Earlier this year, I was asked to present at Portland's EO Experience, featuring subject matter experts on various entrepreneurial topics. Specifically, I was tasked with covering trends in the world of digital marketing. After a bit of introspection and research, I arrived at five digital marketing trends no marketer can afford to ignore across media platforms, tools, and strategies, including social media, video, search engines, mobile, and marketing automation. In the following article, I'll outline key strategies and tools across these five digital marketing trends that will help you win in the great game of marketing.
Evangelizing your brand via social media marketing
Now that a majority of organizations, large and small, have started using social media, it's time to rethink its potential for driving business forward. Specifically, I'm challenging companies to revisit how they engage on social media, especially if they currently outsource social activities. The current thinking regarding how your business should interact with constituents via social media is already becoming outdated. The old mode of "one person, one voice" does not offer the depth and breadth of a multi-faceted approach which involves all employees.
Instead of hiring unproven college "talent" for the social media marketing manager role (who commonly lack appropriate communication skills, industry knowledge, or insights into the corporate culture) or a "seasoned" social media professional (who cost dearly and may bring other issues to the table), consider a different approach. I recommend turning the social role upside down, focusing on integrating social media throughout your organization, driven by a social media evangelist. In the evangelist model, the role is that of chief brand officer/CMO/editor-in-chief/HR director all wrapped into one. Instead of being the single voice for the company, the evangelist manages the overall voice of the company, as created by employees at all levels.
For those of you open to bringing this new role on board, I've put together a social media evangelist job description. In short, the evangelist develops and drives overall strategy, but takes more of a managerial and mentoring role with employees. The evangelist develops a certification program to ensure employees are properly trained across platforms and tools, and maintains accountability for measurement of overall effectiveness and evolving industry trends. Regardless of the details, consider evolving or adopting the social media evangelist role at your company sooner than later. For additional background, read "Why You Should Fire Your Social Media Marketing Manager".
