Social Media Marketing: Battle Of The Sexes?

I’ve noticed quite a stir in cyberspace recently. Whether it’s traditional internet marketers vs. web 2.0 marketers, heart-based vs. numbers-based marketers, or male marketers vs. female marketers – some folks seem polarized in their discussions… and thinking.

I don’t really care for rivalrous behaviors. Men and women are different. Period. Both genders are a vital and integral part of everything we do. Nor do I believe in competition:

Here?s the thing: I do not believe in competition. Especially for the solopreneur. There?s only one YOU. No one can ?compete? to be you. Even if you and I offer the exact same service, people will always do business with people they know, like, and trust. And, each of us adds our own personality, unique experience, and proven strategies into the mix.

Recently, my friend and mentee, Ann Rusnak The Time Diva, wrote this post: Quit Wasting Your Time Complaining and Take Action encouraging women to stop complaining about how the marketing world is male-dominated and to just get out there and take action. I completely agree, as I commented back to Ann:

I?m ALL for taking action – we gotta vote with our feet, mouths, mice, and dollars!! Men are action-takers and problem-solvers. Their ears are kinda like dogs and they tend not to have the frequency tuned into the complaint channel (read: poorly worded requests from us women!!)? I know, I?m speaking from years of personal experience and studying the genders. ha! So we?d all be better served by walking the talk and just getting out there and making things *happen*!! Like Ghandi says, ?Be the change you want to see in the world.? Love that.

Gender vs. Personality Type

When it comes to social media marketing, sure, it could be argued women are more social and more naturally relationship-oriented than men. However, I like to focus more on personality than gender. I’m a huge fan of personality assessments in order to really know ourselves and our clients well. We all have our own unique sets of motivations, desires, needs and wants. In fact, the better you know yourself and the better you can recognize–and adapt to–other people’s styles, the more effective you’ll be at relationship marketing.

Social Media Marketing for Professionals

It’s my honor and privilege to be one of the featured guest experts this week on the Marketing Mentor, Adam Urbanski‘s From Contacts to Contracts telesummit. On a series of four free calls, June 23-26 at 10:00am Pacific / 1:00pm Eastern, you’ll hear from five dynamic gals sharing their proven strategies to effectively using social media tools – like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and video – to market your business and grow your profits.

(Btw, Adam tells me a few men have given him negative feedback because of the fact it’s an all-female event. Hm, I can’t understand why. As Ann Rusnak says, stop complaining and take action… positive, productive action where everyone wins.

In any case, I hope you can join me and this incredible lineup of excellent social media/web 2.0 experts… who happen to be women, interviewed by a guy. 😉 As I blogged about recently:

Those emerging as leaders by embracing new media are those who engage in conversation; those who are authentic, transparent and congruent; those who consistently use new media platforms well; those who are open and available…

• Monday, June 23 : Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squad?
  How to Get the Best Out of Your Blog: A 4-Point System to Get Found, Get Known and Get Clients
• Tuesday, June 24 : Deborah Micek, Coach Deb
  How to Create Crowds of Raving Fans with Twitter
• Wednesday, June 25 : Yours truly, Mari Smith, the “Pied Piper of Facebook”
  How To Create Profitable Relationships Using Facebook
• Thursday, June 26 : Nancy Marmolejo, Viva Visibility
  How to Save Time with an Integrated Social Networking Strategy

All calls are 70 minutes in length and begin at 10:00am PT / 1:00pm ET

I’m particularly excited about Adam Urbanski’s event this week as I know every single one of the speakers personally, love their style, highly endorse them and recommend their work. Hope to hear you on the line!

P.S. What are YOUR thoughts around gender differences in marketing? Or should I say marketers?!

Mari Smith

Often referred to as “the Queen of Facebook,” Mari Smith is widely known as the Premier Facebook Marketing Expert and a top Social Media Thought Leader. Forbes describes Mari as, “… the preeminent Facebook expert. Even Facebook asks for her help.” IBM named Mari as one of seven women that are shaping digital marketing. Mari is an in-demand keynote speaker, corporate social media strategist, dynamic live webcast host, and popular brand ambassador. She is coauthor of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day, and author of The New Relationship Marketing.

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