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A Conversation with Bud Gibson Social Media Tips and Tricks
by Quinn Alexander
Business professor at Eastern Michigan University, the creator of EMU’s first search marketing program, and social media aficionado all describe Bud Gibson. For the past nine years, Gibson has taught students how to use the search marketing program to help non-profits uncover new clients for their services. With his help, his students have managed over a million dollars in online advertising for 80 organizations. He also runs Bud Gibson, Inc., which helps organizations utilize social media for marketing purposes. Here, Gibson provides tips and tricks for posting on the Internet and clues us in on who we all should be following in the social media spectrum.
Eastern: Do you think everyone should have at least one social media account?
Gibson: Yes. I think being on social media is similar to having a subscription to a local newspaper 10 years ago. If you’re not on social media, then you’re missing a lot about what is going on around you. Eastern: What is the most important thing you have learned from using social media?
Gibson: Te key thing is how you manage existing relationships when moving into social media, because in your life you’re connected to people in different ways. Tere is a whole range of relationships, so you have to figure out who you want to connect with and how. I have fallen into the following: LinkedIn is the first level of geting to know me. Facebook is not necessarily for close friends, but for people who I think of as friendly business acquaintances. Messaging apps are what I typically use with all the people that I am good friends with.
Eastern: Should we take a break from social media every once in a while so it doesn’t consume us?
Gibson: Yes. I think some people get too glued to social media, sometimes to the exclusion of everything else. I do know people who don’t do social media on the weekends, or they only do it a few times a week, and that is perfectly fine. I would say that if you notice yourself geting obsessed by something on social media, then try to close your social media app and take a break for a while--maybe for a day. You don’t want to become completely disengaged, because it’s one of the big ways we find out about things. So you want to have a balance.
Eastern: How oſten should people be posting or sharing on social media?
Gibson: I would say almost daily participation is good, particularly if you are on LinkedIn or in a LinkedIn group, but that doesn’t mean you are writing a post every day. Probably the best way to start when going into a profession is to write questions on other people’s posts. Tink about responding to people more than writing your own posts.
Eastern: What should people keep in mind when posting on social media?
Gibson: Anything you post online is not private. My advice is typically if you wouldn’t say or do this in front of your parents, then don’t do it online. Another thing I tell my students is to create a professional profile. Te first thing I would do as a student is make my Facebook profile private. Instead, have a LinkedIn profile and make that public, because that’s more of a professional site.
16 Eastern | WINTER 2016
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