It’s one thing to “Like” a brand on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.
It’s quite another to learn about who writes those updates.
To debut the Behind the Brand series, Danielle Deremo shares advice about social media marketing.
Name: Danielle Deremo (@SuperDaniYell)
Position: Social Media Specialist
Employer: Mirage Resort and Casino (MGM Resorts), Las Vegas, Nevada
Education: Hospitality Administration, Northern Illinois University
Professional role model:
It would have to be Kristalina Steininger, (@kristalinas) she took me under her wing when I was an intern at MGM Grand and she was Assistant Manager of Food & Beverage Marketing. She introduced me to social media from a brand’s perspective and taught me the rules of the road when it comes to representing a business in the Web 2.0 arena. Since I’ve moved on from my internship and began working at The Mirage, she has been a close friend and mentor of mine.
Favourite Blog:
As a big foodie, I really appreciate My Drunk Kitchen and The Kitchn. I get all my entertainment from MDK and all my recipes from reading The Kitchn!
Favourite mobile app:
Besides the regulars of foursquare, Facebook & Seesmic for my Twitter accounts, I am a big fan of Reddit Is Fun, SoundHound, and Path. And although it’s not an App, I’m becoming severely addicted to Pinterest.
Most memorable celebrity encounter or sighting in Las Vegas:
I was 1 month into working at The Mirage and we were hosting a weekend-long event called Rolling Stone’s Rock Star Weekend that featured a performance by Weezer. All in the name of social media, we covered a lot of what Weezer was doing on our property, so I got to take a tour of Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat with their guitarist Brian Bell, who was really awesome. That night at the concert my manager and I were able to hang out backstage with them and I got some incredible footage of Weezer getting pumped up before the show and the entire concert that was held at Bare pool. It was the coolest concert I’ve ever been to, which probably had a lot to do with the fact that I felt I was inside the concert.
Describe your favourite part of your job in 140 characters or less:
I love creating real relationships in a digital space, using lots of multimedia to make it fun & I still get excited when brands tweet me!
If you were to update the Mirage’s Facebook status on a typical Wednesday afternoon, what would you say?
If we didn’t have any special events, performances or promotions to inform everyone about, which is usually pretty rare, we would most likely inform our followers about existing amenities or asking our friends fun questions about their Vegas experiences. Things that get fun replies, like “What song would you like to play when you first walk into The Mirage for your vacation?”
Biggest mistake a marketing professional can make while managing social media accounts?
Being careless about how you manage multiple accounts, that’s how social crises occur. You must be able to segment accounts so there are no accidental tweets or anything like that. Besides that, I think the most common mistake would be blatantly selling something. No one likes ads pushed in their face, but they love to have conversations about their preferences and experiences.
Most useful marketing tip you learned during job training?
Keeping it real. I find it easy to stay in the perspective of a consumer and think “Is this something I would want to read or interact with as a guest (or potential guest) of The Mirage?” This also leads to the best conversations with our guests because we honestly care about why they’re coming, what they’re excited for, and how we can help make their visit as wonderful as possible.
What emerging marketing trends have you observed within your industry?
QR codes have been interesting to watch develop within advertising campaigns. Some companies do it right, some make simple mistakes. I’m comfortable using them, so I like QR codes when the value of scanning one is evident, but I can also understand the frustrations new users can encounter. We’ll just have to wait and see where they go in the future before their true potential & utility to the masses can be reached.
Recommendations to anyone interested in pursuing a career in social media marketing:
Social Media overload is a great place to start 🙂
Sign up for all sorts of social mediums and test them out yourselves. Being well-versed in multiple platforms is going to be very handy. Just being active on Facebook, Twitter, foursquare, LinkedIn, Path, Reddit, Gowalla, and anything else that catches your eye from reading Mashable (another must!) will increase your social presence. Create an about.me account so you can have a landing page that features all your socials in one place for those looking for where to find you.
Network yourself both online and offline. Get involved in Tweetups, Interactive Marketing Associations, educational seminars, and tech conventions. It’s an interesting mix of being social in real life with your smartphone in your hand at the same time, but hey – that’s just the nature of social media! We embrace it and celebrate our geekiness together 🙂