Comments on: The 12 Traits of Successful Social Marketers

By: Michael Brenner

Michael Brenner — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 06:40:29 +0000

In reply to Carolee Sherwood. Thanks Carolee, I agree there needs to be energy and no better place to see this than from the leaders in an organization. I would really like to see less social activity because someone's boss told them to but instead because their boss is leading the way.

By: Carolee Sherwood

Carolee Sherwood — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 18:57:44 +0000

It’s a fairly comprehensive list, Michael! Successful social marketing efforts also require a constant infusion of energy to fully leverage a community’s potential. There needs to be someone (or some very small team) at the strategic center empowered to nurture and whip (in the Congressional sense).

By: Michael Brenner

Michael Brenner — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:58:50 +0000

In reply to Kevin. Thanks Kevin. Welcome to B2B Marketing Insider. Let me know if there are topics you are interested in hearing more about.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:19:51 +0000

Michael,
Just received an email with one of your blog posts listed as a resource so I clicked it. Wow, glad I did. It is now added to my RSS reader.

By: Michael Brenner

Michael Brenner — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:35:50 +0000

In reply to kenny. Thanks man. You are too kind. I am now expecting a nice juicy comment from you on each post. I really do appreciate it!

By: Michael Brenner

Michael Brenner — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:34:02 +0000

In reply to Francesco. Francesco, It's so important to really want to stay up to date and to be able to adapt to the tools and techniques that are most effective.

By: kenny

kenny — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:39:24 +0000

indeed. indeed indeed 🙂 great post.
coffee
open e mail
open browsers
check brenner’s blog

ok can now start the day 🙂

By: Francesco

Francesco — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:04:14 +0000

Hi Michael,
Well done 😉 I’d add only one point as a personality trait: a curious and fluid mind. SEO is an ongoing process and real time media plus continuous developments absolutely require receptiveness and strong desire to keep pace with new knowledge.
Best wishes,
Francesco

By: Michael Brenner

Michael Brenner — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 23:58:55 +0000

In reply to Rob Leavitt.

Thanks Rob,

I couldn’t agree more. I always say that you have to “Give to Get” and that you have to really do so with the goal of meeting customer needs vs. the goal of driving sales.

It’s just ironic that the harder you try to sell anything the lower your chances of making the sale become. Unfortunately this is counter-intuitive to many. That’s why customer-first marketing is the only way to get (and keep) customers.

Best,
Michael

By: Rob Leavitt

Rob Leavitt — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 21:42:11 +0000

Thanks Michael, a great summary. And I totally agree with your very first point, that having a customer-first mindset is the most important trait — and that it’s far more said than done. The use of social media as a “channel” to simply push out more promotional content is the most blatant type of ineffective social media, but even many more sophisticated approaches, at the end of the day, come down to trying to pull people to sales offers, around which initiatives and campaigns are organized.

Truly being customer-first means starting with real customers and real issues, and then looking for ways to help – even if that means supporting other ways for them to succeed. When it works well, customer-first social media becomes intelligence gathering for new opportunities and the development of new offerings rather than simply pushing what’s on the shelf.