When it comes to Marketing, every decade has had its ‘hot’ careers. During the 1980s, catalog marketing and direct mail houses were the place to be. In the 1990s, web design firms and ad agencies were overloaded with job applicants. And from 2000 to 2009, any career related to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) seemingly turned to gold the minute it was touched. Predictably, as we move through 2010 yet another new marketing career has emerged: the Social Marketing Manager.
Unfortunately, as with all uber-trendy marketing careers that came before it, everyone is claiming some level of ‘expertise’ in social marketing . . . whether or not they actually get paid to do it. And because of this, the level of mis-information about the social marketing career is at an all-time high. But fortunately for me, I happen to know a REAL full-time Social Marketing Manager—one who works for a highly visible, global organization with a good reputation and a great product. Her name is Carrie Yutzy, and she works for LegalZoom.com (@LegalZoom on Twitter, if you’d like to follow them). And the good news is, she has graciously agreed to shed a little light on what being a full-time Social Marketing Manager is really all about.
If you’re interested in becoming a Social Marketing Manager, or looking to hire a full-time social marketer at your organization, I hope this article helps you in some way. And if it does, a Retweet or Facebook share (i.e. “blogger currency”) using the buttons above would be much appreciated.
So . . . Where Do Social Marketers Come From?
Like 80% of marketing people on the planet, Carrie will be the first to admit her college degree did not completely line up with her existing role. That said, her experience prior to social marketing has primarily been in areas where web initiatives and marketing initiatives inevitably collide—in the technical marketing trenches. Prior to her current role at LegalZoom, Carrie spent most of her career ‘bridging the gap’ between techies and marketers, which turned out to be the perfect mix of skills for a Social Marketing role. “My specialty was in strategizing ways to increase traffic and sales, then figuring out what technology or processes best supports those goals,” noted Carrie. “So I learned about a lot of different areas—User Interface, User Experience, SEO, Content Development, Marketing, Copywriting, and so on.” The Reality? Social marketers are not specialists. They are technology-savvy web marketers with a strong background in communication.
What Traits Makes a Great Social Marketer?
When I asked Carrie to give me three mandatory traits of a great Social Marketing Manager, she actually provided four. The first was a love of Marketing (versus the love of a marketing paycheck) and the second was the desire to be social. The third, as Carrie astutely put it, is “the ability to adapt, learn, and take notes—because there’s always a way to do it better.” And the fourth? A great relationship with both spelling and grammar. The Reality? Social marketing, like marketing in general, is about more than being creative, putting things on sale, and choosing colors that look good together.
What Does a Day in the Life of a Social Manager Look Like?
The first thing on Carrie’s list each morning is monitoring of LegalZoom’s social channels . . . or to put it another way, “what people have said to or about our company since last time I checked.” What happens after that varies, but can include developing editorial calendars , brainstorming blog and newsletter content, planning future campaigns, writing ad copy, preparing reports, tracking customer feedback, and agonizing over social campaign performance (and yes, most days it is agonizing). When her day-to-day schedule provides a small window of quiet time, Carrie chooses to spend it thinking about LegalZoom’s overall social strategy, specifically “what we want out of it, how to get there, why things are or aren’t working, what value consumers are expecting from their connections with us, and how those connections drive sales.” The Reality? Full-time social marketers are busy people who do more than just build followers, set up Facebook accounts, and Tweet all day in their pajamas.
What Types of Administrative Tasks Do Social Marketers Handle?
Like any other marketing job, there are a ton of administrative duties a Social Marketing Manager must attend to. One of the most common administrative tasks is reporting, and Carrie generates a ton of them. “We watch the obvious numbers like Fans, Followers, Clicks, Comments, Traffic, and so on,” noted Carrie. “But I’m also constantly monitoring what people are saying about LegalZoom on the web, and get a unique look at how people feel about the brand—including what they think of the set decoration in our commercials.” Each week Carrie also sends out a social media roundup, and includes some of the comments she find floating around the web—both good and bad. Although there is no statistical significance to these comments (since most are one-off remarks) it helps upper management see customers on an individual level, and offers ideas of how LegalZoom can improve the experience and better serve them. The Reality? In the world of social marketing, data and analytics are everything. And becoming a Social Marketing Manager does NOT preclude you from being your own administrative assistant.
