by Camie Rodan

This post is actually a love story.

You see, I’ve fallen in love with social media. It happened the first time I used the Twitters. I’ve had accounts on most social media networking sites since the relatively ancient days of Friendster, but this was the first time I understood the power of social media marketing – a breakthrough for someone aiming to settle their career path in the field of branding and marketing.

I remember the occasion well: it was a warm summer evening, and I was in the midst of a summer semester at GW’s School of Business. While studying with a friend - and fellow marketing nerd, we began talking about Twitter. I didn’t have an account at the time because I’d always thought that Twitter was more for individual self-promotion than anything else. My friend convinced me otherwise and encouraged me to sign up to give it a go.

I did - and I haven’t looked back.

Becoming a regular user on Twitter allowed me to understand the levels of engagement possible from a social media outlet. I realized that consistent use of a combination of this amazing tool with other social media outlets and marketing media (think a strong website, print, radio, tv!) can have a profound impact a business’s effectiveness and bottom-line. I carried this understanding and love with me throughout my final year of business school and, while there, successfully applied it to many consulting projects for non-profits, small businesses, and large corporations.

After earning my MBA, I began working for a relatively new non-profit that had no marketing strategy. This was a b-school geek’s dream come true: an opportunity to take the words of wisdom I’d been offering to clients throughout my graduate school tenure, apply them, and see how effective they could be! I formed a complete marketing strategy, beginning with the image that the non-profit wanted to impress upon its audience and working down to the tools that we would use to do so. I carefully selected the tools that would work best for the organization’s goals and neglected those that weren’t a good fit (even if those tools were a big deal).

Within a year, I had: implemented two social media outlets and grew a strong following in each with good levels of engagement; started an integrated email marketing campaign and was sending a regular newsletter as well as occasional email updates; began a blog featuring a number of facets of the organization and industry; and stepped into online advertising. The results were amazing: our web traffic had increased by 500%; we had solid engagement with our constituents; and the organization was well on its way to achieving its mission.

After that year, I realized that my love for social media and marketing could help businesses and individuals achieve their goals, increase their bottom lines, and find success. With this realization, I handed the reins over to a new employee and joined Sisarina’s amazing team.

I’m so excited to be here – and can’t wait to instill my love for social media marketing in you.

Say hi to me on the Twitters at @camierodan.