We recently had the chance to chat with Brian Nicoletti, a freelance marketing consultant and social media expert based out of the Jersey Shore. Brian has been involved in web marketing and digital media since 2005; at Corporate Insight, a market research firm based in midtown Manhattan, he served as an analyst, and witnessed firsthand the shift towards digital and social media marketing from some of the world’s top financial services firms.
Later in his career, he served as the head of all web marketing initiatives at SelfGrowth.com, the top social network and marketing service for experts in the self-help industry. Brian oversaw the creation of “Social Media University,” an intense 12-session virtual training program designed to teach marketers the best practices for using social media to promote their products and services. The session was expanded and updated annually, and paved the way for the launch of SelfGrowthMarketing.com – a monthly membership site where subscribers could access the entire training program, as well as 100+ additional hours of marketing training on topics like SEO, email list building, blogging, finding joint ventures, affiliate marketing and more.
On the personal side of social media, Brian was an early adopter from the start, incorporating the use of web technologies and social media during his college years, when planning his wedding, chronicling the birth of his son, and eventually launching his own freelance consulting business. With this experience and background, we are indeed privileged to have him as our guest.
1. What’s your definition of “social media success?”
Depending on who you ask this question to, you’re bound to get different answers each time. Some measure success by pure numbers – “I have 5000 followers on Twitter, and it’s growing every day,” or “My fan page increased its likes by 25% last month.” Others measure success by the bottom line – “Our product sold 10 units due to a Tweet,” or “Our CPC (cost per click) on the latest facebook campaign was <$.05.”
The truth is, that these parameters for success are totally legitimate, and not without merit. For me personally, I tend to let hard numbers and statistics take a backseat to user sentiment and general community standing. To me, seeing comments or receiving tweets that my product or program helped improve a customer’s business, or changed their lives in some positive way is the ultimate goal. It’s immensely satisfying to get great feedback that can be seen publicly by millions of users, but it’s even better when satisfied customers sing your praises on their own. This is why brand monitoring is important, so you can see what users are saying about your product, or even you personally, on blogs, forums, and social networks.
In the end, it all comes down to one main thing – people buy products and services from brands that they know, like and trust. When the focus of your campaign is on creating that sentiment in the satisfied customer, more are sure to follow.
2. What are essential skills an online marketer needs?
First, and most essential, you need an endgame. You could be looking for your dream job, raising awareness for a cause, selling a product or service, or otherwise bringing a new voice to the worldwide conversation. Knowing your goal is one thing, but actually setting up a system to ensure that it works is more important. If you are selling something online, do you have a system to process online payments, deliver the product, and have the customer provide feedback? Are you ensuring your product is protected from piracy? How are you reaching out to customers in 6 months when you have a new product? The overall marketing plan for closing business should be rock solid before you even consider moving with anything else.
Knowing all of the big pieces of the online marketing puzzle is also important. Social media marketing is essential, and is often given priority over other strategies. I feel it’s just as important to work on SEO through content marketing, build up an email list for direct contact with prospects, and develop relationships with influential figures in your niche. Even if you may consider other service providers as “the competition,” the opportunity for you to use their reach for exposure to their already-existing audience is a powerful way to get your product off the ground.
3. What are the current trends in social and online marketing that you think everyone should be aware of?
It’s become clear in the past year or so that web content is the driving force behind popular culture. Hollywood is running out of remakes, while filmmakers on Vimeo and Youtube are reaching millions of viewers each hour, and getting big money offers to repeat the magic. Local issues and stories get exposure on the world stage due to being shared and investigated by bloggers, who often do a better job than the talking heads on TV. The next iteration of web marketing will have to introduce content that is designed for it to take on a life of itself among a community. To me, the best example of a company that handled this correctly is Old Spice, who saw that their towel-clad spokesman had an online popularity, and fed off the user-created content to keep the character alive forever. You can’t do that in a magazine or TV ad.
I think that the most successful online services will focus on appealing to niche users, and use marketing strategies that are micro-targeted towards users based on their wants and needs. With a service like Facebook ads, which lets you display ads to users who like specific pages or people, this is quite easy.
The other big trend I see becoming an industry standard is crowdsourced fundraising for non-profits and advocacy groups. Sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo have raised MILLIONS from individual users for all sorts of projects and good causes. Even if you’re dealing with a local issue or market, you can connect with someone generous who wants to support what you’re doing, and by making that as easy as a click, everybody wins.
4. What is on the horizon for marketers to know about and prepare for?
There is a massive userbase of people who have no clue about old-fashioned black hat marketing tricks; people are still buying email lists from Pakistan, waiting for their millions from the Nigerian Finance Minster, and clicking every malware ad they see. It will only get worse as a non-tech savvy userbase begins using smartphones. Service providers, marketers, and customers should begin pushing for more transparency in online marketing, so that a customer knows exactly what their purchase or offer actually gets them. The recent FCC law requiring disclosure for affiliate campaigns is a good first start, but I think the individual networks could do more to enforce it.
I also think that in a few years, we’ll stop having the eternal “Facebook vs. Google” debate. I laugh every time I read another article about user milestones for either service, and how it always “spells trouble” for whoever isn’t in the headline. Facebook has bet big on mobile use in the next few years, and they’ve spent a BILLION dollars to just get their foot in the door. Google has Facebook beat in both the hardware and software market, with their acquisition of Motorola, and massive market share with Android. Google doesn’t need to worry about a business rival – they are literally making cars that drive themselves, and glasses out of Star Trek, who are they up against there?
5. What’s your biggest takeaway from working in online marketing?
The game can change in an instant – if you are relying exclusively on Twitter, but then they restrict their API for your favorite app, or Linkedin, but then you’re favorite features are thrown behind a paywall, you’re going to need to go back to the drawing board. Perhaps the most devastating result I’ve seen is in the latest Google update, which was designed to lower traffic to article directories – that can kill your main source of traffic if you’re not doing anything to build community through your existing customer base.
Don’t get comfortable – read the blogs, follow the reporters on Twitter and Google Plus, watch keynote videos, follow hashtag conversations. Don’t wait for the follow up report the next day, help shape the story alongside the people who are key in breaking it.
