Social Marketing: A good marketer 'walks the talk,' says Kodak’s Jennifer Cisney

What are the most important skills for graduating college students if they want to have a future in social marketing?

Jennifer Cisney

I’m asking three questions of some leaders in the field of social media marketing and this is what I learned. This is the eighth in the series (see the links below for other posts in the series).

Today: Jennifer Cisney, Chief Blogger and Social Media Manager at Eastman Kodak, where she oversees presences on social sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr. She has been a speaker at conferences as BlogWorld, BlogHer, Marketing to Women, 140 Characters Conference and The Inbound Marketing Summit. She is on Linkedin and on Twitter as @kodakCB and @ljc:

In social media nothing beats firsthand experience, says Cisney.

Therefore, "he or she uses social media themselves and knows the tools, the best practices and the protocol," she says.

And because of that they "understand the practices that make for success... listening, good content, measurement etc."

In other words, "A good social marketer walks the talk," Cisney says.

What skills are the most important in social marketing? 

"First of all you want a good foundation of skills that you will use constantly like communications and organization," Cisney says. "It's amazing how good writing skills can be something you come back to again and again."

And, beyond the day to day activity a social marketer "needs to be able to see the big picture and set strategy that will attain overall goals."

So, just how important is social marketing to the marketing mix?

"Not every business should be forced to engage in social media and certainly not blindly," Cisney says. "But a business should be open to exploring it.

"Perhaps Twitter isn't a good fit for their target audience but Facebook is. You need to know your customers and figure out where you need to be to connect with them.

"If you are not prepared to engage with them on social media when they are active there," she says, "then you will need to be prepared to be left behind."  

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

Related posts:
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: Clearly connect business objectives, says author Aaron Strout
Social Marketing: Don’t be timid, says Ford’s Scott Monty
Social Marketing: Communication is the key, says Cheryl Burgess of Blue Focus  
Social Marketing: Hubspot's Sam Mallikarjunan Tells All
Social Marketing: Mark Schaefer on What Students Must Know