Social Media & Self Marketing Primer

• by Dan Bailey

This Thursday I will be speaking in a panel at a SCAD Alumni Atlanta Chapter event on “Social Media and Self Marketing.” There’s a lot of potential in these topics but here are some basics for discussion…

The world of broadcast communications is rapidly fading; welcome to one-to-one marketing. One-to-one marketing includes the ability to obtain detailed user understandings through social media profiles. This is critical today – web designers have to understand site visitors, businesses need to know everything possible about their customers and advertisers have to connect with target prospects’ motivations.

The good and bad of social media are found in its transparency. Yet social networking software is just a portion of the technological capabilities and collaborative strategies of Web 2.0. And in this world the “prosumer” is king; the place where the consumer simultaneously becomes the producer (for more on this search Wikipedia). These capabilities drive crowd-sourcing – product development and creative contests. Today viral videos are made by anyone and shoes are designed by the customers on Nike.com.

Social media and viral marketing also contribute to network effects. Even a traditional web site receives elevated search engine rank due to broadened web presence. For literal example, searches in Facebook now include Bing organic websi

te listings, and YouTube is currently the second largest search engine. Creative professionals specifically can maximize the potential of social media channels such as Flickr or YouTube with their own skills.

Of equal importance, social media and blogging can be used to build specialized brands for career-focused individuals. This applies whether individuals have specialized, vertical segment knowledge (such

as in the gaming or building industries), or horizontal, platform expertise (such as specific software accreditation) serving multiple segments. The world of services is growing increasingly niche – and the web is facilitating this approach (see WIRED Magazine’s Chris Anderson’s “Long Tail Theory”). Although it’s important to communicate one’s expertise, part of tooting one’s own horn and selling today means giving to others (read Anderson’s article “Free! Why $0.00 is the Future of Business”). For example, bloggers can share and comment in others’ blogs as well to reference their own. LinkedIn Answers also is a way to build credibility by providing solutions from one’s silo.

This but scratches the surface of social networking software as self marketing tool. The real fruits come from trial, contributing to the ongoing, collaborative discussion of social media.

Want more on what you read? Comment and connect with me!

Jake Aull | Marketing Strategy | Social Media & SEO | Digital & Creative
email | zenofbrand.com | @jakeaull | jakeaull.wordpress.com