Defining A Social Media Marketer

[flickr style=”float: right”]photo:2329367944[/flickr]While doing some research and questioning for a post of her own, social media diva Tamar Weinberg asked what my definition of a social media marketer was. Her post featured answers from some of the top thinkers in social media. While a bit off the cuff, not well researched or thought out, I liked my answer and wanted to offer it up to you for polishing.

Here’s what I emailed in response:

A social media marketer is simply someone who uses social media tools to connect products or services with customers or audiences. There’s no real reason to define it any more than the simple semantics of it all. That said, such a broad determination means you can be a social media marketer and not know it. You can also not use the tools correctly or not behave appropriately within communities around the tools and market poorly.

So, in order to be a good social media marketer, in my opinion, you should understand the tools you’re using and the communities to which you are marketing, be they ones that surround the tool itself (Twitter users) or subject matters within a certain tool (FriendFeed room about, say, cell phones.). Some communities are very open to marketers being there and contributing to the conversation. Others aren’t. As long as you earn your keep, contribute meaningfully to the community and gain the level of trust they need to allow you to seed your own messages or pitch your own products or services, and you don’t violate their trust, you’re marketing via social media successfully.

No, it’s still not a clear picture. People are different, communities are different and marketers/brands are different. As a result, the acceptance or success of a social media marketer will vary in different communities, using different tools and for different brands. But those basic rules will apply everywhere social media and marketing collide.

My question to you is what would you add? Take away? Clarify?

What is a social media marketer?

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