College freshmen needs – laptop, books, oversized sheets and caring about your online rep NOW

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The Importance of Personal Branding for College Students #infographic

Ahhhh … the start of a new college school year and the excitement of heading off to or back to college…. 

One thing many college students won’t be thinking about at this time of year, but they absolutely should be, is their personal brand.

By the time they’re preparing to graduate – hopefully at the latest they’re thinking about this in Year 3 – they should have a strong personal brand that is obvious to anyone who finds them on the web. 

A solid personal brand means that a future employer, landlord or even significant other finds a well-rounded and positive (or at least 99 percent positive) image of you when they Google your name.

So how do you get a great personal brand? You build it over time and you do it methodically.

This means students entering college now have the greatest opportunity to build up that personal brand. And yet … 

Many won’t think about this until it is too late – Year 4 – or not at all.

The time is now in terms of building that brand.

This infographic might help. It spells it out in basic terms anyone can follow. It seems particularly relevant to college students:

Infographic source: Original in Italian by Enrico Bisetto and the English version by Jorgen Sundberg

Social Marketing: Being passionate is the key to success, says marketer @AskAaronLee

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

Social Marketing: Listen and understand, says marketer and author Kent Huffman

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

Social Marketing: Engage with your community for success, says Peggy Fitzpatrick

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

Social Marketing: Three distinct kinds of thinking needed, says speaker and author Neal Schaffer

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

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?

Ted Rubin

I’m asking three questions of some leaders in the field of social marketing and this is what I learned. This is No. 26 in the series (see the links below for other posts in the series).

Today: Ted Rubin, Chief Social Marketing Officer at Collective Bias, inventor of the term ROR: Return on Relationship and the Most-Followed CMO on Twitter where he is: @TedRubin.

"Be yourself, get to know who people are, what they do, and what is important to them" and you’ll have social marketing success, says Rubin. 

"Show sincere interest in others," he says. "Listen, but most important ... hear."

"Look at your own behaviors and ask yourself, 'Would I want to be my friend?' "

What separates a successful social marketer from the others?

"In my opinion one of the most important things is to have an active, interactive and engaged personal social presence and to make sure to experience multiple platforms," Rubin says.

"An open mind, a curious nature, and being comfortable experimenting, testing and evolving" also help, he says.

"More important than social being a part of the marketing mix, is to wrap a social shell around everything you do," Rubin says. That means "marketing, sales, advertising, vendor management, production, research, internal communication and most importantly customer service."

"When you simply look at social as a part of the marketing mix it becomes just another tool in the marketing toolkit rather that adding value to the organization as a whole.

"Social media and relationship building drives engagement, engagement drives loyalty, loyalty correlates directly to increased sales," he says.

"ROR, Return on Relationship™ = ROI."

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: 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

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?

Sandra Zoratti

I’m asking three questions of some leaders in the field of social marketing and this is what I learned. This is No. 25 in the series (see the links below for other posts in the series).

Today: Sandra Zoratti , Vice President, Global Marketing for Ricoh, co-author of Precision Marketing: Maximizing Revenue Through Relevance and a speaker on social marketing. She can be found on Twitter as @sandraz:

"Both B2C (business-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business) marketers need to converse, not broadcast," says Zoratti. 

They need to "be a part of the social marketing conversation that is occurring around them," she says.

"Consumer conversations, not marketing messages, increasingly determine what gets attention and what gets ignored.

"In order for the conversation to be credible, marketers need to be relevant, be real and listen to the conversations," Zoratti says. 

"Thus the top three skills needed are relevance, authenticity and listening," she says.

The challenge for social marketers is standing out.

"Every single day, we sift through 294 billion emails, 532 million Facebook updates, 400 million Tweets and 2 million blogposts," Zoratti says. "And on average each person is exposed to 5,000 messages."

"As consumers, this is overwhelming," she says. "As marketers, good luck cutting through that cacophony." 

"Smart social marketers are using data-driven insights (based on customer and prospect behaviors, social listening, iterative learning) to know their customers as intimately as possible and using these insights to converse and engage in relevant and compelling ways."

"Social marketing is extremely important now and becoming more and more important as a part of the marketing mix," Zoratti says.

"Peer-to-peer reviews, online conversations, YouTube videos, as well as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ networks, etc. are the new sources of power which are shaping brands, determining credibility and ultimately driving a company's revenue and viability," she says.

"The increasingly impactful role of online voice and reach is evidenced by the role of Klout and Kred scores as determiners of influence and power as companies are now paying to play with the highest scoring Klout and Kred influencers," Zoratti says. "That, marketers, is a whole new world."

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 able to communicate well,' says strategist and author Jason Falls
Social Marketing: Wanting to connect and being inquisitive are keys, says Lisa Grimm
Social Marketing: Create a social media company personality, says eModeration’s Tamara Littleton

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?

