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: 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