thinking out of the box as to how to better engage people and have them talk and share content about your brand. "'Analogue Social' thinking: Social marketing is not rocket science, but it requires a different mindset," Schaffer says. "Social media was made for people, not for businesses, so there is a need to always remember this and be customer-centric in thinking," he says. "I call it an 'analogue social' thought process, but it comes down to thinking naturally of how people relate to each other and what makes them tick when they are active on social channels." "The successful social marketer understands the role that social media plays in his or her business and is confident in their having played a role in influencing the success of their marketing program," Schaffer says. "This means that they can speak to past results and how they influenced tangible business results," he says. Social media is the "newest, fastest growing and continues to be the least understood part of modern marketing," Schaffer says. "Social doesn't exist in a silo and complements every other type of marketing, so it doesn't replace any marketing channel," he says. "However, it can play an increasingly important role as a channel in its own right as well as how it can positively affect all of the other marketing that you are doing." So, what do you think? How important is social marketing to the future of marketing and what skills and knowledge MUST graduating students have? Previous posts: 10 Experts Weigh In On Social Marketing 10 More Experts Weigh In On Social Marketing Social Marketing: 'Be yourself' to be successful, says Ted Rubin of ROR fame Social Marketing: Converse, don't broadcast says Ricoh’s Sandra Zoratti Social Marketing: 'Be able to communicate well,' says strategist and author Jason Falls Social Marketing: Wanting to connect and being inquisitive are keys, says Lisa Grimm
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