What Are the Goals of a Social Marketer?
Although most companies are still trying to figure out what types of revenue goals to assign their social marketing departments, most professional social marketers acknowledge that driving revenue is only one part of the goal. “Corporate social marketing is also about asking the right questions to create valuable conversations and gain insight,” Carrie points out. “It’s giving the brand a voice and a personality. It’s building trust. It’s constantly learning new stuff to stay on top of what’s going on in the field. And it’s being open to suggestion and criticism. Every campaign has different objectives—some are revenue-based, and some are not.” The Reality? Finding new customers and getting them to buy things is a small piece of the social marketing puzzle. Social marketing is also an exercise in branding, customer communication, and market research.
Wrapping it Up
Do we all agree that telling people we get paid to hang out on Facebook and Twitter would be cool? Sure. But the job of a Social Marketing Manager is about much more than reading news, chatting with friends, and uploading funny videos to YouTube. “Social marketers get paid to promote and enhance the company brand,” Carrie points out. “We just use non-traditional channels to get there.” And in the spirit of saving the best for last, I present Carrie’s most valuable piece of advice for aspiring social marketers: “People tend to forget that the social web is never turned off, which can be overwhelming for any marketer. If you don’t truly enjoy it, and have fun doing it, you WILL be miserable.”
Well put, Carrie!
Comments? Questions? Feel free to reply to this post. Otherwise a Retweet, Facebook Share, LinkedIn Share or other type of social share (handy buttons provided) would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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Author: Eric_Rudolf (78 Articles)
Eric Rudolf is the Executive Director of one of the fastest-growing professional development and training companies in the world, as well as a featured small business writer for LegalZoom.com and RainToday.com—a major marketing and sales portal operated by the Wellesley Hills Group. Eric can be followed on LinkedIn or Twitter.
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October 19th, 2010 at 6:14 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Social Media Guide, Esiva Campos and Carrie Yutzy, Andy Hodgson. Andy Hodgson said: RT @TSCB What Does a Social Marketing Manager REALLY Do? http://bit.ly/c1XYkx [...]
October 20th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Hey Eric, great article.
I’m actually a Social Media Marketing Manager myself for some of my design clients. There really is a certain finesse you have to have to be one. I think many small business owners don’t realize that social media should be tied into a complete marketing plan … you have to know your ROI and conversion rate … not just how many people from social media are visiting your website.
Cheers,
Chase.
October 20th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Chase. I’d love to hear from other Social Marketing Managers as well–I wonder if there are any more out there?
October 21st, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Very informative and eye-opening: thank you!
October 21st, 2010 at 5:06 pm
I love this article. I’m a Community Manager for @RelocationAlly, and I’m in the middle of putting together a “How to Hire a Social Media Professional” post of my own and it’ll feature a lot of the same stuff. Anyone with a twitter account does not a social media marketing manager make!
I am the co-founder of the #CmgrChat on Twitter and we meet every Wednesday from 2-3pm EST. We have anywhere from 75-150 Community Managers participating and discussing all of the issues that face this unpredictable job. Would LOVE it if anyone reading this could join in and share their experiences. Our website is http://cmgrchat.wordpress.com for now, and it has all of our previous digests.
October 21st, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Thanks for taking the time to reply, Jenn! I’ll make you a deal–in exchange for the promotion of your group, could you ask each of them to push the “Retweet” button at the beginning of the article? Doesn’t hurt to ask.
Thanks again for the great reply, and good luck with your group!
