10 More Social Marketing Experts Offer Key Advice

Social marketing experts: Top, from left: David Amerland, Tamara Littleton, Lisa Grimm, Jason Falls, Sandra Zoratti; Bottom, from left: Ted Rubin, Neal Schaffer, Peggy Fitzpatrick, Kent Huffman, Aaron Lee

Social media marketing is a new and growing field of study. Facing the prospect of teaching social marketing basics in a rapidly changing business environment to college students I have turned to experts to ask them three questions.

I’ve now asked these questions of 30 experts. Their answers always impressed me and were always informative.

Today, in case you've missed any of the posts, I recap highlights from the most recent 10 experts who talked to me (links to previous posts are below while new posts in the series will begin later this week):

The Third 10 Social Marketing Experts:

Don’t focus too heavily on the technology, said David Amerland, author of several books including The Social Media Mind, SEO Help, Online Marketing Help and Brilliant SEO. "The technology moves so fast that focusing your skillsets around specific platforms (like Facebook or G+, for example) is self-defeating and will only help you feel dated and out of touch faster,” he said.

"Create a personality for your company on social media that resonates with your audiences,", advised Tamara Littleton, founder and CEO of eModeration a social media management agency with offices in London, New York and Los Angeles. "I think some marketers are afraid of showing a human side when they approach social media and that’s a big mistake," she said. "No-one wants to talk to an anonymous logo."

Being passionate about connecting people and being curious are keys to social marketing success , said 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. "If you're inquisitive and passionate about how mass communication tools can connect people, you should make a fine social marketer," she said.

"Gotta be able to communicate well", said 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. "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 said.

Converse, don't broadcast, was the advice of Sandra Zoratti , Vice President, Global Marketing for Ricoh and co-author of Precision Marketing: Maximizing Revenue Through Relevance. "Consumer conversations, not marketing messages, increasingly determine what gets attention and what gets ignored," she said.

Be yourself, get to know who people are, said Ted Rubin, Chief Social Marketing Officer at Collective Bias, inventor of the term ROR: Return on Relationship and the Most-Followed CMO on Twitter. "Show sincere interest in others," he said. "Listen, but most important ... hear. Look at your own behaviors and ask yourself, 'Would I want to be my friend?'"

Social media marketing requires three distinct kinds of thinking, opined Neal Schaffer, president of Windmills Marketing, a social media strategic consultancy, speaker, author of the books Maximizing LinkedIn for Sales and Social Media Marketing and Windmill Networking: Understanding, Leveraging & Maximizing LinkedIn. Analytical thinking, creative thinking and "analogue social thinking." "Social marketing is not rocket science, but it requires a different mindset," he said. "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."

Engaging with your community is very important, said 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. "If you don't enjoy being social with people, this is not the venue for you," she said. "I genuinely love hearing from people who follow me or that I follow, they brighten my day."

Listening to and understanding what’s happening on social media are the keys, said Kent Huffman, 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. Important things are "planning carefully, developing relationships, establishing trust, demonstrating leadership, building community and ensuring value," he said.

Passion is the key to social marketing success, according to Aaron Lee, an entrepreneur 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. "Passion is what separates every successful person from others," he said. "You can feel it in what they do and how passionate they are to help others be successful as well."

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
10 More Experts Weigh In On Social Marketing
Social Marketing: Utility leads to success, says Google’s Avinash Kaushik
Social Marketing: Being passionate is the key to success, says marketer @AskAaronLee
Social Marketing: Don’t be timid, says Ford’s Scott Monty

Social Marketing: Don’t focus too heavily on technology, says author David Amerland

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

David Amerland

I’m asking three questions of some leaders in the field of social marketing and this is what I learned. This is No. 21 in the series (see the links below for other posts in the series).

Today: David Amerland, who is the author of several books including The Social Media Mind, SEO Help, Online Marketing Help and Brilliant SEO. He speaks on social media, maintains a blog (Help My SEO) and can be found on Twitter as @davidamerland. 

Don’t focus too heavily on the technology, says Amerland.

"The technology moves so fast that focusing your skillsets around specific platforms (like Facebook or G+, for example) is self-defeating and will only help you feel dated and out of touch faster,” he says.

"It is easy to lose sight of the wood for the trees and go for shiny new toys here. The truth, however, is that social marketing is marketing."

Marketing is still about connecting products with customers and skilled marketers are those who understand what they need to do and then work out the best channel to do it through, Amerland says.

"Hone the skills which allow you to pick this out in any situation and you should never want for lack of a job in marketing," he adds.

"Having said that," Amerland says, "Social marketing does have some very specific tropes which are new to this era.

"One is speed of response. You can go from a mistake to a full blown social media crisis in 24 hours and this is unprecedented.

"Another is transparency. Marketing, these days, has to be done in the plain light of day, so to speak," he says.

"It's no good putting out a polished, finished message and expect an encouraging response if, first, you have not somehow included your target audience in the mechanics of your marketing campaign."

To be successful social marketers need to know how to project real authenticity as opposed to manufacturing sincerity," Amerland says.

"They may not be slick or perfectly finished in what they do but they are always engaging and it is engagement which really matters." he says.

And how important is social marketing as part of the marketing mix? "It is hugely important but it depends upon the product and target audience," Amerland says.

"The campaigns which do best are integrated marketing campaigns which make digital marketing appear as natural as print.

"The trick (if we call it that) is to create a narrative which unlocks the potential of each medium and contributes or reinforces the way the target audience interacts with it.

"Today's successful marketing campaigns employ a strong gamification element," he says.

"Which makes partners of marketers and marketed to produce closer alignment to what each wants to achieve with the other."

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
10 More 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 engagement, says Deirdre Breakendridge of Pure Performance