Jason Falls

I’m asking three questions of some leaders in the field of social marketing and this is what I learned. This is No. 24 in the series (see the links below for other posts in the series).

Today: Jason Falls, the man behind Social Media Explorer, a strategic services agency and an information products company focusing on social media marketing and digital marketing, and co-author of No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide To Social Media Marketing. He can be found on Twitter as @JasonFalls:

"The ability to communicate clearly and effectively in both the written and spoken word," says Falls.

"Clarity in communication is probably the top skill you need for any job, but this world is all about connecting audiences with messages and vice-versa," he says.

"Gotta be able to communicate well.

"Technical aptitude is secondary and not always 100 percent critical, but it sure does help if you know you're way around a computer, the web, HTML (to a degree) and connecting to your relevant communications points through various devices."

What separates a successful social marketer from the others?

"The ones who have a marketing and communications background versus those who have just 'grown up' with Facebook and other channels tend to be far more mature and sophisticated about the basic use and implementation of social media," Falls says.

"And then those who can move beyond just communication and understand the underlying technologies, data, data manipulation, using the social graph and more ... those stand out," he says.

Social marketing is critical for most (not all) businesses, Falls says.

"This is simply where consumers are playing ... where they connect with others.

"While many platforms are not the best formats for marketing, brands and marketers are still potentially viable connection points for consumers," he says.

"So, providing another touch point for consumers where they spend a lot of their time is critical for awareness, customer service and sales."

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: Wanting to connect and being inquisitive are keys, says Lisa Grimm
Social Marketing: Create a social media company personality, says eModeration’s Tamara Littleton
Social Marketing: Utility leads to success, says Google’s Avinash Kaushik
Social Marketing: 'The lighter fluid on the marketing bonfire,' says author Ric Dragon
Social Marketing: Understand how marketing fits in, says Amber Naslund of SideraWorks

Social Marketing: Wanting to connect and being inquisitive are keys, says Lisa Grimm

What are the most important social media marketing skills that graduating college students need to understand?

Lisa Grimm

I’m asking three questions of some leaders in the field of social marketing and this is what I learned. This is No. 23 in the series (see the links below for other posts in the series).

Today: Lisa Grimm, Senior Manager, Social Strategy at Imagination, for whom she works onsite at General Mills leading social presence, social strategy development and brand/product integration for Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Eat Better America and Tablespoon. She can be found on Twitter as: @lulugrimm

A passion for connecting people and being curious are keys to social marketing success, says Grimm. 

"If you're inquisitive and passionate about how mass communication tools can connect people, you should make a fine social marketer," she says. 

"Innate curiosity, passion for people, a strong foundational knowledge of mass communication and wicked interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills are integral skills in social marketing," she adds.

"Social media is about connection and today brands/businesses have the opportunity to 'connect' with consumers/customers online the same way (and in the same networks) people are connecting with their friends and families. 

"This 'opportunity' should be respected and treated with great care," Grimm says. 

"And I believe it is those who seek to understand what matters to their audience, how to create meaningful and relevant content that evolves and sustains relationships are those who succeed in social marketing."

What separates a successful social marketer from the others?

"Those who question and challenge convention," Grimm says. "Additionally, those who have generated results rather than talking about how to get them."  

And, just how important is social marketing as part of the marketing mix?

"It's essential, as is strategic planning, PR, advertising (print and digital), content (collateral, print and digital) and measurement," Grimm says.

"At a minimum, the social web provides a great barometer for the climate of a brand and its competitors," she says.

"So if nothing else you can gain great intel from social listening that informs strategic communication development.

"Beyond this, social media provides the opportunity to have direct relationships with consumers and an unprecedented rate of word of mouth, which can be extremely positive or negative," Grimm says.

"Never before has this existed and the opportunities are endless."

So, what do you think? How important is social marketing in the future of marketing and what MUST graduating students know?

Previous posts:
10 Experts Weigh In On Social Marketing
10 More Experts Weigh In On Social Marketing
Social Marketing: Create a social media company personality, says eModeration’s Tamara Littleton
Social Marketing: Don’t focus too heavily on technology, says author David Amerland
Social Marketing: Its 'part of a nutritious breakfast,' says Christopher Penn of WhatCounts
Social Marketing: Clearly connect business objectives, says author Aaron Strout

Social Marketing: Be interesting to succeed, says author Paul Gillin

What are the most important social media marketing skills that graduating college students need to understand?

Paul Gillin

I’m asking three questions of some leaders in the field of social marketing and this is what I learned. This is No. 18 in the series (see the links below for other posts in the series).

Today: Paul Gillin, a social media trainer and author of five books about online communities, including Social Marketing to the Business Customer (with Eric Schwartzman) and Secrets of Social Media Marketing. He can be found on Twitter as @pgillin:

"Being interesting" is the key to being successful as a social marketer, says Gillin.