October 21st, 2010 at 5:17 pm
Haha well, I put it on the #cmgrchat tag, so I’m sure it’ll get some traction throughout the day. I’ll also put it on our digest that will be out tomorrow.
October 22nd, 2010 at 6:06 am
Eric,
This was a super post, for many reasons! Not only did it provide insight into the role of Social Media Marketer, but it also shed insight into how quickly our world is changing and what it is going to take for employees to succeed!
It isn’t about a paycheck, it is about loving what you are doing!
October 22nd, 2010 at 10:55 am
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Hannah! I wonder how many more years it will be before the definition of our traditional ‘marketer’ will be changed forever? Maybe it already has . . . good luck!
October 22nd, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Wow! Great to hear from some other Community/Social Media Managers who know it’s a fun & engaging job, but certainly not as easy as sending a few tweets and posting funny Facebook updates. Speaking of…any of you know a good Linkedin group for community/social media management discussion?
And Eric, big thanks for coming up with the idea for this post and giving me the chance to shed a little light on the life of a Social Marketer. Now, when people ask me if I get paid to hang out on Facebook all day I can set the record straight!
October 26th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Hey great post! Would be cool if you could do a series of interviews with other Social Media/Community Manager’s.
I get the smae joke amongst my firends that i just hang on facebook all day. You still have to develop strategy and deal with figures.
But it is a very rewarding job.
I think there is also a large chunk of delivering quality customer service.
Later
October 27th, 2010 at 2:28 am
Great post and a real insight.
There are a few organisations in the UK which are trying to leverage this space. There are a ton of jobs available here for Social Media Managers but positions aren’t being filled because the role is so new!
There is a new company in the UK who are MLMing this opportunity and recruiting supposed Social Media Managers and training them for the role! Can you imagine?!! Shock, horror! They won’t be in it because they love it will they? And how effective will they be at the job?!
So it’s great to read about a real Social Media Marketing Manager and what’s involved. And I totally agree; you’ve got to love it and enjoy the whole social media space. I think it’s got to be your passion.
I’ve now subscribed to this blog and look forward to more great articles!
October 27th, 2010 at 10:46 am
I agree 100% on the Customer Service part. Every day, more and more customers are actually checking Twitter accounts and Facebook presences for a Customer Service contact. Being able to route visitors to the right department or person is becoming a growing part of the Social Marketing job. Thanks for taking the time, and good luck!
October 27th, 2010 at 10:51 am
I hadn’t heard that about the UK, but I’m extremely disappointed to hear someone has already turned Social Marketing into a reason to run a pyramid scheme. I have a relative who joined an MLM a few years ago based on Search Engine Optimization, but I hadn’t heard of this one. Oh well, we both know it will fail eventually. Maybe some readers of this blog would be interested in relocating if a job opened up? Thanks for taking the time, and good luck!
November 3rd, 2010 at 3:08 pm
good interview. in that vein…why could I not share this article on LinkedIn, a more professional venue than the facebook option?
November 3rd, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Of course you could! Based on your comment, I’m going to start looking for a LinkedIn share button as well–I think this is a great piece of user feedback. Thanks for stopping, thanks for commenting, and good luck!
November 23rd, 2010 at 11:47 pm
Now that we know what they do. How does one get a job like this.
December 2nd, 2010 at 3:34 am
This is a great article, I am Chief Marketing Officer for LiveEnsure and we are engaging across social media my biggest challenge are cynics. Board members who don’t have smart phones, think facebook is for teenagers and Linkedin is an invasion of their privacy.
Like Carrie I am passionate about social media and enjoy doing it.
Louise
http://www.sososocial.blogspot.com
December 6th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
They’re definitely still out there, aren’t they? It’s an interesting contradiction–some in the ‘board member’ category are highly skeptical of social networking, and others are expecting their companies to generate millions of dollars from it. Unfortunately for them, the reality is somewhere in the middle. Thanks for taking the time to comment, and good luck!