Profile of a Social Media Marketer

This week we read the latest white paper from Michael Stelzner called “A Social Media Marketing Report – How Marketers are Using Social Media to Grow Their Business.” The report provides key insights into how we use social media for marketing, and is based on a survey of 880 participants, found primarily through (what else?) social media sites. What emerged is an interesting portrait of today’s social media marketer.

If you actively participate in social media marketing, we ask you, does this sound familiar?

• You are a business-owner, most likely a sole-proprietor.
• You are between 30 and 39 years of age.
• You average 5+ hours of social media each week.
• We can find you on Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn and Facebook.
• You have only been using social media for a few months.
• In that amount of time, you believe that social media has increased exposure for your business.
• You have already generated quality leads through social media.
• By using social media, you have reduced your overall marketing expenses.

Also revealed in the white paper is the correlation between how experienced the social media marketer is with how much time they allocate to its practice. Now this surprised us. According to the survey results, if you have been an active social media marketer for at least a couple of years, you are now spending over 20 hours per week at it. Wow! For this particular group, the results are making the time and energy investment worth it, which, in turn, makes a strong case for the brand-building power of social media.

And so a lively debate has ensued in the blogosphere that finds some marketers choosing sides. While we all tweet, post, blog, and debate the benefits of social media, ask yourself this: are you a marketer who requires immediate, measurable results to justify a commitment to social media, or are you a marketer that believes the time and energy spent will pay off eventually?

Food for thought.