"No matter what the industry or context, successful social marketers have the ability to create a unique persona and content stream that engages the audiences they want to reach," he says.

What skills are the most important in social marketing? "The ability to create and sustain meaningful relationships," says Gillin.

"That's more than just attracting followers and likes," he says. "It's about helping others by giving generously of your own time and expertise.

"Giving is essential to real-world relationships, and it's just as important to those that exist online."

And, just how important is social marketing as part of the marketing mix?

"Today it's important. In three to five years it will be essential," Gillin says.

"Marketing is becoming more targeted and personalized, thanks to data analysis and ubiquitous networks.

"People want to be treated as individuals, not demographic groups," he says. "This will continue to drive the need to listen to them and to serve their specific needs."

So, what do you think? How important will social marketing be in the future and what MUST graduating students know?

Previous posts:
10 Experts Weigh In On Social Marketing
Social Marketing: Utility leads to success, says Google’s Avinash Kaushik
Social Marketing: 'The lighter fluid on the marketing bonfire,' says author Ric Dragon
Social Marketing: Understand how marketing fits in, says Amber Naslund of SideraWorks
Social Marketing: Reevaluate the traditional '4 Ps', says marketer Valerie Simon
Social Marketing: Understand engagement, says Deirdre Breakendridge of Pure Performance

Social Marketing: Hubspot's Sam Mallikarjunan Tells All

Social Marketing: Reevaluate the traditional '4 Ps', says marketer Valerie Simon

What are the most important social media marketing skills that graduating college students need to understand?

Valerie Simon

I’m asking three questions of some leaders in the field of social marketing and this is what I learned. This is No. 17 in the series (see the links below for other posts in the series).

Today: Valerie Simon, marketer and co-founder of the #PRStudChat (PR Student Chat) and #HAPPO (Help a PR Pro Out) Twitter chats. She can be found on Twitter as @ValerieSimon:

It’s time those in marketing reevaluate all of the traditional "4 Ps," Simon says. Product, Price, Place and Promotion have been replaced by "4 Ss" – Service, Solution, Simplicity and Sharing, she says.

"Effective communication today focuses on engaging the customer," Simon says, "and uses opportunities to share information, opportunities and solutions in a manner that will encourage them to become brand evangelists."

 "Starbucks, for example, makes customer engagement a top priority, soliciting customer ideas through channels such as Facebook and Twitter and even offering discounts to Foursquare mayors," she says.

"It uses social media to spread the word about more promotional events like the recent Starbuck’s Happy Hour promotion."

What separates a successful social marketer from the others?

They "must demonstrate good judgment and the ability to integrate social communications within the overarching communications plan and business needs," Simon says.

"They understand how and when to escalate both potential problems and opportunities to legal, HR or other experts within the organization.

"Successful social marketers must also understand all of the potential stakeholders," she says. "They are on a continuous quest to identify new technologies and understand the potential business implications of these technologies.

"Finally, successful social marketers have a clear understanding of objectives and are able to measure their efforts."

And what skills are the most important in social marketing?

"Good judgment and superior communications skills are essential."

Additionally, Simon says, those looking for a career in social marketing should have:

• Strong brand measurement skills/analytic capabilities and an understanding of online analytic tools (paid, earned, owned)
• Project management skills, outstanding interpersonal skills (working with a wide array of different audiences, personalities and experience levels)
• Expertise in a wide range of social media content management and publishing platforms
• Excellent writing, copy-editing, proofreading and optimization skills
• Ability to quickly embrace new technologies

So, what do you think? How important will social marketing be in the future and what MUST graduating students know?

Previous posts:
10 Experts Weigh In On Social Marketing
Social Marketing: Utility leads to success, says Google’s Avinash Kaushik
Social Marketing: 'The lighter fluid on the marketing bonfire,' says author Ric Dragon
Social Marketing: Understand how marketing fits in, says Amber Naslund of SideraWorks
Social Marketing: Understand the fundamentals, says Suzanne Vara of Kherize5
Social Marketing: 'Talk to people as human beings,' says Gini Dietrich, marketer and author
Social Marketing: Make communication 'special,' says Eric Miltsch of DrivingSales

Social Marketing: Utility leads to success, says Google’s Avinash Kaushik

What are the most important social media marketing skills that graduating college students need to understand?

 Avinash Kaushik

I’m asking three questions of some leaders in the field of social marketing and this is what I learned.This is No. 16 in the series (see the links below for other posts in the series).

Today: Avinash Kaushik, who is the Digital Marketing Evangelist for Google, the co-founder of Market Motive Inc., author of the blog, Occam's Razor, and author of two best-selling books: Web Analytics: An Hour A Day and Web Analytics 2.0. He can be found on Twitter as @avinash:

The secret to future social marketing success will be a new skill, which Kaushik describes as: "The ability to execute utility marketing – in the purest sense of the word (and to avoid the opposite: shouting and pimping)."

