November 6, 2009 – News & Views

Lara Kretler, associate vice president and social media lead at Fahlgren Mortine Public Relations, discusses a social media benefit with an OWU student.

Photo by Dianne Macasu ’10

Social Media is Topic of Woltemade Center Lecture
Benefits and pitfalls of being “out there”

“Things live forever on the Web.” This was the sound advice offered by Lara Kretler, at a Woltemade Center for Economics, Business, and Entrepreneurship campus lecture on November 3.

Kretler is the associate vice president and social media lead at the Columbus-based Fahlgren Mortine Public Relations. She discussed “The Impact of Social Media on Advertising, Marketing, and Everything We Know,” also mentioning the benefits, uses, strategies, and approaches for social media.

“Social media is growing immensely fast and none of us can keep up,”says Kretler, pointing to  the increasing number of people who use social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and MySpace every day.

As Kretler explains, the benefits of social media are numerous for an individual, organization, or a business.

“Social media develops deeper relationships and enhances communications,” she says. “It increases awareness for your brand, broadens your network, helps achieve search engine optimization (SEO), helps break through clutter to reach journalists and others, and it can empower fans to become vital ambassadors of your brand.”

Kretler also offers a formula for success for using social media to guide individual and corporate interactions on the social Web. “Our formula is the 70/20/10 approach which is “simple but not always easy.”

First, the 70 percent of the content should be related to the audience (sharing links, information, and tips). “Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace, the content you put out there should be about your audience,” Kretler says.

The 20 percent of the content should be a spontaneous interaction with your audience in which the person responds as a human being and not as a business. This includes answering questions or even a simple conversation about the weather or your favorite pet.

Finally, the last 10 percent is blatantly self- promotional and self-serving. The content may include an individual’s awards, recent accolades or articles she or he has written.

Kretler has very definitive thoughts about the importance of personal branding, pointing to Tom Peters (inventor of the concept of personal branding) who believes that regardless of age,  position, or the business we happen to be in, we all need to understand the importance of branding. We are the CEOs of our own companies.

Kretler emphasizes that individuals and corporations should think about the things that  differentiate them from others—those hallmarks and characteristics that they are known for and they are passionate about, before going “out there” to the digital audience.

“If you don’t brand yourself, Google will brand you,” says Kretler. Someone who is looking for a job or applying for grad school should consider putting up positive and good social content such as photos, video, and audio.

Kretler advises that the easiest and quickest thing to do is to start a blog. A blog can be about anything about which a person is passionate.. It also serves as a home base for all social media activity.

Always, says Kretler, “remember that anything you put out there is Googleable.” Social media can make your career blossom, and can also get you fired.

“Social media,” concludes Kretler, “ is all about building relationships.”

The lecture is part of the Inside Advertising Speakers Program of the Advertising Educational Foundation. This program sends high-level, seasoned advertising and marketing executives like Kretler to colleges and universities across the country to discuss the advertising process, its place in the economic and social structure, and the issues surrounding it.

– Dianne Macasu ’10