As social network usage increases, the necessity for businesses to engage in social media marketing increases. An increase in demand results in a increase in supply, which we know from basic economics. While the supply of social media marketers grows, we have to ask ourselves, which one of these social media marketers should I look to for help? I’ve put together a list of personality traits that will set the best social media marketers apart from the rest.
A genuine interest in marketing and marketing principles. Social media marketing is not a stand-alone solution and should fit into the entire marketing strategy for any business. It starts by asking important questions such as “who is my target market?”, “what sets my product/service apart from others?”, and “how do i convert attention into action?” It’s not enough to simply know and understand basic marketing principles, but to be genuinely interested by them, to become a strong marketer. It should be natural for these people to follow and friend their favorite brands, to react and respond to their marketing efforts, and to analyze and criticize their strategy. The simple act of doing this naturally and daily is an exercise of it’s own, and without the genuine interest in marketing, it’s not likely to last long.
A genuine interest in social culture. Social media marketing is about harnessing the excitement of people who already like their brand. It’s about getting the people connected to you to share messages, links, and content you think is relevant to them. Anybody can make assumptions on what information people share, but in this case knowledge is power. There are plenty of articles that study the type and format of content that is shared on various social networking sites. There are also plenty of links and media that is shared with you on these social networking sites. A genuine interest in social culture allows people to not take this information for granted, but to come up with their own theories on what information people share. Doing this overtime will allow social media marketers to understand the culture behind social networking sites that marketers need to harness.
A genuine interest in UI/UX design. For those of you who don’t know what UI/UX design is, it stands for User Interface/ User Experience design respectively. This has to do with the placement of buttons, the wording, and more that is put into place by the social networking sites themselves. Studying the way the social networking sites are designed is a great way to understand what the social networking site creators are thinking. This is because UI/UX design isn’t only about making the experience easier/better for the user, but also about getting them to do what you want AND setting the tone for the social culture within the site. A great example of this is when Facebook changed the “become a fan” button to the “like” button. What does this mean to the culture of Facebook? How does this affect the way viewers decide whether or not to click on this button? These are questions that should come naturally to any social media marketer. Otherwise, they will fall behind as new changes are made to social networking sites.
An interest in coding, programming, and database design. While it’s not necessary for a social media marketer to understand how Facebook & Twitter are created on the backend, it’s definitely an advantage. These social networking sites are tools for marketers, therefor knowing how these tools work is important. Any chef can probably make a ceviche, but knowing the chemistry behind how the acid in citric juices cooks seafood will surely help him perfect the ceviche. For example, not all Facebook posts by your friends show up on your newsfeed. There’s a formula that automatically determines which posts are most relevant to you. Without knowing this formula, there’s no way for a social media marketer to make sure their Facebook posts are News Feed Optimized.
An interest in social media and social media marketing. Social media is a fast paced industry. New tools and new studies are emerging every day, and each of these will allow social media marketers to refine their understanding and implementation of social media marketing strategies. It’s easy to fall behind. If your social media marketer doesn’t read Mashable.com, that’s bad news.
Leave a Reply