In a blog post, he says utility marketing is "delivering such incredible value that you simply become part of your audience's life!"

He goes on to say that mobile apps are the channel to both deliver great content and collect data (with the consumer’s permission).

He asks: "Is there anything compelling and of value that you deliver, selflessly, to your current and potential audiences?"

Utility marketing is the solution, he says, and is pretty cheap.

"A decent mobile app costs infinitely less than producing a single TV commercial and — done right — delivers a hyper-relevant audience with whom you can build a relationship unlike what is possible via any other channel on the planet," Kaushik says.

"And you'll never have to remember to interrupt them, because you'll be part of their life already!"

How important is social marketing?

It is important at this moment in time, Kaushik says, but "will become crucial over the next couple of years."

And what skills are the most important in social marketing?

Successful practitioners will have "a combination of business savvy, authenticity and restraint."

So, what do you think? How important will social marketing be in the future and what MUST graduating students know?

Previous posts:
10 Experts Weigh In On Social Marketing
Social Marketing: 'The lighter fluid on the marketing bonfire,' says author Ric Dragon
Social Marketing: Don’t be timid, says Ford’s Scott Monty
Social Marketing: Understand how marketing fits in, says Amber Naslund of SideraWorks
Social Marketing: 'Talk to people as human beings,' says Gini Dietrich, marketer and author
Social Marketing: Its 'part of a nutritious breakfast,' says Christopher Penn of WhatCounts
Social Marketing: Make music to an audience’s ears, says Mahei Foliaki (@Iconic88)

Social Marketing: 'The lighter fluid on the marketing bonfire,' says author Ric Dragon

What are the most important social media marketing skills that graduating college students need to understand?

Ric Dragon

I’m asking three questions of some leaders in the field of social marketing and this is what I learned. This is No. 15 in the series (see the links below for other posts in the series).

Today: Ric Dragon, is the author of Social Marketology, a social media deep-dive and process reference for marketing professionals, CEO of DragonSearch, and a frequent columnist, blogger and speaker on digital marketing. He can be found on Twitter as @RicDragon:

"Social can be the lighter fluid on the marketing bonfire," says Dragon, explaining that "marketers are in the business of creating more value."

"By integrating traditional marketing tactics with social, more value will be realized from each component of the marketing," he says.

"Create a reminder for yourself – perhaps a tattoo on your forearm or a post-it on your monitor – to always seek out ways to derive more value by integrating your efforts," Dragon says.

When asked: What skills are the most important in social marketing, he says there are two major buckets of important skills in social media marketing.

"The first bucket has a lot in common with traditional marketing skills: being able to understand actions in their context with an organization’s purpose, vision, goals and objectives; understanding customers; and understanding the complexity of influence," Dragon says.

"The second bucket has more to do with participating in social media in ways that help to create conversations and community," he says. "We’re talking high 'social intelligence' and high 'emotional intelligence' here – those little actions that encourage the trust in others, and help ignite deeper engagement."

He notes that organizations that are flourishing in social have shown a willingness to relinquish some of the control of the brand, allowing the brand to exist with a more dynamic voice – and thus become a part of the conversation.

They've relinquished the "command and control" approach to the brand, and encourage an "enable and facilitate" approach, and have very likely embraced notions of transparency and authenticity, he says.

But not all brands have crossed this threshold.

"The great challenge for many marketers is in helping those laggard brands join the social revolution – and are thus able to speak the language of the C-Suite," Dragon says.

"Instead of eschewing discussions of Social Media ROI, successful marketers understand that social media marketing exists within a complex ecosystem, and helps to create value across a wide spectrum of places in the organization.

"Communicating this – having those discussions – is critical," he says.

And how important is social marketing as part of the marketing mix?

"Marketers today should wake up each morning with a feeling of delight and excitement – we live in a time of real revolution in marketing and business communications," Dragon says.

"Brands that embrace these new approaches to building communities, leading with passion and purpose, and one-to-one conversations are going to assume a leadership role," he says, and "will be difficult for competitors to usurp."

So, what do you think? How important will social marketing be in the future and what MUST graduating students know?

Previous posts:
10 Experts Weigh In On Social Marketing
Social Marketing: Understand how marketing fits in, says Amber Naslund of SideraWorks
Social Marketing: 'Talk to people as human beings,' says Gini Dietrich, marketer and author
Social Marketing: Understand engagement, says Deirdre Breakendridge of Pure Performance
Social Marketing: Its 'part of a nutritious breakfast,' says Christopher Penn of WhatCounts
Social Marketing: Don’t be timid, says Ford’s Scott Monty