When it comes to promoting your products and your company, there is no better soapbox than social media networks.
The marketing channel carries more weight than ever. According to SmallBizTrends, more than 85 percent of marketers view social media as an integral part of their digital marketing mix. Knowing how important social media is to each business, it is vital to recognize the major players in the social arena - the unique set of cast and characters you will meet on your social media marketing journey.
This person knows the ins and outs of leveraging social media to promote himself/herself or his/her business. The so called early adopter knows how social media works as a marketing strategy. He or she knows how to curate from the best sites, to create and synthesize social media content and use social tools and technology to amplify his or her efforts.
They're a great source of information about the groundwork of social media marketing if you're still in preliminary stages of building an audience, understanding the content that will resonate with it and more. In organizations, they often don't just promote their brands' going-ons, but also industry-related topics and news and notes that will increase their own followings.
Most Active On: Twitter
This person knows how to handle every social media dilemma. This is also someone who knows about community and brand maintenance and while likely has less personal followers, he or she consistently provides relevant posts and is often too worried to post anything personal.
Most Active On: Google+
Though every one of your colleagues knows your product, there must be the one who is expert on those. This person handles most of the customer queries and complaints on your social media platform. This is a person who recognizes every single detail - the inside and the outside, the good and the bad of your products or services. They are very firm and don't settle for a product query left unanswered. They are indeed the 'walking product encyclopedia' and are happy to share their knowledge with the social media world. They are often, however, the ones who will defend a company's products if they don't agree with a customer's complaint, which often isn't a good thing.
Most Active On: LinkedIn
They're one of the finest assets in the social media arena. They live, eat and even breathe social media. They take part in many different social networks, communities and conversations and know how to find and gain followers. They also distinguish the value, the opportunities in and limitations to the media. They know that social media is a brand advantage and have the supremacy to refine their social media self. They are similar to the rockstar, but less self-serving.
Most Active On: YouTube
Of course, we all know that content is significant to social media marketing. The content wizard, however, is a slave of content virality and quality. This person considers killer content, amazing visuals and "snackable" formatting as the only way to stand out on social media.
The content wizard is creative and open-minded. That means they generate click-worthy content that will withstand the test of timing and crowded news feeds.
Most Active On: Facebook/Pinterest
They are in relationship with numbers and data. Yes, social media might be about words, engagement and content but numbers play a critical role. The Data Geek is someone who understands tracking, analytics and statistics. They're really particular with the ROI of social media efforts. They are the best guide and opponent at the same time when determining baselines and metrics for weighing social media goals. Conversion is their favorite number and everything a brand does on social media should be correlated with their metrics. They are often not active on social media themselves, but they are watching. This could be an executive-level colleague.
Most Active On: LinkedIn
This person is usually the one who will interact with customers and the general public and will also be the superlative person in charge of communicating company ideas. The conversationalist is the one who really cares about giving a great service to consumers. The conversationalist is someone who's calm in a social media crisis and takes part in threaded conversations, not just one-way communication.
Most Active On: Twitter
This person is rightly the manifestation of what social media has evolved to. This person is inherently social and understands people, as well as analytics. A social media marketer knows how to turn online visitors into customers. While a great number of businesses are increasing their budget in social media efforts, this person still works with what they have. They have moved passed wanting superficial gains - such as likes and comments - but have teamed up with the Data Geek and the Content Wizard to provide an evolved social media strategy for their brands and themselves.
Most Active On: Facebook
These individuals all keep social media exciting and evolving. Each should focus on a couple of aspirations - to make social media more social/engaging and to bring visitors back to a company's website.
About the Author: Aby League is a qualitative researcher and a passionate writer. You can see more of her articles on Elite Daily.