I admit it! I am a bit of a Social Media Guru basher, only because the self proclaimed gurus place themselves in a position to be ridiculed by giving themselves a silly little title like Guru. As if the title Marketer, consultant or similar title is just NOT good enough. The title Social Media Guru minimizes the importance of the Digital Marketers role in this new digital driven world. Social Media Gurus…Silly Rabbits.
The title of guru not only, will not improve your credibility but it also will not give you the skills needed to succeed in this increasingly digital driven world if you are in fact one of those gurus that have not stepped their game up beyond just playing on Facebook. I’ve said before, 2013 will make or break the people in the digital marketing space and expose those that are just playing from those that are really on their game. There are increasing numbers of organizations that are looking to take their marketing strategy to the next level. These organizations are looking for people that are ON their game not those that are playing games, social media guru games.
One of the biggest things that 2012 displayed was that more skills were needed in this space beyond just playing on Facebook. The Digital Marketing space is maturing and with its maturity so is the growing expectations of more, from companies that are looking for skill sets beyond just social media. Companies need cutting edge strategies created by cutting edge marketers that are on their game because now is the time for some companies to utilize these newer marketing strategies to pull ahead of their competition. So for businesses, it’s All About The Benjamin’s and NOT about the gurus.
Additionally, as organizations realize the importance of adding digital marketing to their strategy, some are realizing the need to have more control over the content that is being released to represent their brands. This is starting a trend of organizations hiring internal digital marketing staff to handle their marketing strategies as opposed to outsourcing. Stuff just got real!
So, when companies select to hire staff to work onsite it creates a more opportunities ( and more competition) for the Digital Marketers that are on their game. In an increasingly competitive space that is separating Digital Marketer from Social Media Guru, it’s time to be on your game. That is if you’d like to out-compete the social media gurus of the world. One of the things that i’ve noticed that separates the legitimate Digital Marketers and the Gurus are the impressive digital footprint of the digital marketer, and lack there of for the guru. THIS will be the game changer in this industry in 2013.
A marketers digital footprint or online presences will be what allows them to stand head and shoulders above their guru counter parts, when competing within the digital marketing space. It is NOT an option it is a requirement if you want to excel as a Digital Marketer, it really is your resume because it displays to the world YOUR presence. If a person does NOT have a noticable if not exceptional digital footprint wouldn’t that be an indication of the effectiveness or lack there of, in regard to their digital marketing strategy? If I were in search of a Digital Marketer to create a campaign strategy for my organization, the first thing I would do is to check out their digital footprint by Googling them. It they have an impressive presence on Google this would be an indication that they could theoretically create an effective presence on Google for my organization. If they didn’t, um well I’d think, YUP Guru and keep it moving.
I’m not saying that there’s no hope for our friendly neighborhood social media guru, I’m just saying that NOW is the time for the gurus to step their game up. Get your skills in order, learn some new things, learn a bit of web design, maybe even graphic design and more to compliment what you know. Step your game up! We are at an amazing time in history, a time of change from traditional to digital and its a great time to be in this industry.
So, if you are pursuing a career as a digital marketer or if you want to move your game beyond the social media guru status the thing that you should do AFTER you step your skill level up is the following:
- Work on creating a brand for yourself, because after all you are marketing YOU. If you want to be taken serious as a digital marketer make sure your brand is tight! Be consistent with the look of all of your online presences and websites.
- Creation of a great Social Media Strategy to market YOURSELF. When marketing oneself you MUST think of yourself as the BRAND, you really want to step beyond your competition and surpass them. So creation of a successful social media strategy for yourself is ESSENTIAL. If your social media strategy is weak that’s what will be displayed for all to see. Be the Digital Marketer that YOU would want to hire.
- Not all Social Media Channels are right for your brand so take a look at the channels that are out there and utilize those that best fits your needs.
- Create a blog if you don’t have one because a blog is a GREAT way to get the word out about what you have to offer and to display that you are on your game.
- If you have a blog, focus on creating great content. Go for creating a content rich presence for yourself, after all you are branding YOU. Content is King does apply and probably always will so you should always think about providing great content.
- Great content by way of original material, curation and content sharing are terrific ways to provide great content.
- Build followers! If you have great content people will follow you. It is just that simple, there is no magic bullet. If you provide content that can be of use to people that follow you in the very busy world, people will depend on you to provide informational that is beneficial to their lives. Again, they will follow you.
We are at such a pivotal period in the growth of online technologies now and it we are in a time when companies and organization recognize how essential an online presence is and the importance of having digital marketers as a part of their marketing team. It is time for the Digital Marketers to stand above the rest and that starts with having an impressive digital footprint because YOUR Digital Footprint IS YOUR Resume in the Digital Marketing space.
Related articles
